If you don't know anyone that has the patience to play the board game with you, this should do the trick.
First off, if you've played the PC version you will be pleasantly surprised. This version extends off of the original gameplay and adds it's own flavor to the mix. The first thing I noticed about this game is it's presentation, it's really good. You can either choose to play with a "classic" style board, or play the 3D version, each has its own pros and cons. With the classic version it's straight up gameplay, little to no effort goes into making the game look pretty, but it is much easier to follow the game in regards to what is going on.
As for the 3D version, it's pretty much opposite of the classic. Great visuals (for a board game), but you have to focus alot more on what's going on in the game, but I'm sure most of us will end up playing in the 3D mode because that's what we "paid for".
Gameplay is the only other issue that I have with this game. The ease of collecting resources and building, trading and the like is very straight forward and simple to learn. Where I feel the game suffers, is the A.I. even on the Hard setting, the A.I. seems to be really bland. I guess the game is made more for playing against people via Live than it is to just be played. The other problem is with the multiplayer. With Uno, you get about 30 seconds to make your move before your actions can be forced, with Catan it's a different story. I hope you have an hour or so to play, cause people on XBL can take nearly all the sweet time they want. Most of the time you'll start a game with 4 people but because some one thinks they can "make it back" before their turn is up, by the end most with have dropped out of the session, leaving you to finish the game with the computer.
All in all, I do love me some Catan and this game delivers on that.