For some, gaming is all about escapism: worlds you’ll never see, spacecraft you’ll never fly, cars you’ll never drive. But for others, picking up a controller and making on-screen avatars knock snooker balls around a table is their idea of heaven – and whilst there’s no doubting Dark Energy Digital’s technical expertise at making every connection feel as real as possible, this is still very much a niche game despite its multiformat outing, albeit one pitched perfectly at its target market.
The Manchester-based studio’s output has been primarly snooker and pool based for a number of years now, last year’s Hydrophobia a marked diversion from a run of annual World Pool Challenge and World Snooker Challenge games. So you’d assume that they know their stuff when it comes to bringing out a title like this; and you’d be right – WSC Real 2011 does play well, the physics appear top notch and the way the balls spin, hop and bounce around the baize looks, to something of a layman, as good as you’d want.
[drop]It’s a slightly oddly balanced game, though – the menu and UI feels a little basic, the players animate stiffly (and fade in and out of taking shots, rather than moving around the table) and the frame rate, at least on the 360, is a disappointing 30 frames a second, meaning that on quick snaps of the cue you’ll potentially miss the bit where it actually strikes the ball. The graphics are reasonable elsewhere though, likenesses of real players certainly good enough and the locations you’ll play in are fine.Controls, though, baffle a little. On the Xbox, the left stick rotates the cue (to aim) and the right controls the power, but the triggers are used with the right stick to control spin and the vertical angle of the cue, which seems counter-intuitive (and indeed, took a while to get used to). Likewise, the triggers to slow down the aiming and zoom into the targeted ball never really click into place; thankfully there’s a pop-up control overlay whilst you learn the ropes, which you’ll almost certainly need.
The PlayStation 3 version of WSC Real 2011 uses the Move controller, which might offer a slightly improved experience that will hopefully feel less disconnected, but we only had access to the Xbox 360 version so couldn’t test this aspect. The presentation, which includes licensed players and tournaments, will appeal to fans, and the presence of John Virgo on the commentary – despite his amusingly awful quips about playing the videogame form of snooker – is welcome in setting the atmosphere.
But where it counts, on the table, WSC Real 2011 is everything you’d hope for. The AI players are smart without seeming like they’re hidden behind thousands of calculations, the visual prompts for direction and the estimated stopping point of the white ball are really useful and the inclusion of 8 and 9-ball pool (and a couple of other variants) mean that there’s enough variety if you fancy stepping outside the career mode for a quick post-pub match with a mate.
WSC Real 2011’s recreation of snooker and pool, then, is solid in terms of mechanics, but let down by dated visuals and a few clunky control decisions. Graphics don’t define a game though, and for most, the playability is the only thing that matters – in that respect Dark Energy Digital have come up trumps.
StevenHibs
Still dont think £35 is decent enough for a snooker game, although I love snooker, I’d rather play it in real life
bunimomike
It’s lovely looking but I can’t believe I’m seeing “puppet elbow” on all the players when taking their shots. Unforgivable on a title like this. :-\
Forrest_01
It’s true – On a title like this where realism is king, you don’t expect to see a pair of Pob arms on your chosen ball dispatcher do you? It’s not a massive issue of course, but it is jarring – Hopefully enough time between now & release to work on it maybe?
cam the man
Snooker games don’t seem to have changed much over the last few years. If you want one buy an earlier version and save some cash.
bunimomike
Are we allowed to apply this reasoning to all sports games? ;-)
Forrest_01
I believe that the phrase is “if the cap fits”! :)
cam the man
Probably, I have the first EA NHL game for the PS3. Haven’t bought a later version as I don’t think there’s enough new content to warrant a update.
Watchful
“All your baize” – Lolz!
Foxhound_Solid
Snooker/Pool games should only ever be played on a phone. Casual only if you ask me.
SpikeyMikey23
like mini golf games ;)