Review: Carcassonne (XBLA)
In what I hope is the start of a long line of excellent board games coming to the Xbox Live Arcade, the newest is Carcassonne, a tile-laying game out of Germany. It even won game of the year (or Speil Das Jahre, if you prefer) in 2001, which is a pretty big honor. Those Germans love their board games. And why shouldn't they? Board games are incredibly fun, but mainly because you are there in the same room with your friends, heckling one another and munching on cheetos. Surprisingly, the XBLA is pretty good at replicating the board game experience, mainly because of the super slick interface, easy to use friend system and persistent chat. Carcassonne also features Vision camera support, if you are into that kind of thing. The concept of the game is that you are building up the famous walled city of Carcassonne (located in France) piece by piece. Each person starts their turn by placing a new tile that either has a road, piece of a city, cloister, or a combination of them all. The strategy lies in where you put your little "follower" tokens, which help you claim points. The game goes until all the tiles are laid, and whoever has the most points in the end wins. It's fairly simple to learn, difficult to master. Like any great board game.
Shininess: The original is beautifully hand drawn, and the XBLA version definitely does it justice. There are subtle effects that really make the game shine, like when you place a follower he lands in a different position every time, as if you had just plopped him on there in real life. When you finish a walled city or score a road, it pops into place in 3d and plays a little victory sound. It's those little touches that I appreciate so much in a game, and they are plentiful in Carcassonne. The music is pretty but repetitive, and like many puzzle/board/card games on XBLA, it's best if you turn it off or play your own soundtrack. Not really a big issue for me, doubt it would be for you either.
Funness: Carcassonne is an instant classic, we here at The Weekly Geek play the board game version almost every weekend. You can pick up and play a quick game, or you can add more people and hone your strategies. The thing that makes the XBLA version stand out is definitely the pace. You don't have to add up your score on your fingers and toes anymore, it does it all for you automatically. It also shows you exactly where you can place a tile, so no more getting confused and not noticing that you accidentally blocked off a road three turns ago. The achievements provided are standard, and don't really take very long to obtain, except for the ranked match score ones, which require you to play tons of games on Live. Carcassonne tends to attract the same players Catan did, however, who tend to be a bit more civil and less profane online. A welcome treat!
Worthiness: If you are a fan of board games (and who isn't?) you really need to try Carcassonne. Either the analog or the digital version (or both!). The XBLA version even comes with the river expansion for added funtimes. The replay value is high, being that this will be a game that you can come back to over and over again. You never play the same game twice, and honing strategies over time is half the fun. Let's hope that Microsoft keeps bringing excellent titles like Carcassonne to the Live Arcade. In my opinion, the Live Arcade is the only thing saving the gaming industry creatively right now.
Score: 5/5 Get it now!
