Monster League Reviews

Starting with a short verdict that I think describes Render Cube's debut title on Steam. Monster League is without doubt a good introduction of Render Cube; it is fun, it has potential, the dedication and work shows well in a positive light. Though it has its own issues, which I'll describe later. [h1]Overview[/h1] Monster League is a racing game with a gothic halloween theme, except there are no disguses or candy, think of it as "[i]Hotel Translyvania[/i] but it got its own racing game." The analogue probably isn't a bullseye one, but there is a point in it. At the time of this review it was in its earliest stage of Alpha. There are five unique characters, each their own characteristics that define their own playstyles in racing and perhaps in other gamemodes. There 6 gamemodes, each up to maximum 8 players: [list] [*][b]Lap Race[/b], individual players race around a track of turns, hills, jumps, and dangers to score the fastest track time total from maximum 5 laps, canisters of boosters can be picked up to gain yourself extra speed [*][b]Soccer[/b], 2 teams of 4 use their karts to push a large ball around the court, the goal is to push the ball into the opposite team's cage, the team who scores the most goals wins. If you are familiar with [i]Rocket League[/i], then you'll definitely feel yourself a bit home here. [*][b]Hockey[/b], same as Soccer, except you push around a large puck on an icy court (not slippery) [*][b]Battleground[/b], individual players race around an arena to call dibs on pick-ups, necessary to gain weapons to score hits on the other players, the player with the most hits scored wins [*][b]Golden Egg[/b], similar to Battleground, but the goal is to capture and hold a Ballisk who will lay golden(!) eggs over time, the more you hold it, the more score you total. The player who manages to hold the Ballisk the longest wins. [*][b]Capture the Frog[/b], I wager this is a familiarity to your eyes, eh? That's right, this is Capture the Flag, except the flag is a frog. The arena is very large and has lot of obstacles, you've to bring the frog back to your base while your comrades protect you from the other team trying to stopping you. [/list] [h1]My reflection[/h1] When I first opened the game, I was confused by that the mouse had no use so the controls was limited to the keyboard, I picked up my Xbox 360 gamepad instead and found myself familiar with the controls. I begun my first impressions by exploring the menu then started my very first game of one lap racing... I found myself struggling with the control to drift, which is Jump + Steer at once, but the problem was that I always jumped first when I tried to steer into a drift, to my own chargain. To boost, one has to hold down both reverse and acceleration, coming from my favourite game of all time; Jak X, I fumbled at this at start, but got a hang of it. Except I kept thinking "perhaps I could had changed the controls just to feel more comfortable with it." Of course, as a newcomer, I lagged behind and got in 4th place out of 8. Super Mario Kart was familiar to me, but the physics was different and I loved me a thrill of ruse, so I exhausted my booster too soon and found myself overtaken by the bots who knew about every quirk and nook of the track - it was in their nature. So I was wrestling against the last three bots tossing skulls, snowballs, and dynamite-bats at each other. I never managed to get in the first place at end of racing; I sure do have got some way to go. Giving up on lap racing to explore the other gamemodes. I enjoyed both Hockey and Battlegrounds throughly. Managed to score our teams goals in both Soccer and Hockey, but some minutes were tug-o-war that dragged on as every player rammed into the ball and into each other. Oh they scored a self-goal, whoops! I carried on to Battlegrounds, found myself comfortable and familiar with the gamemode and I quickly mastered it, enjoying it. Golden Egg felt familiar, but both new and challenging, not quite the same when you are 7 and chase the same guy, then the next guy who caught the reward, and ultimately yourself hunted and pursuited by a hail of weaponry in a bid to stop you - just like it when I was holding the first place and had competetors on my tail. Capture the Frog was familiar, but also odd in one way; the space you had to your own bid was quite large, once the game started, you'd barely get to see your teammates again as they desire into the depths of the arena. One minute in, with two minutes remaining on the match timer; no one still had taken the Frog, as if they were too busy sparring with each other. So I took the frog - I found myself unhindered all the way to the base. Felt like that Capture the Frog had potential and had a grain of fun in it, but it didn't work well with the bots in their current state, and the maps you could pick felt like desolate deserts. In the end, I bit my lip and reflected over my experience. Was it fun? - Yes. Was it thrilling? - Not much. Are there room for improvements? - Certainly. Would I play it again? - Yes. More so when Render Cube gets further with the development. Does it have potental? - Yes. I hope more are on its way. That's where we get to pin down some issues I hope we could take a look into. [h1]Issues[/h1] This section is mostly aimed for developers to read, but I leave it in my review for clarity's sake and bring some attention to some issues I've had with the game that impacted the review, in my opinion. The two colours used for the buttons in the menu and the interface feel a bit difficult to identify. Specially when there are only two buttons, which is when it is no longer obvious. I became concerned for the colour-blind, I think it would be super if indictators were added; such as small arrows inside the box or corners on the box. Currently, the only way for you to tell where on the lap of a racing track is a straight bar at top of the screen, when players reach end of the lap, their indictators loop back to the start of the bar. I had also a bit trouble telling where I was due to the colours and they would often overlap each other. Once again, it would be helpful if the indictator was unique to the player so they can tell where they are and distinguish from others competeting the same position. ,It would be great if there was a minimap of the track instead. How about that? Thirdly, I would like to be able to change the controls by myself, making my own presets. Since I've found some of the binds a bit uncomfortable, the current presets work, but I've got my own wishes for them. Fourth. I don't feel the racing to be quite thrilling and I feel it is a bit difficult to catch and push down leading players or bots, specially when they got the upper hand and already is more than ten seconds ahead. If we had something similar to a nuke, a blue shell, or an energy ball (Jak X's own equivalent of blue shell), then it would perhaps be easier to win back the lost time. Fifth, without the drifting, it feels like it doesn't have the thrill. Maybe give each racer little more speed, and consider adding "speed lines" effect to give us a sense that we are actually racing for the best track time, in high speed. The dirft as-is, both mechanic-wise and from my point of view on the controls, is difficult to accomplish and control. Perhaps it could be blamed on my own lack of familarity with the mechanic. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] The game has its own issues and thorns that might prick some. But that's expected from a debut game early in the development. This has potential and provides a great opportunity for the developers to learn and shape Monster League to a racing game with a snuggly [i]Hotel Translyvania[/i]-like theme in their own style. I can't say if I would recommend it for everyone, but I would say it is worth a try! Someday in the future as the game develops and reaches a new stage, I may go back to renew the review. I am looking forward to it.

First things first : The game has incredible potential ^^ Here are my first impressions in 20 minutes, commenting with gameplay : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXEA4SfrQZU So here's what i like already : -Nice car physics, real physics, but needs a couple of tweaks here and there -Nice music atmoshperic but you need to hear the karts more, when i put music and effects on 100% you dont hear your Kart anymore really. -2 tracks that already look amazing, also other arena's and gamemodes that are really cool -Cool characters, they should make commentaries !!! the werewolf should scream and the Skeleton say stupid stuff. -Add more halloween ambiance to every track, on the Pyramide track, it could be more "Halloweeny" What has to be improved : -A lot more racing tracks and focus less on the arena modes. -Does the game target mutliplayer audience or Solo ? because if it targets to be a multiplayer game it is going to be hard to make the players enter the game. THEREFORE : I wish the developpers concentrate on the solo, if possible. -Make a customisation system of karts and the monsters -Yes there needs to be unlocks, hats, cosmetics and such, to make the game progression friendly. The developpers say they will finish the game in 6 months but in the actual state i would recommend they take at least a good year (1 year). Positive score because the game has potential and is already fun. ROger out ^^

It's pretty legit so far. Look I realize its early access, but so far I'm liking it a lot. I want to see more controller support and customization, but that said I got my steam controller working and it plays fine with a little tweaking. I have a powerful rig so with the graphics maxed it's smooth, clean looking and so far glitch free. Overall I like what I see and hope to see this game take off. My only other developer suggestions would be to have a bit more available weapons and more monsters to pick from, like the creature of the black lagoon and some more classics (not a must, but why not right?) I recommend taking the plunge if you're looking for a fun Kart game with multiple modes of play, its well rounded so far. Edit: Side note i played a game online with 2 other people once. That part of the game needs some ironing out as it was a laggy and spotty and not smooth enough to play.

i really like mini games that you have fun playing a liitle bit, this game is a low cost mini game when i saw it i deside to buy it, reminds me mario kart/crash, it has 6 game modes, i tried them with a friend, was nice, needs some more optimazation ok early access just saying... the only 2 things i didn;t like is that hockey and ball mode are almost the same mode, but in ball it;s just harder andthe second one that there isn't streched 1080p resolution (2560x1080p) option buuuut ok ultrawide monitors aren't for gaming i knew that i am ok with fullhd windowed this isn't the only game that don't support ultrawide monitors. i like the fact i saw (at least) qhd resolution, i believe qhd is more basic to have that streched 1080p and i hope it perfoms good in qhd imma have one in few months.

It's a cute, fun, entertaining game and is a worthy rival of the Sonic and Mario kart racing games, it supports 4player Splitscreen, 8player Online, Co-op on 3 gamemodes and free4all on the other 3, it looks amazing on 4K Ultra and it being in Early Access it will grow into a masterpiece of party gaming enjoyment, this game is definitely worth the money.

This game is deader than dead, and probably Ungrateful. It's an OK game, but not worth the price for what you get, and no updates since 2019. Grab your coffin and start burying it now. It's not going to rise from the grave anytime soon.

Some nice looking tracks, fun gameplay, and multiple entertaining bonus modes. Too bad this early access title seems to have been left to rot! Can't recommend it at it's current price! ONE MINUTE REVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JCj5VX5DQA

Seems i've been waiting all my life for a game like this... i'm a real Horror fan and absolutely love anything spooky related. When i saw this on steam it was an instant buy. I've played quite a bit now and i'm loving it. The movement is really responsive, the character and artwork design in my opinion is flawless, they've got that absolutely spot on and the music fits the game like a glove. If this game was £50 i would have still purchased it....Early access , it can only get better...See ya later, i've got my Halloween fix now :)

As a massive fan of horror, I was very excited when I heard of this game. Having purchased it, I was not disappointed! It’s a very fun Mario Kart style racing game, but with cartoony horror characters and is fast becoming one of my all-time favourite games! The game is currently on Early Access, meaning it is still in development. Here’s a quick pros and cons list aimed mostly at the developers for their feedback: Graphically the game looks gorgeous! Racing maps are big, very detailed and the arenas look amazing. I would like to see some more horror/creepy things put into some levels though. For example, even though the Egyptian and ice levels are great, there is not much horror in them. It would be improved with addition of some kind of horror theme. Suggested additional maps could be things like graveyard, perhaps a map for each character (Vlad has Haunted castle, Cleo has Egyptian level and so Frank could have Mad Scientist’s Lab, Skeleton could have something like the Haunted Docks with ghost ships etc.) The main features I love are race and battle mode. I am really looking forward to seeing more maps in battle. I think the developers should concentrate on these 2 aspects of the game. Hockey is also a lot of fun but the other modes are good as an added extra but I don’t think are quite as enjoyable as battle or race. I can see that a drift mode is coming soon, but drifting is something I am not particularly interested in with this game. I really want to see the game expanding more with battle and race. The only real criticism with the game is the speed. The cars all seem to move quite slowly, which is ok for battle but seems a bit too slow for race. It is refreshing in some ways, as most racing games seem almost too fast but I do feel in race some people would miss the speed element. Perhaps include a feature which lets you change the CC of the cars allowing very fast racing or slow, pending player preference. Overall, a fantastic game already! Highly recommended and I can’t wait to see what is coming next. The Developers should give themselves a massive pat on the back. Fang-tastic!!!!

It's fun. All negative feedback about drifting are old. They've revamped the physics and drifting mechanics already.