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Activision’s World Series of Poker franchise is back for another game. World Series of Poker 2008, Activision and Left Field’s third poker game, is an improved version of last year’s game. It likely won’t convert anyone or make them fans of the game if they aren’t already, but World Series of Poker 2008 delivers a satisfying game of poker.
World Series of Poker’s career mode lets you play as an amateur, semi-professional and professional, which determines how much money you’re start with, how many tournaments you enter and the quality of players you’ll face. As you play career, you’ll not only get more money but you’ll also get points that you can use towards getting the prized Player of the Year award. In Beat the Brat, you’ll have to face Phil “The Brat” Hellmuth, in one of the more challenging matches of the game. The game also boasts a number of collector coins that you get for doing things like drawing a Royal Flush or winning with a pair, etc. Sometimes, you’ll get invited to cash-only closed events with some of the pros. These pros include Michael Luske, David Ulliott, Phil Laak, Chris Ferguson, and many others. Additionally, players can scan their faces into the game, which is pretty cool and works fine, although not at the same detail as seen in some recent sports games.
World Series of Poker 2008 includes a pot odds tool that should be helpful to newcomers. You gain access to a lot of the information “behind the scenes.” You’ll get to see the odds of your hand, odds of your pot, opponent play style, outs, etc. The game’s A.I. has been worked on during the past year. For example, players are assigned a particular play style this time around, each of which has specific strengths and weaknesses that you’ll have to get familiar with.
Graphics aren’t the most important part of a game like this, but World Series of Poker 2008 looks better than last year’s game. The pro’s character models are a lot better, with particular detail given to their faces to make sure they measure up to the real deal. The rest of the graphics package looks fine but don’t expect anything to blow you away. As expected, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game look a lot better than the PS2 version, but that version looks good compared to other PSP poker games.
The sound in World Series of Poker is equally good. Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, which are the official announcers of the World Series of Poker, are back this time around to provide commentary to the game. In addition, Activision got a number of the pros to provide voice acting for the game, which helps its authenticity and works wonderfully with the game.
The game supports online multiplayer (and system link) for up to 21 players. The catch is that only 9 people can actively play while the other 12 are merely observing. Multiplayer is where a game like this really shines and online multiplayer works just fine for the game. You can set options like location, starting cash mount, timers, etc.
World Series of Poker 2008 is a great poker game. The AI is aggressive without obviously cheating and the underlying gameplay mechanics are solid. It isn’t perfect for newbies, though the game does have some tutorials for newcomers. But if you’re looking for a challenging poker game that plays well in multiplayer, this is your game. -- Adam Nunez, PGNx Media
---- Oct 15, 2007
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