JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEE, but seriously this game is insane!

Let’s say you took Team Fortress 2, then mixed in DotA (shaken, not stirred), with just a touch of Global Agenda.  What do you end up with?  TetAm ForDotress Agen-2, or in layman’s terms: Monday Night Combat.  If by now my incoherent blather hasn’t already alerted you: Yes, I’ve been up all night playing this game, and yes, I am quite hyped up about it… and Spunky Cola ©.

Spunky Indeed…

Monday Night Combat is essentially chaos.. seriously this game is literally the most chaotic, insane, fast-paced game I have ever played.  Just typing about it gets me pumped… or was that the 6 Sunkists I drank while playing?  Whatever!  The object is simple, destroy your opposing team’s Moneyball.

When players enter the arena they can choose from 6 available classes: Sniper, Support, Assault, Tank, Gunner, and Assassin.  Each class has their own set of unique abilities that they bring to the table.  For example, the Assassin can walk up to less armored classes like the Sniper or Support, and beat the crap out of them with a melee ability.  The Gunner can make himself stationary and essentially become the most deadly turret known to man (I’m a big fan).  Meanwhile, the Support can hack into enemy turrets, thus turning them against their masters, upgrade his team’s turrets, build his own unique turret, call in an airstrike, and heal other players.  Engineer eat your heart out indeed!

As the match starts the DotA aspect of the game becomes clear, both bases spawn robots that will run down preset lanes in an attempt to weaken your opponents Moneyball.  From here, well, “chaotic strategy” takes hold.  As players kill robots and each other they will earn money.  This can then be spent on themselves, or purchasing turrets and specialized robots.  Don’t be so hasty as to dismiss buying upgraded robots either because, well, they don’t take too kindly to being underestimated.

Ooooooooooooohhh, that’s gonna leave a mark until NEXT MONDAY!

What I meant by chaotic strategy is that from the moment you leave the spawn until the end of the game, everything you do will have an impact.  If you get a killing streak and decide to spend your hard fought blood money on upgrading all of your turrets, your base will be significantly harder to breach.  Or perhaps you spend it all on yourself in the hopes that you can continue to obliterate your opponent’s faces.  Maybe you coordinate with your teammates to all push one lane with a specialized robot, or perhaps your huddle around your bases’ turrets in an attempt to gain a few kills with the knowledge that you may live a few seconds longer, Sniper headshots pending of course.

Personally I love trying to coordinate a “Juice Rush”.  Juice is gained by killing robots and enemy players, and once you have a full bar you can unleash it to obtain significant increases to your health, damage, speed, etc.  Its sort of like getting an Ubercharge or Kritzkrieg in Team Fortress 2.  Eventually the game will come to the point where giant robots, called Jackbots, will spawn and players will be pretty darn powerful from upgrading themselves.  One team will inevitably push forward and be victorious, and the match will end.

Wait just a second though, because there’s more! MNC does in fact have a meta-leveling and currency system.  After each game you will earn a varying amount of experience and cash earnings.  From what I understand, your level helps determine things that aren’t necessarily game breaking, but will have a noticeable effect.  Like how fast your abilities will come off of their cooldowns for example.  This allows even the most casual of players to still have a fighting chance against the more hardcore ones without having to care what level they are at.

Money is spent on unlocking custom class slots.  These allow you to take a premade class like the Support and adjust him a little bit.  Each class has 3 Sponsors from different companies within the game, each with their own benefits.  Having Spunky © as your Primary Sponsor will help you accumulate Juice faster.  Itchy Finger © will increase your rate of fire, etc. etc.  By unlocking the Custom Class slot, you can choose what sponsors you want on a certain class.  Again, its nothing gamebreaking, but it lets you adjust a class to fit your playstyle.

In the end, MNC is just pure, chaotic, over the top fun.  From the hilarious comments by the announcer, the geniune gameplay mechanic of shooting the mascot, to even the stadiums themselves, each little aspect helps build this wonderful sense of enjoyment and adrenaline.  It feels like you’re in an action movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously.  Yes, dying and getting owned sucks, but if you play with your friends you will all be laughing too hard to care.  For the low price of admission, only $13.49 on Steam, I say go for it.  Sure, you just spent loads of money on holiday gifts, but I promise this isn’t a purchase you’re going to regret anytime soon.

Other Noteworthy Mentions:

• There is a single player mode which is based upon defending your Moneyball against robots, a great way to get used to the game and learn the classes.
• Additionally, there is a team version of the aforementioned survival style gameplay.
• Many, many, Mascots were harmed in the making of this article.