Reviewed by Drew Hallenbeck | 11.03.06
Poker is all the craze these days. Poker on TV, poker in the casinos, poker in your kitchen and poker on your. console?. In the last 2 years poker has really taken off. You know when they make a video game it is getting attention. World Series of Poker : Tournament of Champions 2007 is the newest installment of video game poker by Activision and Left Field Productions.
I could never und erstand playing poker if there is nothing at stake? What do I have to lose to go all in on a hand if I don't have 20 bucks riding on the call? Well, with World Series Of Poker (WSOP) you may not have money to gain but you will tweak your skill and knowledge of the game.
The game play is predictable as far as video game poker is concerned. Not much you can do about that, it is poker after all. The A.I. players play pretty well the same across the board, even the licensed pros play similar. You would expect the pros to have a little of their poker style in the game. Some of the pros include Scotty Nguyen, Men Nguyen, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, TJ Cloutier, Kristy Gazes, Clonie Gowen, Andrew Black, and, of course, last year's champion, Joe Hachem.
Graphically the game is average, but you would expect this. After all, it is just a bunch of guys sitting around a table. There are a few unique features, such as the peak button that allows you to peak at your cards under your hand. Good visually but does not add much to the game. In the 360 version you can add your face to your player if you have the Xbox Live Vision camera. I did not try this but it is cool to see these players online using their own face.
As far as game play is concerned, the single player mode rides you through the different qualifying and big time tournaments while having Chris "Jesus" Ferguson take you under his wing to prep you through each tournament. All in a quest to win the World Series of Poker. If there is anything in the single player mode that brings it a little life, it would be the hints, tips and odds it gives during gameplay. Anyone will tell you that the best way to get better at poker is play lots of hands. You start to learn pot odds with certain hands, what starting hands are good in certain positions and so on. This is invaluable for the home player who want to get an edge on their buddies.
Online is where the game excels. Playing with real people takes the predictability out of the A.I.. Not quite as easy and what you learn in single player can be used a little better against real opponents. The game play is slow online while you sit waiting for other people to make a decision. Unlike single player mode where you can speed hands up a bit. You can play with up to 9 people and you can play a few different kinds of poker too. Including Omaha , Hold em' and others.
World Series Of Poker: Tournament of Champions 2007 does the job for a poker video game. Teaches as it goes and gives you all the tools you need to kick some but at your home games. Online gives you a more real to life feel that you may be used to but with out any real stakes at hand people tend to bet a little crazy. Some free online poker games try to counter this by putting in reputation-based points system, so perhaps an XBL feature can copy this and make the online bets more controlled and realistic. Until they can get the A.I. to act a little more realistic like the pros that are in the game it will never have that real feel in single player mode. But if you need your fix before your buddies come over, this is your game!
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Gameplay: 6.5, Graphics/Sound: 6, Innovation: 6, Mojo: 6. Final: 6 / 10
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Face more pros than ever: Put your poker skills to the ultimate test against more than 20 of the world's top poker players, the most poker pros every collected in a video game. Raise and bluff against Scotty Nguyen, Scott Fischman, Clonie Gowen, T.J. Cloutier, Antonio Esfandiari and many others. Expect stellar creative commentary every step of the way from the announcing team of Norman Chad and Lon McEachern.
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Learn from the best: Not just a sequel to last year's top-selling poker video game, this is high-stakes poker all the way. Check your amateur status at the door and head out on the Circuit as a poker pro. You're not alone, though, you're under the watchful eye of "Jesus" Ferguson, winner of five WSOP bracelets. Ferguson will teach you the personal tricks and strategies that have made him one of the world's foremost poker players. But in the end, you're on your own, your experience, your knowledge and your talent on display at the world's toughest poker stage-The World Series of Poker's Tournament of Champions.
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Unlock winning tools: With successful wins, unlock valuable tools that help you bring a better game to the table. Unlock the ability to check the odds of hitting various hands at every stage of the deal, check the rank of your hand, and even check statistics and percentages of the hands your opponents are fishing for.
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Show your face: Put yourself in the game with the proprietary DigiMask technology specifically licensed for this title. Use your Xbox 360 camera to map your likeness on your own in-game character. Will your poker face stand up to the pressure?
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Expand your game: Raise the stakes with Xbox Live play: Host multi-table tourneys, read your opponents tells via camera footage, or even test your psychic skills by playing "Blind Man's Bluff."
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