The Locksmith can open doors twice as quickly as the other characters; the Cleaner can put guards to sleep; the Lookout is able to see enemies who are not in the player's direct line of sight; the Pickpocket owns a coin-collecting monkey; the Mole can dig through walls and open vents quickly; the Gentleman has the ability to temporarily change his appearance, making the player less detectable to enemies; the Redhead can charm enemies into not attacking and making characters follow her; and the Hacker has the ability to upload computer viruses to security systems, shutting them off temporarily.
Many in-game items, including smoke bombs and C4 explosives, as well as firearms including a shotgun and machine gun, can be picked up. The quantity of the gun's ammunition is limited and replenished by collecting ten coins that are scattered around the game's map. In the cooperative mode, only the player who collects the coins receives more ammunition. Levels can be completed in many ways based on the characters chosen by the player or players. Players work together to complete the levels; if one of the players dies, another must revive him or her before finishing the level. When playing the single-player mode, unlocked characters can be used to play through any level.
Plot
The Locksmith is being questioned by Inspector Voltaire about his recent actions with the Pickpocket, the Cleaner, and Lookout. They discuss the characters' imminent deportation from prison in Monaco and escape on a truck alongside another inmate, the Mole. They meet the Gentleman while stealing passports and money to be smuggled out of the country; the Gentleman says he is under house arrest but manages to leave. They board the Gentleman's booby-trapped yacht and try to leave harbor; while doing so, the Gentleman receives a telephone call from a man named Davide, after which the boat detonates. After receiving medical care at a hospital, the thieves help the Gentleman dispose of evidence from a previous heist and rescue his girlfriend, the Redhead. The group steal valuables and hire the Hacker. While attempting to steal from a casino, they are caught by the police and taken back to prison.
The Pickpocket is next to be interviewed, and Inspector Voltaire declares the Locksmith has already told him everything. The Pickpocket remembers the events differently. His recollection is that the Hacker, the Redhead, and the Gentleman were also on the getaway truck. The Gentleman had experienced legal turmoil in his financial affairs, which drove the thieves to escape from prison and retrieve the money. This intrigues Inspector Voltaire, who believed the money was used to smuggle them out of the country, whereas The Pickpocket claims that it was used to smuggle weapons. The Pickpocket reveals the crooks purposefully blew up the boat to distract Interpol. Unbeknownst to Inspector Voltaire, the Gentleman is actually Davide, whose murder had been altered by the thieves. After confessing all of this to Inspector Voltaire, the Pickpocket reveals he was a spy sent by Interpol. The Pickpocket claims the Gentleman has assumed Davide's identity and that if Inspector Voltaire attempts to confirm the story, the Gentleman will know one of his accomplices is a spy.
In exchange for asylum, Inspector Voltaire then interrogates the Lookout for information on the thieves' backgrounds. He asks about the Mole, whom she says has already been caught. She then tells him about herself and says she steals because of "a moral debt". When discussing why the Locksmith disregards the law, she recalls the time when he had his hand broken after being caught counting cards in blackjack. The Lookout informs Inspector Voltaire that the Pickpocket used to be rich before he was arrested and that the Hacker had also been in trouble before; he was caught trespassing in Interpol's headquarters. She says the Gentleman garnered the nickname "The Rat" because he was responsible for notifying the police and getting everyone back jail. The Lookout tells Inspector Voltaire that the Redhead used to be called the Blonde and was caught burgling the Gentleman's house, ultimately falling in love. The final thief she tells him about is the Cleaner, who she says is acting on behalf of his disabled brother. After disclosing this information, they begin discussing asylum.
Finally, Inspector Voltaire and Candide, a constable are told the Locksmith, the Lookout, the Pickpocket, and the Hacker have escaped from prison. The two try and fail to recapture the thieves, who meet the Gentleman, for whom Candide works. Candide poisons Inspector Voltaire and the Mole disposes of the body.
Reception
Monaco was positively received by critics, garnering "generally favorable reviews" for both the desktop and Xbox 360 releases. Despite praise, the Xbox 360 release sold poorly and Andy Schatz believed this was because of the weak demonstration version, the delayed release, and the bugs in the multiplayer mode.
The cooperative mode, one of the main selling points of the game, was lauded by reviewers. Marty Sliva (IGN) regarded it as being one of the best co-op experiences he had in a while, stating that the gameplay mechanics made it one of the most unique and addictive games released in 2013. This sentiment was echoed by Jeff Grubb (VentureBeat), who complimented the game's ability to be both an arcade and a strategic game, and James Murff (GameFront), along with Aaron Riccio (Slant Magazine) and the Edge staff, commended the replayability. Riccio described it as a "well-oiled four-player game", as well as going on to compliment the plot progression. Despite almost universal praise for the cooperative mode, reviewers did not express the same admiration for the single-player mode. Grubb said the game should be skipped if there were no plans on playing it cooperatively. Scott Nichols (Digital Spy) agreed and remarked that while the game contained lots of content to discover, it is best done cooperatively. Danielle Riendeau (Polygon) considered the single-player mode unfinished and said it needed work. Roger Hargreaves (Metro) differed from the many other reviewers and said that despite their preference for the cooperative modes, he called the single-player "surprisingly compelling". David Sanchez (GameZone) called the game "bold", and, like Hargreaves, enjoyed both gamemodes.
Some reviewers criticised the repetitiveness of the levels. Francesco Serino (Eurogamer Italy) criticised the variation and complained it was not long until he saw similar levels because of the game's simplicity. While saying they were usually well made, he opined that they were often made for certain characters, which adds more gameplay because of the time it takes to discover the best strategies. Alex Navarro (Giant Bomb) proposed a similar viewpoint, stating some of the later levels turned into "tedious exercises in trial-and-error". Conversely, Anton Bjurvald (Eurogamer Sweden) said he fell in love with the simplicity of the graphics. However, he took issue with the artificial intelligence, critiquing them as being too easy to fool.
