4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good adaptation of a great board game, November 29, 2009
= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Catan [Online Game Code] (Software Download)
To the uninitiated, a brief introduction: Catan is an Xbox Live Arcade adaptation of The Settlers of Catan, an award-winning board game that is like playing Risk with an economy instead of an army. It is very east to learn but pleasingly difficult to master, as there are many paths to the 10 points necessary for victory.
I was a bit leery when I heard that it was now a video game - the board game was so epic I was sure I'd be disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised with this turn-based strategy, but the game has enough shortcomings to fall short of the five-star mark.
The game mechanics themselves remain untouched, and even the very subjective trading aspect of the game has translated pretty well. On the "Easy" difficulty the AI is vegetable-like and will agree to almost any trade you offer, but on "Moderate" and "Hard" AI players behave surprisingly like humans, to the point where they won't trade with you if you're too far ahead of them or threatening to cut off their expansion. The "Hard" AI is also just that, occasionally coming from way behind to devastate you in a single turn (I once had a hard AI go from 4 points to 10 in a single turn), just like some skilled human players do.
The multiplayer aspect of this game requires Xbox Live Gold and is online only - no system link or same-console multiplayer.
The board game had multiple expansion packs - Knights of Catan, Seafarers of Catan and 5-6 player kits - but the downloadable content for Catan is limited to picture packs, a theme, a new skin for the board and an expansion with a few more AI characters (the AI is based on historical figures - you get Shaku, Sun Tzu, Alexander the Great, Queen Elizabeth, Cleopatra, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick with the game). I would like to have seen some of the board game expansions as DLC.
For those who like achievements, you can get up to 200G from Catan, half of which is earned from your cumulative victory points, and about a quarter of which comes from online play only. Maxing out the gamerscore here requires a serious investment of time - one achievement requires you to get 1000 victory points in ranked online play, which means you have to find someone to play (not always easy) and then play 125-200 games.
For the price, this is a good download.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A solid game, April 8, 2009
= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Catan [Online Game Code] (Software Download)
Catan on xbox live is a solid conversion of a terrific board game. It works really well and is much faster to play than the original, physical, version. The only downside is that sometimes there are few people playing it on Live. The single player game is fun too, though.
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