Has Mr Monopoly finally lost the plot?
In Monopoly Madness, players compete to buy and upgrade properties in Monopoly City, all while our old friend Mr. Monopoly is away on a well-earned vacation. It’s here where they face up to 5 other players in short, frantic rounds, as a real-time race takes place on the chaotic streets of Monopoly City, all without the boundaries of the board.
I’d like to think that the classic Monopoly formula has stood the test of time, but it’s good to see new ideas on where to take the franchise other than simply different themes of boards. Monopoly Madness takes the turn-based property game and turns it upside down by making the game short, crazy and in real-time.
You will play against up to 5 opponents as you run across the city hoovering up money, then depositing it on available properties, then to upgrade you’ll need to hoover up electricity and water powerups and also deposit them.
That sounds simple, but it’s far from it. You are all unleashes on town at the same time, so it’s a race to acquire and upgrade what properties you can in the time limit. You also get powerups that you can use against your rivals which can do things like blocking off paths, stunning your opponents for a few seconds or even forcing a quick auction on a property they already own. It becomes hectic incredibly quickly, but it becomes second nature once you master the basic principles of the game.
There’s even a story mode where you need to outwit a number of AI opponents, but it does become quite tricky towards the end. Monopoly Madness can literally make you mad with all the crazy things going on while you’re trying to focus on the task at hand. It’s chaotic but highly addictive and more challenging than your standard Monopoly game.
Bad news for purists is that the classic game pieces are gone, replaced with cartoony versions like the dog and cat, but you can customise them and you can even play as a Rabbid if you connect the game to your UbiConnect account and unlock it.
I like the new game pieces, but it would have been nice for them to find a way to play as classic pieces like the Top Hat or the Shoe. The visuals are simple but effective, while the framerate is consistent and load times were minimal. It’s a good-looking game overall and the character models are nicely designed.
The Verdict
Monopoly Madness is a nice twist on a classic and while it won’t get me to stop playing the original game, it does feel good to mix it up with this hectic and crazy variant.