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Hustle Kings Hands-On

We get our hands on Sony’s upcoming PSN pool simulator to perfect our grifting skills.

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Hustle Kings is the upcoming PSN pool game that we got a quick peek at earlier this year. The downloadable game aims to offer a pool experience that lets you play alone or with friends. We had a chance to sit down with a work-in-progress version of the game recently to see just how it’s coming together.

Nicest pool hall you'll ever visit.
Nicest pool hall you'll ever visit.

Who's Making This Game: Voofoo Studios from the UK.

What The Game Looks Like: Hustle Kings has a clean presentation that keeps things looking mostly realistic, albeit with some flair. We reckon you won’t find many pool halls in real life that have the clean, club-like look of the environments in Hustle Kings. The game is a bit lean on the personality side, but it has a nice look to it.

What There Is To Do: Hustle Kings features a meaty assortment of gameplay modes that let you play online or offline by yourself or with friends. The offline mode features several different game types, including exhibition, tournament, trickshots, and bonus games. Exhibition is a quick-play style of game that lets you jump right into a game; tournament lets you test your skills against friends and the CPU; and trickshots and bonus games feature different challenges and minigames to test your skills. You’ll also find a training mode to run you through the game’s controls; a career mode where you can hone your competition skills and claw your way to the top; and an online mode that lets you play with friends over the PlayStation Network. The game supports up to 16 players offline and considerably more online in the various game modes. In addition, you’ll be able to access the cross media bar and play any music you like during a game.

How The Game Is Played: You’ll have a number of different control configurations ranging from traditional button pressing to more active options using the Sixaxis controller. The game will let you switch between different cameras while playing to help line up shots. You’ll also find a plethora of different pool game types, such as US and UK versions of 8-ball and more, which should give it some appeal for pool fans.

What They Say: The Hustle Kings fact sheet states, "Whether you’re a billiards expert, novice, or casual player, Hustle Kings allows all player-types to become naturally immersed into the sport through true-to-life physics and stunning, photo-realistic lighting and graphics."

What We Say: There are certainly a lot of options for gameplay in Hustle Kings, and the game has an appealing, clean look to it. However, the control scheme still needs some tightening up. There's some twitchiness to deal with when lining up a shot that may prove tricky for novice players.

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