The look and feel of Carcassonne is rather simple. Graphics, while not eye-popping, are good enough that you’ll enjoy looking at the game and its small details. The soundtrack is filled with medieval-style tunes that help to reinforce the game’s Renaissance-era theme. No real complaints in either department.
There’s plenty of replay value in Carcassonne as well. The A.I. is customizable, and the game can be set-up as you choose, including options like turning off scoring or increasing the number of players. Alongside single player mode is a multiplayer mode that features both online play through Xbox Live and offline play with friends. The game’s achievements require some work, but they’re not to difficult to get. It also comes bundled with The River expansion set, and additional expansions are available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 300 MS Points a piece.
The only major issue is that the automatic camera, which can get in the way of play sometimes and makes it hard to see all the pieces on the board. You can manually zoom in to adjust this issue, but it would’ve been better had the camera not panned out so far as the board grew in size.
Overall, Carcassonne joins the list of Xbox Live titles that every Xbox 360 owner should probably have. Not only is it fun to play alone, but get a few friends together and you’ve got a pretty good party game. It won’t keep your attention for hours on end, but Carcassonne does what it needs to do and does it well.
Pros: Easy to learn and fun to play. Simple controls. Online multiplayer capabilities a plus.
Cons: The automatic camera sometimes presents problems.
Carcassonne is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB.
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