For those of you who regularly check out my blog to view the video game world through my perspective: my apologies. Life has been nothing short of hectic these last few weeks with a full-time job, Chistmas preparations and a personal life. I still play games on a regular basis. However, finding the time to write about them has been very difficult.
I've got a lot to write about, having played Left 4 Dead 2, Assassins Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2 and a bunch more. But I thought to get back on the saddle, I'd talk about the game that arguably has taken up most of my time; Monopoly on the iPhone.
Monopoly, really? Yes, really.
Let me preface for a minute though. Growing up, I was a HUGE Monopoly fan, as I often played the original board game with my friends at the time. We never really finished any of those games, but it was always fun. Around middle school, I got a copy of Monopoly for my computer and dropped an insane number of hours into it. Something about the experience of buying properties, throwing down hotels and sucking your opponents bank accounts dry is so fun to me. When I saw this on sale for $3, I had to have it.
What can I tell you about the game of Monopoly that you already don't know? Well, not much. Gameplay wise, it's Monopoly. It plays exactly how you would expect on an iPhone. The interface works pretty well once you've mastered the intricacies of doing what you want to do. By default, you have to shake your iPhone to roll the dice. I found this annoying and turned off the feature immediately.
As a multiplayer experience, it works really well. You can easily save your game to play again at any time. There is also online play, though I don't really see anyone sticking out an hour-or-more experience on their phone. At least the option is there.
My only gripes come from the AI. Odds are, you're going to spend the majority of your time playing this game with computer opponents. Regardless of what difficulty level you play on, it always feels like the computer is out to get you. Even in a 4-player game where three characters are AI, it really feels like three versus one. The computer goes about stacking the experience against you by making nonsensical deals that would only make sense if everyone was out to get you. Also, when playing against the computer, it often seems to have the best of luck while you land in jail 4 times in a row without passing "Go".
If you learn to play the game a certain way, you can still overcome these AI faults. Overall, Monopoly fans should find a lot to like here, especially when it's cheaper and more portable than the real deal.