(Photo Credit: Ubisoft)
Monopoly is both beloved as a family board game staple and feared as the never-ending tussle that can go on for entirely too long. Ubisoft’s new Monopoly video game is a faithful digital recreation that also features some alternate, faster ways to play and a very charming presentation. It’s the best Monopoly game yet and an improvement over Ubisoft’s previous attempts.
If you just want to play standard Monopoly, then you’ll find all the options nicely available here. The interface is well done, allowing you to easily manage your properties, make trades with other players, and even speed up moving around the board. Particularly fun is dice rolling, as you can knock over players’ tokens over while doing so, and you can even flip the board after you are thrown in jail or forced to pay a fine. There are a lot of charming little touches that show this was a labor of love rather than just another project.
My biggest issue with Monopoly has always been how long matches can take, especially if players are stubborn and don’t want to trade. Thankfully, there are three custom game options that speed things up, so matches last from 20-45 minutes instead of an hour-plus. These include different win conditions, such as being the first to own a number of properties or to gain an amount of cash. You can also use the speed die to increase movement and toggle a number of house rules on or off to customize your experience. It’s quite full-featured for both offline and online play.
Speaking of its charm is the ability to play on a board with a living city. This features a whole lively city at the center, with a ton of small touches such as sharks and hidden bonuses. If you go into the explore mode, which allows you to fly around the environment, you can even find extra tokens hidden in areas (also, you can get Ubisoft-themed ones via Ubisoft Connect, including a really cool Ezio token). There’s also a more traditional board for purists, so it’s up to you what you choose to do.
There are a few small issues that will hopefully get ironed out. Sometimes, the dynamic camera angles that show a card that was drawn can get stuck, making it look awkward for a few seconds. The user interface also could do a better job showing where you’d land when you have a choice between how many steps you can take. However, these are relatively minor hang-ups and don’t detract much from the overall experience.
Monopoly Review: Final Verdict
The new Monopoly video game is a great version of the classic board game. Matches can be played with just one controller, so you can easily play large-scale games with the whole family and the new living city adds a lot of charm to the experience. With a variety of rules and settings, you can play however you prefer.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a digital PS5 copy for our Monopoly review. Reviewed on version 1.001.000.
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