Nth Turtle
01-26-2007, 05:52 AM
Anyone else picked this up? I understand Snooker is largely a UK interest, I don't even know how well it's been distributed internationally, but anyone who did get it and wants a friendly online XBA game feel free to add me to your F-List. (GT: Nth Turtle)
As for impressions of the game:
Graphically disappointing, sure it's in High Def, but if you well define bad graphics they're still bad graphics. The facial maps for well known stars go from passable (John Parrot) to total mutant (John Higgins). The create a character is reasonable until you see the hairstyles, 7 options, 4 of which you would maybe use if you were blind. Oh, and a note for Sega/Blade if they happen to be reading: Clipping should not feature in a game as graphically non-challenging as a table with several balls on it. Paying a slow shot you'll see the cue action deliver the cue straight through the slow moving whiteball.
Gameplay wise it's fine, there's a good blend of straight out potting to safety play. A nice new feature is a shaded zone to guesstimate roughly where the white ball will finish. The computer AI will usually take on long pots that you know a real snooker player wouldn't, but then that's only fair since the aiming cursor is set up in a way that you often try the same shots yourself. The AI an be unforgiving if you screw up though, make a single bad mistake against one of the higher ranking players and you've pretty much blown that frame.
Variety is decent, there's Pool (8-ball and 9-ball), Billiards as well as trick shots and Golden Cue (Not discovered what this is yet, it's an unlockable).
Worst thing about the game is the commentary. Virgo sounds awful, kinda like RL actually so at least it's plausible, Steve Davis sounds like he's barely able to suppress laughter at having to read a script. Best thing is to mute it.
All in all, if you like Snooker you'll still enjoy this game. To the casual interest it's nowhere near the full whack price and is disappointing for a 'next gen' title.
Overall score: 5.5/10
As for impressions of the game:
Graphically disappointing, sure it's in High Def, but if you well define bad graphics they're still bad graphics. The facial maps for well known stars go from passable (John Parrot) to total mutant (John Higgins). The create a character is reasonable until you see the hairstyles, 7 options, 4 of which you would maybe use if you were blind. Oh, and a note for Sega/Blade if they happen to be reading: Clipping should not feature in a game as graphically non-challenging as a table with several balls on it. Paying a slow shot you'll see the cue action deliver the cue straight through the slow moving whiteball.
Gameplay wise it's fine, there's a good blend of straight out potting to safety play. A nice new feature is a shaded zone to guesstimate roughly where the white ball will finish. The computer AI will usually take on long pots that you know a real snooker player wouldn't, but then that's only fair since the aiming cursor is set up in a way that you often try the same shots yourself. The AI an be unforgiving if you screw up though, make a single bad mistake against one of the higher ranking players and you've pretty much blown that frame.
Variety is decent, there's Pool (8-ball and 9-ball), Billiards as well as trick shots and Golden Cue (Not discovered what this is yet, it's an unlockable).
Worst thing about the game is the commentary. Virgo sounds awful, kinda like RL actually so at least it's plausible, Steve Davis sounds like he's barely able to suppress laughter at having to read a script. Best thing is to mute it.
All in all, if you like Snooker you'll still enjoy this game. To the casual interest it's nowhere near the full whack price and is disappointing for a 'next gen' title.
Overall score: 5.5/10