World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer

Poker games
are not easily sold to hardcore gamers. The developers of these titles look to
reach a massive audience with a wide range of skills. They want you, your
parents, and your uncle, who’s never touched a game before. The hardcore gamer
questions, "It looks good, but… Can’t I just play it for free online?" True,
you can play poker for free. But the difference in rules, play modes, and
presentation are vast.

All-In’s
contents are pretty impressive. In addition to the 19 varieties of poker, the
game includes several tutorials and an entertaining Scenario Mode where you
must bend the rules a little. When I say "bend" I do not mean "cheat." You’ll
still have to play honestly, and since this is a video game, it’s not like
there’s a magical way to cheat (unless you use a GameShark).

But some
bending must be done. One scenario requires you to, through clever playing,
allow another player to win a certain amount of cash. If he loses, you will
too. In other words, you have to fend off the lions while giving in to the
snake.

The first
scenario has you going up against the pro, Howard Lederer. It’s one of those,
"Oh come ‘on, like I’m gonna win" games where you just might have a chance.
Another one requires you to set up a big bluff. The easiest for me was a
scenario in which I had to make the top five in a game of eight. Getting the
first two players to exit wasn’t difficult – I just folded whenever my cards
sucked and let the other, more skilled opponents take out the losers. That
third guy was a little more challenging. He hung in there for a while, forcing
me to take some risks.

Career Mode
is your main path within the game, taking you from a nobody in the world of
poker to a champion everyone looks up to.

You start
out with a dinky apartment, crappy furniture, and very little to show you’re a
star. Because at that point you’re not. With less than a grand to
spare, you won’t make it into too many games. But there are some to enter. For
a player without much cash to wager, the stakes don’t seem very low. It’s when
you start winning that a small pot really looks small. And when you lose,
everything is huge. "Twenty dollars? No, you’ve got to be kidding me!" (That’s
why I don’t gamble in the real world.)

Win or lose,
the first game lands you a toy robot worth $200. It sells for $100 more, but
that’s the least of your concerns. If you’re new or plan on taking a lot of
risks, you’re going to need the extra cash. Pawn it, then visit the loan shark
to see if he can help out. Interest is high (over 10%), but again, unless
you’re coming into this game a skilled poker player, you’re going to need the
cash. You will anyway if you expect to enter high-stakes games right from the
start.

Winning
earns you lots of cash and skill points. The former can be used to enter more
games, spruce up your apartment, and portray the lifestyle of a successful
poker player. It increases your reputation and can make others more fearful of
your presence. The latter upgrades your attributes, like "Keen Eyes" (read
others’ bluffs more easily) and "Stare Down" (force a player to play the
Bluff/Tell mini-game).

Bluff/Tell
is a mini-game that allows you to fool your opponent (red zone) or show no
reaction whatsoever (green zone, poker face). Both have their advantages,
especially in multiplayer. Are real-life opponents really going to be fooled
by a bluff? Maybe. But they’ll know that you’re able to do it by playing a
mini-game. Thus, the poker face might be a better choice.

Fail the
mini-game and your character will perform a lame "tell" action that’s intended
to show your opponent that you’re lying. Tells are often a sigh followed by a
head gesture, an action that people aren’t likely to do in a real game of
poker. Angry eyes or a scrunched mouth would’ve said a lot more about what the
player was thinking. But alas, the game engine is not nearly powerful enough
to push that level of detail.

All-In’s
graphics are very mixed. I like the speed and presentation of the game. Turbo
mode (activated via the options menu) bypasses all animations for the quickest
game of poker possible. You couldn’t play that fast in real life. With Turbo
off (default setting), the game switches to various camera angles and
character animations in between each move. This is cool, and by far the best
the industry has to offer.

However, the
other current poker games use engines that are way past their prime. So while
All-In is the best, it’s certainly not a pretty game. Characters are plain.
Gestures are stiff and awkward-looking. Facial expressions – a detail you’d
expect to be stressed in a poker game – are barely noticeable.

I know this
is a budget title, but it’s being marketed to the mainstream. The mainstream,
no matter how casual it may be, has seen what PlayStation 2 can do. It knows
the potential of video games. And it won’t be able to play this game without
thinking its visuals could be more impressive.

Graphics
aside, All-In gets the job done. It’s not a major leap or significant
improvement over the last game to make it a must-have release for every poker
enthusiast. But if you don’t have last year’s game, go all-in for
“All-In.”

Review Scoring Details for World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer “ALL-IN”

Gameplay: 7.5
A well-paced
poker game that’s easy to play. You don’t have to wait 10 years while your AI
opponents take their turn. It’s a quick, point-and-click experience that
gives you experience in one of the world’s most popular card games. Those
of you who are new to poker will love the tutorial mode – one of many features
where this series is king.

Graphics: 6.9
Considering the
level of activity that goes into a poker game (mostly gestures and camera
changes), you’d think this would be one of the most beautiful,
realistic-looking games of all. But that’s not the case. The characters are
livelier than in other poker games, but lack fluidity, gesture variation,
facial expressions, and skin/clothing textures.

Load times
are also an issue. When Turbo mode is off, the game stutters slightly between
animations.

Sound: 6.0
Mostly quiet,
which is not a bad thing. The brief music tracks are cheesy. I like the
“flaunt” voice-overs, but the majority of the character comments sound staged.
Yes, I know they were – this is a game. But they should sound natural.

Difficulty: Medium
The difficulty
largely depends on your skills as a poker player. The bluffing aspect can be a
little tricky since you aren’t really bluffing – you’re making a
selection or playing a mini-game.

Concept: 6.9
Not a new idea by
any means, “All-In” is an upgraded version of the last game.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Nothing virtual
will ever be able to compare to the experience of playing poker face-to-face.
That said, All-In does allow you to play online with up to seven others,
including those with the PSP version of All-In. (The two versions are
compatible for PS2 vs. PSP online play.)

Overall: 7.5
The best of the
best. You don’t really need it if you have last year’s game. Otherwise, poker
players and anyone who wishes to play would be wise to check it out. The
tutorials are helpful, the character creation elements are amusing, and the
display and presentation of the game outperform every other poker game
available.