Monaco Review - Honor Among Many Thieves - Nerd Age

After numerous awards and years of development, Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine has finally released on PC and XBLA. The small team at Pocketwatch Games, headed by industry veteran Andy Schatz, has created a unique cooperative stealth game. You and a team of thieves find yourselves in need of a quick escape from the city of Monaco. You’ll jump through a lot of hoops to get there, why not get rich in the process?

Monaco Gameplay

Alone or with friends you’ll use the characters’ various talents to infiltrate and ransack each level. Each area is presented from above, as a blueprint like map. The actual detail of the map is only revealed to you when within your characters’ field of vision. The gorgeous, stylized graphical style initially masks a surprising complexity. There is a ton of information to take in at once, and at first it can be overwhelming. As action erupts on your screen, it be can be difficult to differentiate yourself from your teammates, and you’ll occasionally lose track of your character among a shower of colors. But as you get better at the game and learn to read the information presented to you, you’ll become more and more proficient at getting around and being an effective thief.

Multiplayer Monaco Madness

Multiplayer is where Monaco comes together. Chaos reigns supreme in multiplayer, especially with a full team of four. It took some time for my teammates and I to learn how to communicate with each other, and even when we became a well-oiled machine, the plan could all fall apart with even the slightest of errors. While occasionally infuriating, these moments were also some of the most fun. When all hell breaks loose, players scattering in all directions looking for safety, trying to make sense of the situation, that is when the game truly shines.

Monaco is a challenging game. The A.I, while occasionally a little dense, is quick to wise up to your antics. Dying happens often, and reviving others can take time. When all the players are dead, you start over at the beginning. Because of this, a level that might already take 20 to 30 minutes to complete, can take upwards of an hour. It can be incredibly frustrating to spend a large amount of time completing a level, only to have it all taken away at the last minute because of a single careless action.

Monaco is a stealth game that succeeds at making itself accessible to just about any kind of player. Playing solo allows for a more traditional stealth game. While still almost impossible to go through the game without being detected, gameplay is much slower and more reserved. Single player is also slightly more forgiving, allowing you to retry levels from a particular floor. However, you are forced to choose another class each time you die, allowing you to try different things and approach certain problems more creatively.

The Unique Feel of the Monaco Sound

The soundtrack, composed by Austin Wintory of Journey fame, is pitch perfect. The music has a silent film era feel helping to convey the emotion and action that is somewhat lost among the graphical style. You will likely be impressed by how the music interacts with the gameplay. Music crescendos violently when an alarm has been tripped and quiets when you have regained your anonymity.

Monaco has been a labor of love, and it shows. The levels, art style and characters have been meticulously crafted over its long development cycle. The steep learning curve and unforgiving nature can frustrate players, but once you crest over its initial difficulty you’ll find something truly special. Monaco is available for Steam and XBLA for 15$ or 1200 points respectively. Monaco has been delayed on XBLA unfortunately but this will hopefully be cleared up later.

4/5