REVIEW | Monopoly Madness

LifeisXbox’s Monopoly Madness review | This game combines the core concept from Monopoly with the co-op essence of Overcooked and the vacuuming of The Gunk. That’s a mouthful explanation but the result is a surprisingly easy multiplayer party game for almost all ages. You are still on the hunt for properties, like the classic Monopoly board game but with a twist. You control one of the many available characters, even a Raving Rabbid and you move freely on the maps to suck up money, upgrade utilities for your houses and chests with awesome powerups. So important to know is that this isn’t a board game but an arcade-action experience that is perfect for local and online multiplayer.

Most Memorable Moment

Local multiplayer remains something special for me, it just isn’t the same as online multiplayer. Small moments of joy or silly things, that’s where Monopoly Madness really shines. My girlfriend and I were playing our second game when we discovered the fun with the B-button. With this, you can stun someone for a few seconds. The main gameplay of the game disappeared and we started chasing each other, spamming the B-button. Hilarious stuff!

ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox Series X | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion from the writer.

What we liked!

• Good AI to play against or add with local multiplayer games | You can play alone against bots or fill in as many bot players as you want with real players. An option that many co-op games don’t give. You can set the AI on easy, normal or hard but even playing against easy players can be a challenge. Considering the fast-paced gameplay I’m quite shocked how well the AI plays against real players.

• I’m **** you over opportunities | Oh, hell! That feeling when you screw someone over in Monopoly Madness is a bit similar to laughing with someone who has to go to jail on the board game. When all buildings have been listed and purchased you can start with messing with other players by stealing property or destroying house ranks with a bulldozer. Even with a comfortable lead, you can still easily lose if you ain’t careful in the last moments of the five-ten minute games. That’s one of the sole reasons why the game remains interesting too, as the basic gameplay grows repetitive fast.

• Catchy tunes and lovely visuals | You just know you have a good soundtrack when players begin to hum or whistle. A nice touch is that each level has its own sound, but the danger is that you may get tired of your favourite level because of the sound repetition. All in all, I loved what I was hearing. The same can be said about Monopoly Madness visuals, especially the dark levels are pretty to look at with all the house lights. Nothing really fancy happens on your screen but the characters are cute and colourful and the atmosphere of the game is nice enough to be loved.

• More than 20 stages | Based on real Monopoly boards there is a lot of variation with the maps you play on. Not only in lay-outs but also in level unique traps and obstacles, for example, a train that splits the map in half, bridges that cut off sections or cars that stun players.

Somewhere between

• Chaotic fun | There’s not a single dull second when you play Monopoly Madness, while it lasts… Rushing towards house sales, counting on the fly if you need that energy or water utility, avoiding and using powerups from other players can be hilariously fun. Ubisoft found a nice balance between challenging and easy-to-understand gameplay, very important for party games. But as I said, while it lasts… the issue with this basic gameplay is that it begins to feel repetitive fast. Luckily the number of different levels help with keeping things fresh but the premise remains the same.

• Fun gameplay concept but dangerously basic for the price tag | This feels like a mini-game that is part of Mario Party or Fuzion Frenzy. Nothing wrong with making a party game out of a basic idea but the price has to be right. I feel that’s not the case for Monopoly Madness. €30 is simply asking too much for what you get. I understand that Ubisoft can ask this price as it is linked with Monopoly, this kind of name ain’t cheap to use and they have to recover investments but still… I guess that the most important thing is that there’s no price tag on having fun with friends or family.

What we disliked

• It has a story mode but the single-player experience could have been better | A lot of Monopoly Madness magic vanishes when you play it alone. There is a story mode, which can also be played with other players but it lacks more depth when you play it alone. It is a collection of challenges but I don’t think many gamers will actually finish it, as the multiplayer modes are more fun to play.

How long to beat the story | Three hours
How long to achieve 1000G | Five to six hours, depending on luck

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