PLATFORM: Wii
RELEASE DATE: 10/2008
PUBLISHER: EA
ESRB RATING: E
Progress: 100%
I was quite excited to find Monopoly for the Wii and bought it without hesitation. My main motivation being my ongoing mission to persuade my disenchanted friends (and said girlfriend) into playing the Wii with me. It worked like a charm. Despite some major problems I had with the game; it brought hours of fun, routy competition and some long nights.
There is little to no change to the traditional game play. Roll the dice by shaking the Wiimote. Move ahead, purchase or pay rent on the properties, land on chance or go to jail. Some key differences from playing the board game include no corrupt bankers, no paper money or missing game pieces. The graphics on the Wii are about NGC quality, which I consider pretty good but not great.
Need a break from a long game? Feel free to pause, watch some TV, run an errand and get back to the game when you're ready. The game remembers the last game being played and you can pick up where you left off. There is something to be said for going for the marathon match and playing until one person has won it all.
The problems begin with the game navigation. I have a feeling this was a port from another system (Either XBox or PS) and the developers never actually played a game through on the Wii version. Instead of activating the D pad controls and/or motion controls. You are forced to point the Wiimote and click A for each action you take. It is very tedious to move from menu to menu or choose the small button options in front of you. Some of the "Press OK" menus, to confirm certain selections, are just plain stupid and get irritating pretty quickly.
In addition to the navigation, the games' fatal flaws include not taking advantage of camera angles, poor character design, and not even attempting a real 3D environment. Your left thinking, "Wouldn't it have been cool if they had done________?" At best, the level designs, which are different versions of your standard Monopoly board, are fun and cute but not especially rewarding as you unlock the levels.
All in all, Monopoly is just like the board game; and what I mean is, it is what you make of it. The friends you bring with you, the moments you share and winning is always nice. So give it a shot if your looking for a change of pace or to get your girlfriend to play video games with you. Monopoly is a timeless game but this version for the Wii seriously missed the mark.
D
Pay poor tax of $15
the best thing about monopoly are the die cast metal game pieces. wii put itself at a disadvantage from the start trying to make the game crossover.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine recently bought the actual board game version on a whim and we've been playing it a decent amount, so this was a cool find. They redesigned the overall game (graphically) from when I was a kid and changed the color of the money as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually right with you on this review. I loved the physical Monopoly back in the days when Family Matters, Step by Step and Boy Meets World dominated my TV. Very smart move by Hasbro to take this successful franchise to the digital world, and I can readily admit (from my addiction to the PS3 and free online version) that it's just as good as I remember. It certainly beats playing online poker and losing real money.
ReplyDeleteGood review, and the gameplay issues you mention probably were caused by the PS3, but that doesn't take away from my enjoyment. Long live the racecar (and by the way, my DVR still includes the aforementioned TV shows, they're just in syndication these days).