There are a few different modes in the game which gives a bit of a variety. The quick play option launches you straight into a game without any risks. The main event mode is for those who like to play their poker a little riskier and requires a $10,000 buy in just to enter the tournament. It's a large risk; if you win, you win big, but if you lose you lose big. Thankfully though it's virtual money so the loan sharks won't be coming after you just yet. The heart of the game lies in it’s career mode though. Before you begin in the career mode you customize your character. It’s possible to customize things like hair, sunglasses and pants and even though the customization isn’t exactly deep, it’s still a nice touch. In the career mode you start off as a nobody and you try to progress your way up the ladder to become a recognized Texas Hold ‘Em champion.
Who wins? Well it could be anybody.
As you would expect the game revolves around Texas Hold ‘Em. There are a few other poker variations that you can play such as 7 card stud, Omaha and Razz, although it is important to note that these are basically just bonuses. If you don’t know how to play Texas Hold ‘Em then you will pick it up quite quickly. Each player is dealt two cards facedown. Each player then takes turns around the table choosing whether to fold, forfeit or increase the bet. After this the dealer deals three cards face up and this is called the flop. A fourth card and a fifth card are dealt out and the objective is to determine from the face up cards whether your opponent has a better hand than you or not.
All of this sounds positive, but things begin to unravel when you start to play the game. The artificial intelligence in the game is really dumb, The computer players make calls that are just ridiculous and it feels like you’re playing against a bunch of amateurs rather than professionals. This basically destroys the whole single player aspect of the game, simply because the AI make calls that are just unrealistic and frustrating. This not only makes the game a little easy to win at times, it also makes it an extremely frustrating game. When you win a round of poker you want to feel like you’ve actually worked towards the win, here it feels like you’ve been handed the win.
The PSP version does feature a multiplayer mode which could have been the saving grace for the game. Each player will require a copy of the game to play in multiplayer, which seems a little bizarre. You would think that if a game like Burnout Legends can handle a game share feature then this game could. Multiplayer is more fun than single player though, because your opponants are a little more competitive and the game then becomes more about skill than luck.
Looks exciting, but it isn't.
Graphically the game is poor. This is one of the worst looking games on the PSP so far. The character models are pixilated and the presentation is really bad. The only highlight of the game graphically comes from the casinos, as a lot of effort has gone into making them look authentic. This is really disappointing because this isn’t really a game that should have stretched the performance of the PSP. The developers tried to emulate the ESPN presentation style and this does work to an extent, but it doesn’t really add much to the game.
The commentary is repetitive and doesn’t add anything to the game. The commentators just throw out occasional one liners and there is basically no background noise except for the occasional sound of card shuffling. A sound loop plays through every menu so you will quickly be turning the volume on your PSP down to zero. A custom soundtrack option would have done wonders here.
There are twenty six tournaments in total which means that if you persist with the game then it can last a substantial amount of time. However, it is likely that you’ll become so frustrated with the randomness of the AI that you won’t have the patience to play through the game in it’s entirety. There are a few rewards to be unlocked throughout the career mode, such as clothing upgrades and rare poker chips but we doubt many people will bother with all of this. The multiplayer is likely to be the reason you’re likely to return to this game, but even then two people need to own a copy of the game.
Can you feel the tension? We couldn't!
World Series of Poker is a mess of a title. The AI completely destroys the single player element of the game and the graphics and sound both take away from the authenticity of the game. If you simply must play a game of poker then go out and buy a deck of cards and play your friends, they’re likely to be a little more skilled than the professionals that you will find in this game.
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