Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on August 7th, 2007
Simplicity takes time. That's the only logical explanation as to why a chess game has not appeared on XBOX Live Arcade until the team @ Freeverse & Strange Flavour decided to release some popular board games for us to enjoy. The give us Checkers, Mancala, Reversi as well as Chess for a very tidy 400 Microsoft Points ($5). While the release is far from perfect, it is one of those cases where we take what we can get.
Graphics
The four board game treat comes to us in what we hope is decent graphics. How hard can it be to represent black, white and a matching gameboard? Thankfully there is no eyesore here. Pieces are easily decipherable and you can tell what obstacles are in your way as you try to win the game. One notable exception in all of this, the chess game does not start with a top down view; it's slanted. However, with the analog sticks you can move the camera's perspective but its not perfect. This game also supports XBOX Live Vision which is mostly a bad thing in one-on-one encounters. Imagine getting your gaming rear handed to you by some five year old kid. Now that's bad enough on its own but think of his face laughing and mocking you. Yeah, there is nothing that will give you more humiliation than the sincere and disrespectful face of a snotty kid as he shows his Checkers poweress.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on May 30th, 2007
Opening
Board Games can be great experiences for families and friends to come together and enjoy themselves. A dice roll, a few spaces moved on the gameboard, and some money gained or paid are all sometimes a game needs. Up until May of this year there had not been any board games for XBOX Live Arcade. There had been a good handful of card games but nothing like Monopoly, Scrabble, or even Chess (there was Backgammon but who actually plays Backgammon?). That changed when ...ig Huge Games decided to create Catan based off the board game Settlers of Catan where resources and the luck of the dice roll were key in securing a victory. The hope was that they would create a game that would whip the rabid XBOX Live users in a frenzy similar to the constant stream of players that reside in UNO or Texas Hold Em. While it is still too early to determine if it will have staying power, there is no denying that Big Huge Games has created a fun and satisfying experience with Catan.
