My playstation has no brains (Monopoly (PS))

Member Name: kingseany

Product:	Monopoly (PS)
Date:	09/01/05 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphically good, No setting-up, No friends needed

Disadvantages: Computer players are stupid, Not quite the feel of the board game, Harder to cheat

Monopoly is a well known board game you either love or hate. As a child, I loved it, to the extent that I'd play games with a friend which we tried to keep going for days. I even invented my own version, called Seanopoly - however this had a serious flaw - I was the only one who could ever win. As a teenager I found myself buying a computer system just so that I could practise strategy! I've had many systems since, the latest being the Playstation. Anyone who's played it on the PC, will soon realise that it's pretty much identical, especially graphically.

The main advantages over the traditional board game are:

1. You don't need any friends, as you can play against the computer players.

2. You don't need to set-up the game at the start, nor pack it away again at the end.

3. You need never argue about who'll be the banker, in fact there should be less arguements all round.

4. You can't lose any pieces.

5. No one can toss the board in the air, if they are losing.

And the disadvantages:

1. It doesn't feel quite the same, you can't feel the wedge of money in your hand, nor through the dice in your own unique style.

2. It's much harder to cheat, ie change the dice in your favour when no-one is looking, mis-count the squares to avoid landing on Mayfair, steal from the bank etc...

3. Computer players aren't really much of a challenge, in fact they are pretty thick.

4. You can't make up your own rules (although there are some pre-defined un-official rules you can choose to turn on)

5. You can't play it unless there's a TV nearby, and outdoors is probably a no-no too.

So, do the advantages outweigh the dis-advantages?

Well it's still possible to have a reasonably enjoyable game if you've got a few friends round. If there's just the two of you, you can opt to add some computer players, and then take turns abusing their obvious lack of intelligence. Although there are several different players to choose from, none of them seem to be any use whatsoever.

The most annoying thing about the computer players is their constant requests to make deals with you - offering stupid amounts of money. An example: You have just purchased Mayfair for £400. Computer player 1 already has Park Lane, and offers you £120 for it. Do you accept? Of course not. You choose no. On his next turn, he asks again, offering the same amount. You refuse him. At his next turn, he has the cheek to offer you just £98! Perhaps if he's offered me £1500, plus immunity from landing on it 10 times, I might just accept. This kind of tedium really slows the game down and shows the lack of thought when programming the computer players "minds". On a plus side, you can offer them a tenner for something they've just spent £200 on, and they may just agree....daft.

Overall the game play is quite straightforward and follows the original games rules to the letter. You throw the dice, land on a square, which allows you to either buy a property, pay rent, pick a chance or community chest card, go to jail, pay taxes and so on. During your go, you can also trade with other players, buy houses and hotels, mortgage and un-mortgage property. Some of the options are a bit long winded, however once you've played it several times it becomes second nature. There's no need to take any action when someone lands on your property, the money automatically goes into your pot - again this takes a bit of fun out of the times when people aren't concentrating, and miss out on a possible big collection. All this continues until one by one, players become bankrupt. The winner is the last remaining player.

The end sequence for the winning player is pretty unimaginative, and only the amount of cash is displayed, preperty is not counted.

In conclusion, although it's graphically very good, and the game-play is true to the original - I'm un-impressed. Although it's perfectly playable, there's so much that could have been done better, especially towards the intelligence of the computer players. It'll amuse for a few hours, but you could quickly become bored with it.

Expect to pay about the same amount as the board game, around £12.95 new, from Amazon, or look out for a second hand Ebay bargain.

Summary: