The original Monaco debuted almost a decade ago, back in 2013, challenging players - either alone or with three co-op friends in tow - to orchestrate the perfect heist. As in the movies, that required assembling a crew of uniquely able criminals (from locksmiths and tunnellers to a pickpocket with a monkey in this case) before attempting to navigate each labyrinthine map’s security and patrols in order to claim the prize. Chaos usually ensues. “As Austin Wintory’s music-hall piano struggles gloriously to keep pace with your moment-to-moment decisions,” wrote Eurogamer’s Christian Donlan in his 9/10 review, “as fountains and fireplaces are captured beautifully with a few shimmering squares of colour, as the best-laid plans are confounded by inept teamwork, it’s hard not to marvel at the economy, the wholeness, the underlying confidence of Monaco.” So well-received was Monaco that it’s perhaps surprising it didn’t receive a follow-up sooner. That’s all about to change, however, with the news Pocketwatch Games and original creator Andy Schatz are working on a sequel for eventual release on PC (and possibly other unannounced platforms). The developer is yet to offer more than a whiff of a tease of how Monaco 2, which is still in the “early stages” of development, will expand on its predecessor, but at least one major change should be immediately noticeable from the concept art below. The original game’s appealing, if rather lo-fi, top-down blueprint-inspired visual style has now been jettisoned in favour of fully 3D, isometric levels with considerably more detail - all of which have been “procedurally generated by an AI mastermind designed to concoct high-stakes challenges and infinite sneaky, stealy fun”. Pocketwatch says the shift to 3D has enabled it to focus its sequel on verticality, with players now able to do things like scale walls, tunnel under bank vaults, and repel down from ceilings to tamper with security computers. As with its predecessor, Monaco 2 will support both solo and co-op play, and Pocketwatch is promising an “entirely new rogues’ gallery of skilled thieves and infiltration experts”. There’s not much else to report at present, but Pocketwatch says it’ll be regularly sharing its progress on Monaco 2’s development via its Twitch channel if you’re eager to learn more.
