Xbox Live Arcade Archive

You ever wonder what sports will be like in the future? Well the guys over at Uber Entertainment have an idea. It’s called Monday Night Combat! Monday Night Combat is a class based third person shooter mixed with a tower defense game. A lot of people would compare it to DoTA and League of Legends. The object of the game is to protect your team’s moneyball from being destroyed.

There are 3 modes of play, Local Blitz, Xbox Live Blitz, and Crossfire. Blitz mode is a hoard mode of sorts where you and 3 of your buddies take on waves of bots that try to get to your moneyball. There are different tiers for this mode that range from easy, to insanely difficult. It will take a lot of teamwork to survive some of these games. Crossfire is where you’ll find the meat of the game. In Crossfire, you are placed in 6 on 6 matches where you must escort your bots to the enemy’s moneyball, let them take down its shields, and then attack it. Of course, the other team is trying to do the exact same thing so you need to balance out both offense and defense. The game does offer split screen for both Blitz and Crossfire.

There are six classes to choose from each with their own unique abilities and weapons. For a more detailed look on the individual classes, check out my preview of the game right here: Monday Night Combat Preview Each class compliments each other very nicely. I’m more of a Tank player myself, but every character has its own weaknesses and strengths. Each character has three special abilities that differ from class to class each used with a corresponding button on the controller. It’s color-coded so you won’t forget. Yes, I know it’s a small touch, but it is a nice one as well.

One feature that I really enjoyed was the custom classes. You can create your own personal combatant using one of the classes and adding perks to them a la Modern Warfare. You can choose a gold, silver, and bronze perks that boost your stats. Some perks include higher critical hits, faster speed, larger clip size, and many others, all in the form of futuristic commercial brand products. You can also purchase extra custom class slots with your overall earnings.

During the game, you will earn money by making kills, and assisting others in combat. You can then use that money to upgrade your character’s weapons, stats, and abilities. You can also use that money to build and upgrade turrets, spawn more bots, activate jump pads, and many other things that are around the environment.

The game boasts a very colorful and comical design in character models, dialog, and overall aesthetic. The announcer for the game is actually pretty funny. Everything feels very polished and balanced in both gameplay and visuals.

The game offers a decent tutorial that helps the player learn the ends and outs of the controls and rules of the game. There is also a full menu that gives descriptions in detail for each character and their weapons and abilities. It is actually very extensive and well done.

One of the really cool things about the game is the collecting of ProTags. A ProTag is much like the labels in Modern Warfare 2 and Super Street Fighter IV. They pop up on your screen when you are killed by someone or if you kill another player. There’s a ton of them to collect for doing specific things in game. It’s a nice feature that will add some replay value to the game.

The only problem I had with the game is during heavy firefights, I experienced a good amount of slowdown and frame rate drops, but for the most part, the games I had were lag-free. It also suffers for the ever present Unreal Engine 3 texture pop-in.

There is a lack of maps for Crossfire mode. You are allowed to veto to the next map if you wish, but with only 4 to choose from, you’re kind of limited. Of course, all that can be remedied with a little DLC which, I believe, is in the works for MNC.

The battles themselves can get pretty hectic especially in Crossfire mode. Most of the games I got into all went into overtime. When this happens, both team’s moneyballs are vulnerable and both teams have an army of bots release. It’s like a go-for-broke moment that last 2 minutes. It really is a blast.

All in all, this Summer of Arcade title is just pure fun. Even with the minor issues I had with the game, I can’t suggest it enough to Xbox Live players. I’d go as far as to say this is one of the best Arcade games to date. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone in Monday Night Combat.

The Good: Tons of customization, Entertaining premise and dialog, Good variety in matches, Pure fun gameplay

The Bad: Some frame rate issues, Texture pop in, I wish there was more maps

Bottom Line: If you like 3rd person shooters, tower defense games, or class based arena games, you will love this game. This is definitely a game that’s worth your $15 hands down. Plus, with the thought of extra content through DLC, I can see this game being played for a very long time.

Final Grade: 9.0