Review: Monopoly Streets

The game of Monopoly has been around for seventy-five years both in the physical realm and more recently the video game world. In that time over a billion people have tossed the dice in hopes of becoming the next big real estate tycoon. I do indeed count myself amongst the dice-tossing masses, and am quite familiar with the Monopoly video game concept. I still have my old NES Monopoly cartridge. Just as Monopoly did for the NES generation of gamers, this current incarnation Monopoly Streets seems to have brought the Monopoly franchise into the future. How far has Mr. Moneybags come since his 8-bit NES days? Read on to find out, as I review Monopoly Streets for the Xbox 360.

From the minute I launched Monopoly Streets I noticed hints of the board game from my childhood, and yet the game had an entirely different look and feel. The biggest change for me as a Monopoly fan was the graphics. Everything looks so polished, and the entire game has the vibrant 720p sheen that has come to be expected with this current generation’s titles. On top of the standard next-gen sheen and the availability of the “old school” classic board, Monopoly Streets gives players a chance to play on different three-dimensional boards. These “cities” have the classic Monopoly design and feel, but now said design is a living, breathing city. You can see people walk by as your Xbox Live avatar scoots around the city scooping up property, and if you look closely you can even see the cartoonish looking trees blowing in the breeze as you slide past them.

My first foray into the actual game itself was a rather enjoyable one. I started my first game alone on the old school classic board, and decided to play against three normal difficulty A.I. opponents. It has been my experience that no matter the version of virtual Monopoly you play, the A.I. is either way too good or incredibly stupid. This wasn’t the case with Monopoly Streets however, and I found myself challenged without ever really becoming too frustrated. It was like I was playing with middle of the road Monopoly players. I did however find myself wishing for other real life opponents and banter about thirty turns into the game or so. Especially when I encountered the “property auction feature”, which lets players turn down buying an available property and sending it to auction instead. The players then all bid on the space, which in my experiences with it sold off the property much cheaper than the original asking price. Every time I would go to auction, I found myself wanting to argue with the A.I. about it’s bids, which leads me to believe that Monopoly Streets is going to be a good party game this holiday season when the family is gathered around the Xbox, and talking massive family smack to each other.

My desire to play against real humans quickly led me to the online features of Monopoly Streets which just like local play were very robust, and will keep most players happy for quite some time. Online is pretty much the same song and dance as local play with a few exceptions, one of them being ranked play which adds a much welcomed extra competitive touch. Just like in local play, you have numerous game variants to choose from: some speed up the game, some change the dynamic and some even let you play by your own rules. The ability to institute your own rules and variants is a welcomed bit of leeway, for example, did you know that putting money on the free parking spot is not a “standard” Monopoly rule? With the customization feature it doesn’t matter, if you want to put money on free parking you can. Or if you want your games to go faster, you can add an extra die to speed up the game play. There are plenty of changeable rules to keep players happy. That being said, just like my single player experience I chose to go with standard Monopoly scoring. The gameplay ran just as smoothly online as it did locally, and there were virtually no problems I could find with the game itself.

One gripe I did have with the online system is the lack of voice chat. Instead players are relegated to using five emoticons that make noise, leaving everyone guessing what one another is actually thinking. Beyond the ability to just talk during the game, the lack of voice chat rules out any sort of negotiation for property trades. I don’t personally understand how voice chat in a game like Monopoly was overlooked, especially since when you play locally you’ll obviously be able to chat with the people around your TV.

Besides local and online play, the Monopoly store adds even more replay value to Monopoly Streets. As players win games they accrue “Monopoly Money” which is a currency that can be used in the store to purchase things like new game tokens, boards, and avatar bonuses. Item hoarders will have a field day trying to win enough games to unlock all the extra content in Monopoly Streets. My current favorite unlock has to be the two dimensional “Arctic” board, which puts players in a winter wonderland of ice and snow. That being said, I’ve yet to unlock everything and every time I unlock a new item - my favorite seems to change.

Monopoly Streets is a solid game in almost every aspect, except for the sound. At first I found the catchy instrumental tunes and happy sound effects endearing, and felt they added a quaint atmosphere to the game. After a while however, I began to notice the songs and sounds repeating themselves. Playing Monopoly, as many of you know, is usually a lengthy endeavor, so when I found myself sixty turns into a match the songs lost their “quaint” feel and begin to grate on my nerves. It got to the point where I ended up muting the game, and played in silence for the rest of the match. I’ve yet to un-mute since then and just play my own music in the background instead.

Monopoly Streets has been a pleasant little surprise for me, as I went into this review not expecting much. With only two negatives to speak of, the folks at EA Salt Lake did a fantastic job at producing a quality title. I plan on having Monopoly Streets in my game rotation for a long while, and am quite proud of its steps into the next-gen world. This game is definitely worth a purchase and should have video and board game fanatics rolling the virtual dice for quite some time to come.

Monopoly Streets
Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS
	Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: EA Salt Lake Genre: Family/Party Release Date: October 26, 2025 MSRP: $39.99 ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Doin’ It RIGHT: - Innovative 3D board/level design. - High replay value. - Graphics are superb.	Doin’ It RONG: - No online voice chat. - Overly repetitive music and sound effects.
FINAL SCORE: 8 / 10