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4/5 |
A comprehensive and entertaining casino games compendium
(March 04, 2008) |
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I confess I had little interest in casino games before I bought this. I was really looking for something that had poker or blackjack, and browsing on Amazon this game was cheap. (My interest in a computer card game was actually inspired by Windows Soliatire and Hearts of all things!)
The obvious difference this has is that the casino is modelled in proper 3D. However this doesn't mean that you can walk about the casino in the way you can with say a first person shooter game. There are some "canned" sequences; for example if you want to play Carribean Stud Poker, you'll click on it's icon and the view will change to a "fly by" view sweeping through the casion to settle on the Caribbean Stud Poker table. The only control you really have over the 3D is to choose between one of four preset views. However despite the limitations here, there is a sort of "doll's house" appeal in watching the animated computer people amble about the casino, and you'll soon start to notice little things about the casino that you didn't notice before; there's a bar, a statistics screen that people walk up to and read, aquariums etc. All in all the casino is quite richly detailed. After a while of course you'll probably see all there is to see graphically, but it's for a while it's fun to notice details here and there. There are about 9 other talking characters in the casino who will either join you at table games or play against you in poker, and all are well animated and voice acted well. Some are fairly normal, a few are stereotypes (gruff retired oilman, ditzy cheerleader etc) and one or two are just annoying (well that's realistic I suppose) There is also some background muzak, replete with zylophones, double bass and saxophone, which although I would normally steer well clear of, it actually works to give some ambience.
I have since played Hoyle Casino 2003 and there are a few differences in the games. It's a case of 1 step forward and 1 step back I think. Contrary to the blurb there is no horse racing or Keno in Casino 3D. And there is actually fewer slot machines in Casino 3D than in Casion 2003. On the plus side though there are more video slot machines, and as these tend to be more interesting (IMO) than the mechanical slots it's an acceptable trade off I think. There is also a money wheel, but this is badly desgined as the betting layout almsot totally obscures the peg at the top. Surely the fun of the money wheel is watching whewre the peg will stop at? A missed oppurtunity.
However if your idea of a casino is the glamourous and slightly dangerous world of James Bond, where you'll face an opponent over baccarat with a beautiful woman at your side, you'll be disappointed. Hoyle's Casino 3D portrays the more tacky, Vegas style of gambling. A good example are the slot machines. Names like Ruby River, Cold Cash, Sugar Daddy. And one of the video slots is called Mummy Money, with symbols portraying enough ancient Egyptian cliches to make a real Egyptologist weep tears of frustration.
The highlight of the game for me is probably the poker against the simulated computer people. Although there are video poker machines I found them a poor substitute for "real" poker (if that makes sense) There are many different varieties,(Draw, Stud, Texas Hold 'em , Omaha Hold ' em as well as the high low variations) and bluffing does actually work against your opponents!
Perhaps the main criticisn of casino games I have is that ultimately, almost all are games of chance, with little decision making. Sometimes I think many want that, after a hard day you don't always want to tax your brain with anything demanding. Place some chips on the roulette table, hold your breath and wait for the result.It's fun. After a couple of weeks of playing this though, I did find the lack of decision making made me yearn for something a bit more thought intensive. Maybe a bit akin to feasting on chocolate and getting a sugar rush it's great for a while, but there's only so much you can take. And although it's true that if you lose a lot of money, you won't get hurt because the money isn't real, it's just computer code, the opposite is true too, you can spend hours an hours gambling to gain back your money, but at the end of the day you're hard earned winnings are still just computer code.
Overall I found this to be a fun product, with attractive graphics and a slick interface. |
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