Original Release: Activision, 2007, PC/PS2/PS3/PSP/X360/DS
The last gasp of the console/handheld offline games riding off of the 2000s televised poker boom, WSOP 2008 plays a competent game with an opponent-reading element but lacks options and customization
World Series of Poker 2008 (PS2, Activision, 2007)
Where to Buy: Amazon
How to Emulate: PlayStation 2 Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
The 2000s WSOP game series was all in on recreating the World Series televised event experience, to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. The first of this little trilogy came out during the “boom time” of the mid-00s, but by the point of the 2008 entry the bubble was deflating. By all accounts this final title is the best of the grouping, but I think it still has a more narrow appeal centered on that zeitgeist.
People come to poker games looking for different things, and it’s a fair point that it’s a WSOP branded game and should focus heavily on those tournament events. But it kinda does that at the exclusion of everything else. I’ve seen this often recommended as one of the more quality offline CPU-opponent games of poker, though I’m not a poker pro (or even really enthusiast) and not a great judge of that. But if you want training, or customization, or fun stuff to diddle around with outside of games with poker tour pros, this one isn’t really it. Also, right from the outset be prepared for games that can take several hours to resolve – mercifully you can snap save at any time by pressing Start.
From your very first game in the “amateur” difficulty setting in the career mode, the tables are scattered with a smattering of the biggest poker names in the world (of the time) and random celebs like Jennifer Tilly. I guess there’s something to be said for throwing you straight into the heat of the meat with the game’s featured performers, but there’s also not really anything for more casual/easy options to ease into the game with. The three difficulty settings also only seem to control your starting bankroll and the selection of tournament events available to you; it seems the CPU plays the same no matter which you pick, though I’m not 100% on this one.
As far as game options, it’s all poker. Again, fair for the title, but don’t expect wandering around casinos getting into other mishaps. Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Texas Hold ‘Em are included, with each new game in your career set as one of these styles; you also encounter the occasional HORSE game where the rules are switched after a certain amount of hands. Your overall goal is to win the grand prize in “Pro” mode, which unlocks the “battle the brat” mode and a game against final boss Phil Hellmuth.
The interface is a little confusing at first, it’s more “memorize the buttons” than “HUD” if you get my drift. You’re not given button prompts for a lot of things, like having to press X to look at your current hand or O to opt to fold. You get an annoyingly tiny font for most text too, may not be a good choice for handheld devices. It’s all a generally busy and cluttered design, and with level of advertising interspersed that you’d think this was a $20 budget release at retail and not a full-priced $60.
If you find things overwhelming, between the busy/confusing presentation and the poker pros you’re faced with right out of the gate, you’re not really getting any help. There is a “poker school” mode hidden behind the career mode you’re tossed into when you boot the game for the first time, but it’s about as sparse as it gets. It handholds you to a win in one hand of each game type, then just throws you into “practice hands” with no further assistance.
If you want character customization, this also isn’t the spot. There’s very little you can do to alter your character from being stiff-faced Sunglasses Jones at the table. Outside of the poker games you eventually get a room that you can interior decorate by buying furniture … I’m just not sure what the trigger is to actually let you start buying the stuff. The game advertises “unlocking suites” at Vegas Strip hotels but I think what it’s referring to is the private games other poker pros will call you to sometimes, which open with basically an ad video for their upscale suites.
WSOP 2008 is focused almost entirely on the inclusion of poker stars/celebs and recreation of famous tour events, seemingly aimed at whatever userbase was left in the late 2000s that was still subscribing to Bluff magazine and all-in on the lifestyle of being a televised poker weirdo. If you’re totally new to poker, this doesn’t offer much to help you come to grips with the basics and kinda saddles you with a not-great interface and general bloat on top (it’s huge for a simple PS2 game and prone to random slowdowns, I assume due to all the character models). It’s more of an intermediate step for people who want to simulate table poker to become comfortable with the basics of that before they move onto real live games. I guess for that purpose it’s alright, though I’d like to see more flexibility in how you play and set games up.
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