The iPad is just awesome for board games there's no denying it but one board game which I think we all play more than the others is Monopoly and EA have brought this franchise across to the iPad with the classic and original Monopoly but a spin off has recently been launched dubbed Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition.
The first noticeable difference with the iPad version of Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition compared with the physical board game version is the very easy setting up and putting away of the game. No more fake Monopoly money or metal players or cards and most importantly you don't have to make sure your houses and hotels are straight and neatly placed upon the properties (it's a little issue of mine).
Getting down to real notable changes of Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition is instead of having places from London you have places from throughout the world, and as it’s set today you have an inflated currency which to me makes the game a tad bit more interesting. The rules of the game are just the same.
You have quite a few choices to make before the game begins though. Such as what kind of scenery you want to be in, here you have choices from over looking the beach to what can only be described as Mr Monopoly mans living room. These kind of options are nice to see. You can also change the rules to your liking. But after all that is complete you will need to decide the biggest question which is what metal player you will have.
You can decide to either play with up to four other friends or play against your iPad. The later is a utter joke, every time I played against my iPad it deliberately lets me win and i’m not the only one saying this. All over the internet people are experiencing the same issue and this apparently isn’t the case with the ordinary Monopoly. So don’t ever play with the AI or even use them to compliment your games with friends which you can do. UPDATE hard mode is now a challenge) Other options include playing over a Wi-Fi network or via Bluetooth.
My favourite mode is tabletop which allows up to four players to take one side of the board up and all play on one iPad. Just like playing the real thing and the iPads screen is plenty big enough to do so. When immersed in a game you will realise that cheating is impossible, your money is taken from you for transactions straight away with out you needing to work it out. No banker is needed anymore!
The control, buttons and overall layout and presentation keeps to the Monopoly theme very well. I found the UI easy to use which in turn meant the game was easy to play.
Graphically EA have done a great job. From throwing the dice with your finger which is definitely quite random to the animation of the metal characters as they travel round the board. The scenery you choose is also very crisp and realistic which can also be said for the Monopoly board and cards.
The sounds of the little players moving and the dice landing onto the board is very quirky. A lot of polish has been made throughout the game but all the sound effects are right on the money. The soundtrack is jazzy which of course goes really well with Monopoly but if you want to play your own music you can.
Overall this is a very interesting game of Monopoly to be played. The modernisation of the game is definitely highly welcomed and works really well. The digitalisation of the game has been executed superbly with great visuals, quirky sound effects, easy set process and most importantly it’s easy to play.
