But not only is it an MMO, its abbreviation is MMO.

Monster Madness Online is a title that is currently in an Alpha stage. And by Alpha, I mean there are only a couple of features from what the real game will be like for you to test out. But you can do that now, and do it for free, by going to the official site. I have looked around on the site and can’t find any sort of NDA, but that’s probably because this isn’t even a beta, and things are subject to change. The game is being developed by “the people who brought you Dungeon Defenders,” and that was a pretty cool game if I do say so myself. Unlike Dungeon Defenders, this isn’t a single or multiplayer only game, nor is it centered around tower defense mechanics. This is a shooter MMO, and all of the features are unclear at this point, but here’s what I do know:

The Alpha allows you to try out any of the four characters. I only played one, but as far as I can tell they all start with the same weapons, and no abilities are immediately available. Experience is accrued as you play, and levels give you points to spend on upgrading your character, though it seemed limited to health/stamina (think mana) and damage type upgrades, nothing particularly special. Gear was unlocked through leveling, but I assume this won’t be the case once you’re actually running kill ten rats quests. The Alpha only provides two game modes, one being a co-op survival, and the other a pvp capture the flag mode. I tried out both, and can see the appeal of both. I assume these modes will be nestled within the game, similar to battlegrounds in other massives.

One of the coolest features I enjoyed was the fact that you can zoom all the way in to first person mode, zoom out a little to a standard third person view, or even farther to a more diablo-esque 3/4 view. The latter was the hardest to control but could come in handy in certain situations. I’m wondering how everything will play out when the game’s other, more MMO-like portions are revealed. I’ve signed up for the beta, so I look forward to finding out for myself. Another one of the features mentioned is the ability to play the game in your browser, or even on smart phones, with cross-platform play. That’s something that hasn’t been tried before, and playing an MMO on a smart phone doesn’t seem very easy, but perhaps there’s something they know that I don’t. Either way if you are looking for something new to play that isn’t the norm, this might be something you’d be interested in. It’s going to be free to play, so it won’t hurt to see if you like it now.