Review: UNO [PSN]

Score: C-

Intro:

UNO. One of the more popular card games of my generation (probably the one prior as well). A game based on more luck than skill. If you don't know what UNO is, I will try to summarize it for you. The deck itself is comprised of cards in four colors and numbers 1-9. There are also special cards, such as Skip (which does just as it says, skips the next person), Reverse (flips the direction of play from clockwise to counter clockwise, or vice versa), Wild (can change the color of card at play), Draw Two (next person draws two cards, can't play), and Wild Draw Four (changes color to whatever the player wants, and next player draws four cards and skips turn). A card is set down, and you can either play that color or number. I think that sums it up, time to justify the score.

Pros:

It's UNO. It makes a great party game, and is easier to take care of than a deck of cards. I only had brief experiences with the online, but it worked. That's a plus for some of these smaller games. By going through the "Tournament" mode, you unlock new colors for background and decks. And it has trophies! But seriously, the strongest aspect of this game is probably just playing it with friends.

Cons:

It's UNO. Anyone that has played more than an hour of UNO with family and/or friends, has wanted to shove the deck of cards down their throat. As with most (if not all) card games, a lot of this game is luck. And I'm sorry, but I've kind of grown up to the point that if I am playing a video game, I don't want it to come down to luck.

Most of the trophies can't be won by playing local or online multiplayer, so you HAVE to play the Tournament mode in order to get a good chunk of the trophies. There are some online trophies, however, one in particular totally turned me off. "Get in the Top 50" on the online leaderboard. Eff that! That's some hardcore boosting! It might be top 100, don't quote me on the 50, but still. Leaderboard trophies, especially in a game of luck, are dumb.

No custom soundtracks. Really? It's UNO! Who really wants to listen to that poorly constructed music that Gameloft probably spent $5 on?

CRAPPY avatar'd selection. Wow. They should of just made a ninja, viking, pirate, and cheerleader. Would of saved them time and money, and us time from "creating" an avatar. I'm sure the 360 version, you can use your avatar, which would be 100x better than the PSN version's avatar "creator".

Summary:

My wife, Em, bought this for Christmas. I had light interest in it, as a "fan" of UNO. However, I then realized UNO only translates to a good game if you play it with friends/family. As a solo game, unless you are *IN* love with UNO (in which you probably already bought it), don't bother with the game. It was between $5-$10, minus a penny. To buy it JUST for the trophies is a waste. Better games out there that you can enjoy getting the trophies in. Even for multiplayer, it is still missable. It's only saving grace from a D score is the fact that it can be fun with others.