Monsters Are Coming! (Xbox) - Review

Monsters Are Coming! opens with a simple but effective premise: your entire civilisation has been forced onto a colossal city‑on‑wheels, rumbling across a dangerous landscape while waves of monsters chase you down. The story isn’t heavy, a mix of post‑apocalyptic whimsy and folklore‑tinged danger. Each biome feels like a chapter in a strange road trip, with environmental storytelling doing most of the narrative lifting: ruined towns, abandoned shrines, corrupted forests, and the remnants of past travellers who didn’t survive the journey.

Heroes add personality to the world. Each one has a distinct backstory and mechanical identity, and the game uses them to hint at the broader lore without ever slowing the pace. It’s not a narrative epic, but it is a world that feels alive, evolving, and quietly weird.

The core loop is instantly gripping. Your rolling fortress moves forward automatically, and you build structures along its spine, towers, support buildings, economy boosters, and specialised utilities. Enemy waves crash against you as you upgrade, reposition, and adapt your build on the fly.

The roguelite structure gives every run a different flavour. Power‑ups, relics, heroes, and building synergies create wild combinations, and the game encourages experimentation. The introduction of Luck and Critical Hits (from the Road of Fortune update) adds new scaling paths, letting you chase high‑burst builds or gamble on rare rewards.

Mobile Towers are one of the standout mechanics: temporary, powerful structures you can commandeer to reshape the battlefield. They break the usual rhythm and give you moments of dramatic control, letting you carve through enemy lines or reposition your firepower in clever ways.

Runs escalate quickly from manageable skirmishes to screen‑filling chaos, but the game’s readability is strong. Even at peak madness, you can usually tell what’s happening, which is crucial for a game built on improvisation.

On Xbox, the game runs smoothly. The art style is colourful, chunky, and readable, with a charming mix of cartoonish monsters and tactile building designs. The soundtrack leans into rhythmic, adventurous beats that fit the constant forward momentum of the city.

Load times are quick, and even during heavy waves the framerate holds steady. It’s not a visual powerhouse, but it’s polished, expressive, and cohesive.

The Power Corrupts paid DLC introduces the Road of Clovers, a biome drenched in mystical forests, rainbow‑lit treasure paths, and corrupted ruins. It’s visually distinct and mechanically sharper, leaning heavily into risk‑reward design.

The new corruption system is the star. Buildings can become Corrupted, gaining powerful bonuses, but every point of corruption also attracts dangerous Raiders and other threats. It’s a delicious gamble: push corruption too far and your run becomes a pressure cooker; play it safe and you miss out on some of the most exciting builds in the game.

The Leprechaun hero adds a playful twist, bringing rainbow mechanics and treasure‑focused abilities that synergise beautifully with corruption. Meanwhile, the new Town Halls, The Corrupted Lighthouse and The Grand Concord, force you into specific strategies, making each run feel more curated and challenging.

New monsters, corrupted Mobile Towers, and themed challenges round out the DLC, making it feel like a proper second layer to the game rather than a bolt‑on.

Pros

• Unique “city on wheels” tower‑defense concept

• Deep roguelite progression with strong build variety

• Mobile Towers add dynamic, strategic moments

• Road of Fortune update meaningfully expands core systems

• Power Corrupts DLC introduces excellent risk‑reward mechanics

• Smooth performance and clear visual readability

• Charming worldbuilding and hero personality

Cons

• Story is light and mostly environmental

• Difficulty spikes can feel abrupt depending on build RNG

• Some buildings and relics still feel under‑tuned

• Corruption mechanics in DLC can overwhelm newcomers

• Runs can become visually noisy at peak chaos

Monsters Are Coming! is one of the most inventive tower‑survivor hybrids on Xbox. It's a game that thrives on momentum, experimentation, and delightful chaos. The base game is already strong, but the Power Corrupts DLC elevates it with sharper systems, bolder risks, and a biome that feels genuinely fresh.

If you enjoy roguelites, tower defense, or anything with escalating madness and clever buildcraft, this is absolutely worth your time and the DLC is worth the extra leap if you’re ready for a wilder ride.

XPN Rating: 4 out of 5 (GOLD)

Monsters are Coming! is available now!