Premise
The game is lightly reminiscent of Smash TV and Unreal Tournament, where in a futuristic society we’ve become so desensitized to violence that we not only allow it, but we now crave it as our main form of entertainment. So the Monday Night Combat league has been created (a league with only two teams is a little weird but hey whatever). Though this game is not just senseless barbarism as we know from the other titles, but rather a game where teams employ clones and robots to attack opposing bases and try to bring down the other team’s goal. All the while your team battles for upgrades, endorsements and perks that come with being a winning fan favourite; it’s like a traditional sports game mixed with shooter aesthetics, and it’s a lot of fun.
Monday Night Combat does work like a televised sporting event, so there are commercial breaks and such in between the action, which makes it just the more comedic and reminds me of Whacked; I just thought it would have been humourous if they actually included real commercials like you were watching it on tv, where instead the commercials are just the announcer’s voice echoing through the arena, like you would experience at a ballgame.
Graphics
First thing you’ll notice is, yes, it looks like Team Fortress 2, but don’t dismiss this game as a ripoff. The flow of the game is great and graphical lag is non-existent in this game due to the basic-appearing graphics. This game does obviously use titles like Team Fortress 2 and the original Left 4 Dead as inspiration for their graphics, as they’re all games that have a great look to them but aren’t bogged down with detail, keeping the run times fast and also making the games a lot less gruesome than some of the more realistic shooters out there, bumping if down from an M rating to a T rating.
Sound
This game borrows a lot of elements from other games to make it fun, and sound is one of them. Each character has individualistic voices and sounds that set them apart from one another but also keep the mood light and fun; the African American Assault Soldier class has a distinctive voice reminiscent of Shaft and has a 70s guitar lick following his respawns, while the Sniper class is a complete mockery of the now stereotypical mouthy and obnoxious kids you’ll find in online gaming lobbies. The sounds aren’t just limited to comedic value, however, as battlefield sounds are all well done and have a real crunch and boom one would expect from an action-filled arena.
Gameplay
Monday Night Combat features six different character classes, all with their own unique traits, skills and abilities. This can lead to a lot of combinations for your team to play with as every character provides a strength and a weakness towards a strategy. The learning curve can be a bit steep for some of the classes, as the game doesn’t provide the greatest explanation of the classes in the tutorials, but a little fiddling and some patience and you’ll learn the ropes in no time.
The game features two modes, Blitz and Crossfire, both are available online and offline.
Blitz is a strictly defensive mode, where the player(s) build up their defenses and protect their goal from waves of robot enemies; it’s a fine mode for learning the ropes, but the big draw is Crossfire.
Crossfire is the meat and potatoes of this game, where in Blitz it was one goal being defended by one team against another team, in Crossfire both teams have a goal and have to coordinate their attack and defense plans. It’s very much like an assault game mode from other titles, where you have to infiltrate an enemy base to win. The game type is nothing new or original, but it doesn’t need to be because it’s just so much fun.
Overall
This title borrows a lot of elements from other game like Smash TV, NFL Blitz, Whacked, Team Fortress 2 and so many more. It’s a finely tuned game and if it honestly boasted more teams and arenas and maybe one or two more game types it very easily could have been a $59.99 retail release. Instead we’re treated to a fun $15 download that hopefully will be a launching pad for a new franchise in the coming years as this is a game with a lot of potential to become a heavy hitter in the shooter genre that distinguishes itself from all the other ones out there. It’s a shooter that isn’t gruesome, and relies heavily on comical satire, so it is safe for your kids to play as many of the “hardcore” gamers who will only play games with excessive blood will probably sneer and turn up their nose at it for being too “kiddy”.
Monday Night Combat is totally worth the $15 price tag, and once gamers get around the learning curve they will have a lot of fun with this comical third person gameshow shooter.
.gif)