Monaco

[youmeyou]

Haven't seen a thread for this yet. (I guess due to the fact that it's only been in locked off development stage for years now) Should be coming out by the end of the year. I can't wait to get my sneak on!

Love the ability to try out different kinds of thieves with strengths in hacking, disguises and lockpicking for example. (And if you die you just start with a different thief, instead of a completely reset game).

[Murdoc]

I feel like I've been hearing about this game for so long I started not to care. I'm still interested and will be playing it but I think its been 3 or 4 GDCs where it gets mentioned so its hard to muster any enthusiasm until I get it into my hands.

I hope it turns out to be good, but I think with the constant chatter for so long it's guaranteed a success in sales but might be a bit of a let down in game-play because the expectation is now so high.

[youmeyou]

Yeah it's kind of like Fez in that respect. Though I think Fez mostly lived up to expectations.

I haven't seen much gameplay until the above video so my hype meter was low until now. But now I am quite hyped. I also quite look forward to the local multiplayer aspect.

[Orv]

Andy recently tweeted that the PC version is about a month out of being finished, but won't be released until the other versions are done.

[Murdoc]

Yeah it's kind of like Fez in that respect. Though I think Fez mostly lived up to expectations.

Yeah that's a perfect example and I'm solely speaking for myself, but Fez looks great, but I totally ignored it's release because I saw so much of it over the years. I should really go give it a try at some point, but I bet I won't until its long forgotten.

[I Saw Dasein]

I think this is out today. It's getting great reviews. I really want to try it multiplayer. 

[TychoCelchuuu]

Every review hovers between "amazing" and "glowing." Some are stupendous.

I was in the beta and it owned. So yes I can recommend this game heartily.

[toblix]

Hey, it's future me! I don't have much time, but someone made this.

 

Someone should start a multiplayer thread. I'm not going to bother.

[Nasser]

Played the first couple of missions yesterday, it's fun but it seems like it would be more fun playing with other people. 

 

Also, I am in love with the music, it's absolutely fantastic.

[SecretAsianMan]

I'm only a couple missions into it, but I like how I'm actively picking items that don't involve me shooting someone.  I was worried when I saw a gun that I would end up a trigger happy thief (even with the ammo mechanic), but I'm finding using other stuff to be more rewarding.  If only I weren't so bad at not being seen.  I need to play with other people to offset my lack of sneakiness.

[Gormongous]

It seems to me that, playing singleplayer, there are some characters who are just better, if only for being self-sufficient. I'm near the end of the Lockpicker's Story and I've completed almost every one with the Gentleman or the Hacker, except for one round with the Cleaner.

 

I was really baffled by the Redhead's power, which seemed like a shitty alternative to the Gentleman, until I realized she could be used to lure guards away from key areas for the Lockpicker or the Pickpocket. I really want to see how the dynamic is in multiplayer, but everyone who owns the games on the forums seems to live in Europe.

[youmeyou]

I live in the US! We should play.

 

Is the redhead the lookout, or a different character? Cus the lookout is indispensable for map awareness (in multiplayer when you can combine her with the hacker or mole) The hacker seems the most useful, I feel like guards at least at this early stage are easy to avoid but the security systems tend to be what screw me.

[I Saw Dasein]

The pickpocket is the best because monkey.

[Gormongous]

The Redhead is her own character. The first guard who sees her "falls in love" and follows her, at least until she hides or disguises herself, so she can be used to kite guards away from access points. One of the less useful characters on her own, but I could see her being great in multi.

 

Like I said in the networking thread, I'll be on all night. Maybe we can make something ad-hoc happen.

 

 

EDIT: Oh man, that was great. We need to get four people in on a heist, stat.

[darthbator]

Ok so this is amazing, when are we going to start MP'ing this? We should probably start tomorrow in all reality!

 

And I just found the MP thread!

 

http://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/8573-monaco-whats-mine-is-yours-robbin-and-stalin/

[Henroid]

Andy Schatz himself gave me the game because I was the first person to post in the thread for Penny Arcade's comic about it. Also because I had no clue what the game was at the time. So my opinion of him as a developer starts super-elevated.

 

I think I've got a handle on things now, I mean so far as recognizing what icons are when things are out of your FoV (but you've cleared out the fog of war). I just now cleaned out the museum level, which was a big pain in the ass. I need to work on mixing up my brute-force with stealthing better. Which is a point a peer of mine elsewhere and I talked about briefly. This game does a pretty amazing job at not just incorporating a mixed style of brazeness and stealth, but it actually encourages it fairly frequently. That feels rare to me, though I never played Hotline Miami. Though, it kinda forces you to be a murderer and is a nudge away from what I'm talking about. In Monaco you can be brazen insofar as getting spotted and just booking it.

[Gormongous]

I think I've got a handle on things now, I mean so far as recognizing what icons are when things are out of your FoV (but you've cleared out the fog of war). I just now cleaned out the museum level, which was a big pain in the ass. I need to work on mixing up my brute-force with stealthing better. Which is a point a peer of mine elsewhere and I talked about briefly. This game does a pretty amazing job at not just incorporating a mixed style of brazeness and stealth, but it actually encourages it fairly frequently. That feels rare to me, though I never played Hotline Miami. Though, it kinda forces you to be a murderer and is a nudge away from what I'm talking about. In Monaco you can be brazen insofar as getting spotted and just booking it.

 

Yeah, the great thing about Monaco's gameplay is that nine times out of ten you can flip out, make a grab for all the cash, and get away scot free. The tenth time you get cornered and killed (with the added bonus of failing everyone, if it's multiplayer). It's a fascinating balancing act.

 

I really can't stress enough how this game comes alive even when played with complete strangers. The hilarity of me and SecretAsianMan boring through the walls of the Casino de Monte Carlo, popping out only to grab gamblers' wallets, while Lu goes around snapping necks, cannot be overstated.

[Henroid]

That said, 100% accurate:

 

[SecretAsianMan]

The PA comic does illustrate an extremely hilarious and common situation, except for one thing: the locksmith.  I wish the locksmith were more useful because I feel like there's never a time I would pick him over any of the other characters.  Looking at the global leaderboard last night, it seems like a duo of mole and pickpocket have the best times on a lot of missions.  I imagine their strategy is to simply bash their way into every room and let the monkey do his thing.

[Henroid]

I love the locksmith. He can break into safes faster than anyone.

[Gormongous]

My gripe with the Locksmith is that, while he can open safes really fast and not set off handprint alarms, he does nothing that the wrench can't do, plus the wrench can kill people.

 

Many of the items replicate the functionality of certain characters, but usually with qualifications (explosives destroy stuff like the Mole, but they're imprecise and make noise; crossbows put people to sleep like the Cleaner, but they're harder to aim and limited in ammo; etc.). With the Locksmith, he's almost less useful than the item that replicates him. There are going to be, what? Five safes on a level, max? You'll never run out of wrenches that way, so why waste a player slot with the Locksmith?

 

 

EDIT: All that said, I really hate ruining this game with talk of "optimal" character picks. The fun is to be had in everyone picking who they want to play and then trying to make it work on the fly.

[Frenetic Pony]

Finally played this game, it's decent fun (playing split screen co-op). I can appreciate the simplistic controls and game design trying to build a deeper game without fudging about with a thousand numbers or systems or etc. And while I'll have fun completing it over time, the random coins being the "loot" and the relative ease of the game has so far completely negated the feeling of needing a complicated worked out plan that I was hoping for when I thought of an "Ocean's 11 like heist game."

 

It's still fun going in as a mole/cleaner duo or mole/pickpocket. Smash and grab everything in sight, with wall and guards/loot just needing a rush and a quick pop! And it's obviousy partially because the person I'm playing co-op with is less interested in a total ghost through the levels than just running around like a madman. But it's still simultaneously fun, enjoyable, and yet somewhat less than I was hoping for from the concept and all the indie game hype that was built around it.

 

I do think it does the whole "being seen in a stealth game doesn't mean you automatically lose" thing a lot better than Mark of the Ninja. And I think it's a valid concept for stealth games going forward. Just like being shot once in a shooter doesn't mean game over, I can see the need, and even the benefit for more forgiving mechanics in a stealth game. But I don't think this really works it out to any kind of new gold like standard that other games will all follow along with either. To my mind it's still stuck on the extremely restrictive level design that so many stealth games have, and that causes so much of the problem to begin with. If you're caught, the enemy has to search for you right? If you only have so little room in which to run and hide, then either they find you because they aren't artificial idiots, or they don't find you because they are and you don't feel that great for outwitting what amounts to a bunch of idiots.

 

Still, overall a small, enjoyable game in and of itself; if not the hit indie darling like Braid it was being hyped up as.

[SecretAsianMan]

I do like the lack of instant game over when you're seen, but the mechanics of this game are really gamey at times. Like if I get seen, but then duck into a vent, and then the guard that saw me goes into the same vent but can't see me inside it because that's how vents work in this game. Same thing with the entrance/exit in each area. I understand the need for you to be invisible in such areas otherwise you'd have no where to hide sometimes, but it also feels like I'm cheating the system in a way. I will admit it is somewhat hilarious to me though, so I'm willing to forgive it.

I'm also not hugely fond of the hud. Having all the important information about my character (health, coins, ammo, disguise) in concentric circles around me gets confusing sometimes, especially when you have multiple people hiding in the same bush. But that's also a minor gripe and probably just something I need to get used to.

I will say there's nothing like the feeling of having a plan go off perfectly, or even better, have a plan go horribly wrong yet still turn out awesome because you pulled off some sweet moves.

Also the gentleman is OP

[Gormongous]

I will say there's nothing like the feeling of having a plan go off perfectly, or even better, have a plan go horribly wrong yet still turn out awesome because you pulled off some sweet moves.

 

Yeah, there was one time last night where Lu was walking along the edge of a room knocking out guards, you were flooding the room with viruses, and I walked right up to the altar and grabbed the treasure without being seen. It felt like a movie.

[Gormongous]

I hate to say it, but the final three or four levels of the "remix" campaign are kinda the game that Jake and Sean were mistakenly railing against in the podcast. Every level is packed to the gills with machine-gun guards and trip-lasers are attached to shotguns that take off half your health. I can still clear a level with no deaths after five or six (or seven or eight) tries, but without any wiggle room the game is much less fun to play. You get seen when you don't mean to, you die, period.