Monday Night Combat Review

Killing robots is the sport of the future. Well, did you watch any of the Terminator films? Uber Entertainment seems to think so, spawning the latest Summer of Arcade title Monday Night Combat, a third person shooter where you must protect your Moneyball from the enemy team whilst attacking the enemy Moneyball. Oh yeah, and a dancing mascot occasionally dances and sings in the middle of the battlefield, throwing out cash. But it’s never been so enjoyable!

The sport of the future.

Let’s start with the objectives of this wild downloadable game. You and five other teammates in Crossfire Mode must protect your Moneyball from enemy bots that continuously spawn and make their way on a set path throughout the map throughout the match, by setting up various types of turrets, which can be upgraded with more money. A personal favourite of mine is the Rocket Turret, which is expensive to upgrade but the long term reward is worthwhile with greater defence. Meanwhile, you must escort and protect your own bots from the enemy team, get them into the enemy base to take down the shields of their Moneyball, then chip away at its health until you destroy it and win the match! Sounds confusing? It’s very easy to pick up and matches can become very upbeat and exciting. Let’s not forget Blitz Mode, which sees you and up to three mates working co-operatively to fight off wave after wave of enemy bots, from the weak Slims to the gargantuan Jackbots. The mode has similarities to Halo 3 ODST’s Firefight Mode, but it’s still fantastic nonetheless.

You cannot say that this game was inspired somewhat by Team Fortress 2. The classes, the humour, the graphic style, it’s all there. But that’s not to say it’s a direct copy of the shooter. There are six classes in the game; Assault, Support, Sniper, Assassin, Gunner and the Tank, each having their own abilities and advantages. The variety of weapons is fairly balanced, but a few tweaks could be made here and there, such as many games are filled with Assassins running around invisible and taking you out, rinse and repeat and you can see this would get quite annoying at times. Money earned through kills can be used to construct turrets, upgrade skills and set traps, and overall earnings from the game can be used to buy Custom Classes and ProTags (the equivalent of MW2 titles) to boast online achievement. This cleverly extends the length of the game, allowing weeks of fun. With 100 ranks, it’s sure to keep you occupied for a while.

Bullseye!

The graphics run off Unreal Engine, creating a smooth, comical finish very similar to TF2.It suits the game well for it’s humour, such as the entertaining commentator; “Hey, your mom called, she wants you to upgrade your skills” and the mascot Bullseye, who runs around the map occasionally, tossing out money when you shoot him. The four different maps (1 for Blitz, 3 for Crossfire) are all a blast to play on, offering different methods of play on each one. That said, I would like to see DLC support for the game in future to add more maps, especially on Blitz, which currently only has one playable map in that mode. The control layout is sensible and the choice to stick to unlimited ammo is a wise one, otherwise the game would become overcomplicated.

The game does support Avatar Awards, although I was disappointed at how quickly I earned them, despite my avatar now wearing a cool Bullseye head. You get one for completing the handy starting tutorial and another for completing the easiest version of Blitz. Blitz can range from the 10 round Exhibition Mode to the difficult Playoff Mode to the insane “The Scramble” mode. Like all XBLA titles, the game offers 12 achievements to earn, some harder than others. Leaderboards add that feeling of competitiveness with friends, and in my own personal experience, two of my friends are currently battling it out for the top of the Friends Leaderboards.

The Support, the Tank and the Gunner.

Overall, Monday Night Combat is an absolute blast to play and is more than worth the 1200MSP price tag. Some areas could use slight improvement, but overall, this comical shooter is just what the Summer of Arcade needed, and I could go as far as to say that it is one of the best Arcade titles on sale. Keep it up Uber Entertainment! “BACON!”