Game Review: Catan (XBLA)
How cool is it that while Nintendo is sitting there shoveling old games that they have already made money from into our Wii Virtual Consoles that Microsoft is putting out shiny new titles like Catan? I mean, it's a freaking BOARD GAME. A really good one, at that. Equal parts Monopoly, Risk and Civilization, Catan is the brand new Xbox Live Arcade title based on the popular (in Germany!) board game Settlers of Catan. The premise is this: there is an island and you are trying to colonize it before your opponents do. You must be the first to reach a set amount of victory points (10 is default) and pretty much everything you do in the game gives you points. It's laid out in a hex pattern and each space counts for a resource (either wool, lumber, brick, wheat or ore). Every turn someone rolls the dice and whatever number is rolled "activates" a space that corresponds to that number. If you have a settlement (kind of like Monopoly houses) that is adjacent to that space, you get one of that resource.
Resources are important because they allow you to build more settlements, roads, cities (like a hotel in Monopoly) or draw a card. An opponent have a resource you need? Every turn has a trading round where you can exchange resource cards.
Sound complicated? It is at first. It took me at least three rounds before I wasn't completely confused. After that it was incredibly addictive. Read on for the full review.
Shininess: Catan is a video game remake of a board game, and there are many variations of said board game. There is the classic simple flat version and the pretty 3d deluxe version (which costs upwards of $380). Catan for the Xbox follows this same vein, offering two different graphical "skins". I tend to prefer the more realistic skin, which has little 3d trees and sheep and junk. It's a very peaceful game, one much like Civilization where you can just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery. The music is soothing classical music, just like you'd expect, and all the sound effects are appropriate and satisfying. Considering you'll be looking at pretty much the same screen the whole game (the board doesn't really change much besides settlements being added) Catan is a very pretty game. My only qualm with the graphics is the menu system. Sometimes when you want to place a road or a settlement, the little info screen often obscures the bottom of the playing field, making it difficult to see.
The game also has a system of emotes you can use during the game to show your happiness during a trade, your anger at someone getting too far ahead, or your sadness at your lack of chee-tos. They are pretty silly but I can see how they can be effective in group play.
Funness: After the first two or three confusing play throughs, I started to see the appeal of Catan. Then after the fourth play through I was hooked. If you are a fan of games like Risk or World of Warcraft, the resource management is quite addicting. The strategy surrounding what resources you need more at different times mixed with the social aspect of actually having to trade with other people is brutal. It will literally suck hours away from your life and you will love it. The intricacies of the game seem to be very deep, with ways to steal resources (using the ever-dastardly robber) and bringing foreign resources into the playing field (with port trading) the possibilities of play are endless.
The XBLA title has a couple of modes and options for play, and the AI seems to be pretty tight. There is your standard ranked and non-ranked play over Xbox Live, and the games are fast-paced enough that you won't even notice it's turn based.
Worthiness: The sheer innovation of Microsoft in even releasing a board game remake like Catan astounds me. They are doing everything right this generation and I am constantly surprised every time I say that. My Xbox 360 is giving me the same joy I experienced when I first got my SNES, and that's saying something. If you are a fan of fun, I highly recommend Catan. If you are at all like me and enjoy sitting down after a long day of work, relaxing with a beer and slouching down on the couch for a couple hours of resource management style gameplay, you'll be hooked. Catan is available now on the Xbox Live Arcade for a mere 800 points.
Score: 5/5 Why aren't you playing this right now?
