Unbalanced Night Combat!

After several hours of playing, swapping classes, and dying, I’ve noticed a few interesting things about this game, not many of which are good. I’ve structured this into classes, then into a final conclusion.

I started playing as the assassin, a fast close quarter ninja-like character. I became instantly aware that all of her attacks were pretty useless; she seems to be made for annoying people. You can unlock a stealth ability which allows players to, obviously, become harder to see. Each time you upgrade (to a maximum of three levels) you become harder to spot, but it counts for sod because approaching to attack makes you painfully obvious to spot. Even if you grapple them you won’t do enough damage to kill them- grappling leaves you open for a small time in which they can attack you, which is just enough time for them to kill you. That makes this class useless, even though she can steal kills pretty well. They do, however, work well in twos or on blitz mode, which is a kind of horde mode. She has a dagger (which upgrades into a sword) and a shuriken gun. And trust me, it’s not as cool as it sounds. Not at all.

Second off I tried the assault, but there’s not much to say about him. He floats about and gets shot down easily. He’s okay for support, but is useless in other areas. He has a machine gun and a grenade launcher.

Third I tried the gunner. The tank of the game, this guy can deal out damage and take it like there’s no tomorrow. More of a tank than the tank class, he can cut through bots and enemies, and even turn into a turret, which can save him from a head shot. Should an assassin attack him, he will only take one- to three-quarters damage, depending if the attack was from behind or the front, the behind obviously dealing more damage. Aside from the fact you can almost always see the assassin, if they DO get to attack you, then the gunner has a floor bash attack that sends the enemy flying backwards, usually off the map, giving you time to either heal or open fire. This character uses a mini gun (upgrades to dual minigun as if that was needed) and a cluster launcher, which is a lot like the assault only over-powered. This class can take on an entire enemy team, and if used right, two of them can carry the entire game.

Fourth up is the sniper. This class is obviously not great for close range, yet is still better at it than the assassin. He has a grapple, which can one-shot people after being upgraded. He can also lay traps and use flash-bangs. It’s odd that he is a good choice, since the maps are small and have a lot of turns and corners. He has an UZI and a sniper rifle. He is a very strong choice and pretty easy to use, though he has the most annoying voice of any character by far.

Now, fifth is the “tank.” I’m sure we’re all skeptical of how much of a tank the tank is compared to the gunner. He uses some kind of a jet thruster as a gun and a laser beam. The laser is pretty decent for long-range, and the thruster is good for medium and close. Where as most enemies will grapple, he will do a spin attack, like something out of Zelda. He dies pretty quickly but can deal a decent amount of damage.

Finally, we have the support. He has a beam gun, which can heal and cover allies in a shield, and a very strong shotgun. He can deploy turrets and hack enemy ones, as well as allied ones to make them more powerful. By utilizing the healing ray and a turret you deploy, this class can be a force to be reckoned with. Unless you’re up against a gunner, in which case you’re boned. He can rack up a few kills and support his team well.

As for gameplay there are three different kinds of game types, two of which are basically the same:
Local Blitz: A horde mode where you team up on the same television and take on masses of robots.
Xbox LIVE Blitz: A horde mode where you team up on Xbox Live and take on masses of robots.
Crossfire: An odd twist of tower defense and team death match, utilizing teamwork (or massing gunners) You must defend your money ball and send robots to attack the other team’s money ball.

I do like the fact this game allows split screen co-op offline and online, i.e. two players can go on Crossfire or Xbox LIVE Blitz on the same television.

After a while you will earn “Highlights,” which are basically just like titles from Modern Warfare 2, only now you have to buy them. You’ll also unlock custom classes for purchase, which adds a kind of perk called sponsors. It does not, however, allow you to mix and match weapons.

Other than what’s been said, I noticed some “background things” There are a few adverts that run in-game, a lot like Borderlands, which are pretty funny. The game plays on humour a lot, and takes on a sports look on the game. This of course means they have to add a half-naked woman to the game. I was pretty surprised, as I thought we’d moved past that stage in sports. There’s a creepy mascot, too, and you can get his head as an avatar award. Apparently the person in the mascot costume is a fan of the game. The game seems to be a little stupid, and can’t balance teams very well. The announcer adds an upbeat twist to the game, though. All in all, despite the unbalanced versus mode, it’s pretty fun to play. A decent buy, but not great.

As always I spoke with the community about it- many agreed and some obviously disagreed. However, an on-going trend is the fact that it is very unbalanced. I’ve heard from some people that the assassin is by far the worst class, thus making it unbalanced. This is something they need to work on.

Games: Monday Night Combat, Platforms: Xbox Live Arcade, Genres: Shooter, Publishers: Microsoft Game Studios, Developers: Uber Entertainment