Good Ol' Pool ... Kinda ... Sorta
Regardless, I still was a bit disappointed by a few aspects of this game.
The Good:
- Well ... it's the only pool game for the PSP that is currently available.
- It's pool.
- The aiming system is pretty decent helps making shots an easier task.
- It's semi-cool to have a game that provides a scene for pool as opposed to just a pool game without any scenarios or on-lookers.
The Not So Good:
- The after-touch system is wild and will send your ball flying.
- The load times are incredibly long.
- There is not an active track of how much money you are winning or losing. "I bet $3 a ball ... and since ... I sunk ... wait ... how many balls did I sink? How many did you sink? How come ... wait ... I'm confused. Anyone have a calculator?" There is no breakdown at the end of the game, either, that is like "you won $35!" it just says "(Your character) has won the game." Afterward you will see how much money you have ... but ultimately it leaves me guessing until the end.
- The reality factor is very low, in terms of the ambience and challenges and stuff. They all stand around you and are like "Chump!" and "You ain't got nothin!" and all that like the hippest thing to do these days is hang out at the pool hall and just ... stand there and heckle.
The Bad:
- Did I mention the load times are incredibly long? No ... I mean ... looooooooooooooooong ... like casually make a mixed drink while you wait long. See, I would be okay with it if the long load time in the beginning would get rid of the load times in between EACH SHOT ... but no ... it takes a good minute to load up the game ... then it needs to think about and load each shot. You can SOMEWHAT reduce the amount of load time per shot by de-activating the character animations ... but still. Geeze.
- If somebody challenges you to a game and you decline it, it will just pop back up again with the SAME challenge within seconds. It will continuously do that until you accept the challenge ... it's like ... why even give me a choice then? To top it off, if you decline it multiple times, your respect meter goes down. Very disappointing and frustrating.
Overall:
I got this game at EB Games used with my Edge discount for like $12 and I think it was worth it. It does help me out with my pool fix. As I'd read in another review somewhere, it is not really a game to just pick up and get a quick game in with ... you better be ready to dedicate some time to it, hehe. Hopefully there will be some better pool games for the PSP in the future, but in the meantime, this isn't a bad choice for a pool enthusiast.