Great Balls Of Fire (Virtual Pool Hall (PC))

Member Name: aljones

Product:	Virtual Pool Hall (PC)
Date:	16/01/02 (208 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sharp graphics, Cheap price

Disadvantages: No music

Virtual Pool Hall is what it says, a Virtual Pool Hall, and a lot more! You can play both 8 and 9 ball pool, snooker, billiards, and some other types of games. You can even play to different set of rules, and on different tables. Let me explain some more.

The game installs and loads up with very little hassle. I bought it as part of a multi-pack at the bargain price of just £10, so I didn't get a manual, just a CD in a jewel case. But no problems, the CD autoran and installed very easily. The controls were easy to pick up, as it's all controlled by the keyboard and the mouse. Move the mouse around to aim the cue, and then hold down 'S' to stroke the cue and hit the ball in the direction your aiming. Other keys perform various functions, such as moving the cue tip in relation to the ball to add spin, performing replays and undoes (not exactly real, but helpful while your getting the hang of the game), and various other things.

The tables are quite realistic. The barroom pool table is small, just like you get in Britain, whereas the standard nine-ball table is much larger, and has large pockets, just as you'd expect. The rules are pretty accurate. Like I said, you have a large choice of which rules you want to play to, though without the manual, you'll have to look each one up on the internet or a book to find out what the rules are, or rely on the fairly decent on line help.

The graphics are pretty crisp. The required specs for the game aren?t that high from what I can remember, but on both my work and home PC's (a P4 1.7GHz and a P2 450MHz respectively), it runs fine. The balls all look totally round, very shiny and very detailed. The tables are very dull, just as you'd expect, and while there are no additional graphics, such as the room you are in, it hardly matters when you get down to playing the game.

The ball physics seem quite accurate, although you don't seem to be able to put as much sid
eways spin on the ball as you'd like, though top and bottom spin are accurately modelled. While your beginning to get used to the game, you can turn on the 'trace' function, which draws lines coming from each of the balls to indicate the direction they will end up going if you shoot the shot you currently have lined up. A nice feature, though you start to feel like a bit of a cheat if you leave it on all the time.

You can face a wide variety of opponents as well. You get computer opponents, real life opponents, and even another player on another computer. Or you can just play along by yourself. You choose. The menu system is nice and simple to use, and very intuitive. It's all very windows-like. Indeed, it just uses a standard window with a standard menu bar, so everything is easily accessed.

There's no music to the game, so you just get the sound of the balls bouncing around into each other. All in all, I quite like the game. It's a great game for a bit of relaxation after the pressure of Grand Theft Auto get too much for you, and is fairly easy just to pick up and use. The graphics and sounds aren't going to win any prizes, but they are still very sharp and very accurate. If you don't like pool or snooker, then forget it, you've got to like the game in the first place, but if you do, at the price that it's currently available at, it's a true bargain.

Summary: