A very nice game, but for the annoying bugs
The good:
- - Wonderful graphics: the 3D is truly photo-realistic, and the ambients are different and fascinating.
- - Ball controls are very realistic. You can change your hit point/inclination and make any type of shot (from curving balls to jumps etc.).
- - Comes with 2 flavors: a shot indicator for noobies, and a no-line option for harder players.
- - Single player game is nice.
- - Online play is totally fun. You can play many types of games, with different options (just for fun/training, just for ranking, or just for money - called HKC).
- - The online hustle is well done. You bet money (HKC), and who wins gets the dish. But, also, you gain money/HKC when you sink balls, and the more contrived your shot is, the more HKC you get (plus, there are bonuses for shooting within a 10 seconds limit, for cleaning up the table without failing any shot, and for winning without any faults).
The bad:
- - Online play is terribly buggy (though not for everyone: some people seem to have no issues, other have plenty). Often, when starting a new match, the game totally freezes, and you have to reset you PS3. Also, each time this happens, you are considered the loser in the match (thus losing all the money/HKC you bet, and losing rank points). Very annoying.
NOTE: chatting while in the lobby seems to affect this issue. I tried not to chat at all, and the game crashed a lot less.
Overall:
If the bugs were solved, this game would deserve 4 and a half star. Though not extremely ambitious (though hey: this is a "budget" game), it's a lot of fun, and keeps you getting back at it.