Monaco 2

Another person who loved the first one, and isn't enjoying the sequel. For me the biggest issue is game play - it seems like there is only one specific approach to the map, and it leaves little room for creativity and chaos. The player powers feel lacklustre, the trinkets too heavy a trade-off, and the traps too plentiful. The maps feel overly large, making collecting coins a chore, and a slog to redo if you fail near the end. Particularly after mission 3, there are way too many turret guns, NPCs and guards wandering around in way that no longer makes it feel like an approachable puzzle. And why are the convicts and guards both against you, but fine to wander freely together? Combined with the occasional bugged guard or chest, levels can quickly get frustrating.

Sadly this game cannot compare to the original Monaco. The game play is very linear, there is only one real path you can take to complete the game. The classes are not really important like they were in the original game- the skills in each class are not really important to completing the level so the characters feel empty and flat The graphics are kind of nice but the forced perspective is jarring: there is no way to turn the camera so half the map feels like it is hidden. Remember how much fun multiplayer was in the original? Yeah forget about that, there are literally no players playing. At the time of this review there was exactly ONE player playing according the steamcharts.com, with a 30 day average of 2.2 players (and that was an increase over the prior 30 days of 1.65%). Compare that to the original Monaco, which is now 12 years old, it at the same time had 10 players and a 30 day average of 5.3. I was really looking forward to Monaco 2 and was extremely disappointed to see what they did to the game. In short, don't waste your money. I wish I had returned it instead of waiting to see if it picked up a playerbase to try muliplayer. Buy another game... ANY other game, or if you want a better use of the money, take the $15 and flush it down the nearest toliet. Watching your money breifly go swirling around the bowl will be many times more entertaining than this game. I loved the original game and have many hours in it. I couldn't even tolerate 2 hours of this game.

Let me preface this by saying that I enjoyed my time with Monaco 2 for the most part. There's a reason I have nearly 200 hours in it. However, given the current state of the game, I do not expect others to get the same level of enjoyment out of it that I did and thus cannot recommend it. Firstly, let's address the biggest problem. Monaco 2 is branded as a *co-op* heisting game. Unfortunately, despite only releasing about 3 months ago (at the time of this review), the game is basically already dead online. The steam player count is currently struggling to get above 10. Even if you do find a lobby online, you cannot join a heist in progress and can only join at the start of the mission (though you can spectate heists in progress). This isn't something exclusive to Monaco 2, but heists in this game can last a *very* long time, and it's not uncommon for first time players to take half an hour to an hour to beat some of the larger missions. Basically, don't go into this expecting to play with randoms. Multiplayer is great and a lot of fun, but if you want the multiplayer experience you'll need to coordinate with friends or people on the discord. As for the gameplay itself, it's pretty good. Monaco 2 is a stealth game, but it's kind of expected that you'll be seen and chased at numerous points. Sneaking isn't all or nothing, there isn't any kind of penalty for getting detected or a trophy for going undetected. You get to sneak around as a cast of 8 characters, who have different abilities and unlockable passives, and it can be fun to coordinate ability uses together or approach the same problem in different ways because of differing abilities. You can even change characters mid heist at checkpoints. The problem is that you don't get to pick from the full cast. Each level has a set of four heisters chosen by the devs and you can only pick from those four, regardless of who you should have access to at this point in the campaign. So you may have a favorite character/play style, but just aren't able to play as them in a level for no good reason. Aside from that, the game can have severe difficulty problems. Sometimes the game is way too easy and you will be swimming in extra lives. Other times there are some particularly awful rooms (such as the final rooms of Mission 5) that will drain all your lives. (NOTE: Mission 5 actually got patched recently to make it easier, but the ending still seems very difficult for new players). Either way, typically just beating a level isn't very hard as you can brute force it with certain character abilities or tools. The harder challenges involve going for some extra goals such as: "Clean it Out" (grab all the loot), "Smash and Grab" (finish in a short time), and earning a Silver/Gold/Greedy Rank (grabbing as much as possible while going fast). Clean It Out is something you could realistically do on your first playthrough as there's no time limit. Smash and Grab can require some good planning or knowledge of game mechanics. But by far the biggest challenge is Greedy ranks, which are frankly way too difficult for your average player, especially solo. These were the biggest time sink for me and were more frustrating than fun due to strict time requirements on large levels necessitating near perfect play and routing just to get close. Other things: -The music is great and I'll listen to the soundtrack on Youtube from time to time. -A lot of mechanics are not properly tutorialized (Smoke Bombs are way more powerful than just losing guards, Explosives can destroy doors and lasers, you can pick up sleeping guards and store them in hiding places to remove them from the map, etc.). -The story is okay at first, then just gets nonsensical. The main four have everything they want by the halfway point and the game both acknowledges this and then promptly ignores it and makes them keep going anyway. The last five missions or so feel very rushed, as there's a lot of plot threads you don't get a resolution on. Characters inexplicably survive something that absolutely should've killed them, one of the heisters should be frankly untouchable by the guards near the end but is treated like nothing special, and the game has to shoehorn a character into a certain mission at the end because there needs to be four heisters to pick from. At the end of the day, if you've got some friends to play it with and it's on a good sale, I'd say go for it, but right now it has a litany of problems that keep me from being able to recommend it to someone who isn't already interested in the series.

Just go play the original its sooo much better

I wish I could speak to the actual experience of playing this game, but I can't. The game doesn't support customizable keybinds, so I'm unable to play the game in comfortable hand positions (I'm left-handed, so using my right hand to play with WASD is awkward). I suppose I could play with my left on WASD and right on the mouse like most people, but why should I? Practically every other game released today has customizable keybinds. Monaco 1 had them back in 2015. Half Life is from 2000-whatever and it has them. Even some flash games support changing keys. It's a basic accessibility feature that the developers have overlooked, and I have no obligation to change how I play games to indulge a developer's negligence. I almost feel bad, because this feels like such a stupid reason to leave a negative review, but it's also such a stupid, basic feature to not have implemented in a game at release. I would have refunded this if I could, but I held onto it for too long in hopes that a patch or update would add the feature. I've asked on forums and troubleshooting pages, but I've never received an acknowledgement of the issue. So, if you are left-handed or just have a preferred set of keybinds, don't bother. I don't know if this applies to AZERTY keyboards, but if you do take that risk, keep your finger on the refund request. Don't end up like me.

Genuinely not as fun as the predecessor. Monaco 1, is WAAAAAAAAY more understandable, me and my daughter played this together and were completely lost in what to do. This is a game the developers made more because of "can we`?" instead of "would this actually be fun?" The graphics here are an actual hindrance to what is going on. If you make a game about managing chaos, maybe dont make the environment impossible to read, we spent most of the time thinking: what is going on here? why did i die? where did i mess up?

do better

The original stood out with its unique blend of top-down stealth, co-op heists, and character-driven class abilities. With this sequel, the developer takes the concept further, experimenting with procedural generation and a new 3D presentation, while holding onto the chaotic charm that made the first game a favorite among co-op players. The core idea remains the same: assemble a crew of specialists, infiltrate locations, and pull off daring heists while avoiding guards, cameras, and alarms. The shift to procedurally generated levels is the biggest change. Instead of hand-crafted maps, each mission is dynamically built, which boosts replayability but sacrifices some of the clever, puzzle-like design the first game was known for. The game retains the class system, with familiar roles like the Locksmith, Cleaner, and Hacker, each with distinct abilities that make teamwork essential. AI guards are smarter than before, responding more dynamically to noise, suspicious activity, and player mistakes, which adds intensity to each mission. [b]Monaco 2[/b] swaps the flat, colorful 2D aesthetic for a stylized 3D isometric look. While it loses a bit of the original’s minimalist clarity, the new style makes environments more detailed and immersive. Sound design is once again excellent, with reactive jazz music that ramps up as the action escalates. The frantic piano riffs returning mid-chase are a nostalgic highlight. Just like its predecessor, co-op is the heart of the experience. Playing with friends, planning (or failing to plan) a perfect heist, and adapting to chaos on the fly is where [b]Monaco 2[/b] shines brightest. Solo play is possible, but without teammates, missions can feel more punishing and less entertaining. [b]Monaco 2[/b] is both familiar and experimental: it captures the anarchic joy of botched heists with friends, but trades the original’s handcrafted brilliance for endless procedural variety. If you loved the chaos and camaraderie of [b]Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine[/b], the sequel is a worthy successor—though it may divide fans who preferred carefully designed levels over endless randomness. [h1]8/10[/h1] DISASTER | BAD | MEDIOCRE | OKAY | GOOD | [b][u]GREAT[/u][/b] |AMAZING| MASTERPIECE [quote] Reviewed on: Win11 Home 64-bit, Intel i5-11600K, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB TUF, 32GB DDR4-3600 RAM, 2 x Kingston NV1 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, Internet Broadband 1000/1000 Mbit[/quote] [quote] If you like this review, then please consider giving it a thumbs up. I've also reviewed other games that you might find interesting. If so please follow [u][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27418263/] Top of the Chart.[/url][/u]

slop.

After reading a bunch of reviews on this I didn't know really what to expect but I was very pleasantly surprised. I have fond memories of playing the first game and this one does feel like a better version of it. The game is absolutely worth the $10 bundle price that I paid. If you haven't played the first one pick up the bundle and play both. They're very different games but both are great in their own ways. Some of the levels are WAY too long though if you're playing them solo. Which, unless you have friends to play with, you'll be doing pretty often since there's not anyone online.