Monster League

My first thought pulling up Monster League was genuine excitement. Split-screen up to four players, online up to eight, horror-themed monster characters like mummies, werewolves and yetis, six distinct game modes including standard racing and a goal-scoring mode where you fire explosive pumpkins. On paper that is a Saturday-night couch session waiting to happen, and the cartoonish art style holds up well enough that you can tell what is happening at all four corners of a split screen without squinting. The driving itself is classic arcade kart fare. Controls are approachable and light, which is actually a genuine compliment when you are trying to hand a controller to someone who has never touched a racing game. There is drifting, triggered by holding space while turning, though community feedback points out the default key layout needs a remap before it feels natural on a gamepad. Weapons loadouts include missiles, shoves, mines, and shields, and you spend them reactively against opponents during the race. The moment-to-moment loop of picking your shots and dodging incoming hits works better with humans in the room than it does against the AI, which feels thin. The six game modes add some genuine variety beyond straight races, and the horror theme gives the whole thing a fun Halloween party energy that even non-gamers tend to respond to. Here is the problem, and it is a real one that you should factor into the buying decision. The last developer update was posted back in 2019. Monster League launched into Early Access in October 2018 and has been frozen there ever since. The vehicle customisation workshop that was promised was never implemented. The online player pool is extremely small, which means finding a live match against strangers is effectively impossible at this point. Solo play against AI is shallow and runs out of steam fast. The game basically only delivers on its promise when you have three other humans in the same room. If you are genuinely shopping for a budget split-screen couch kart racer and you have three warm bodies ready to plug in controllers, Monster League gives you enough modes and enough chaos to fill a couple of hours. The art is clean, the frame rate is stable, and the low barrier to entry means you can get a first-time player up to speed in five minutes flat. As a dead Early Access title with no online population and no completion in sight, it sits permanently in that awkward zone between a bargain and a regret. Solo players and anyone hoping for active online should not bother.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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