Texas Hold'em Poker DS: An Empty Hand
Written: Aug 27 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: decent modes and options, good pacing, decent music
Cons: Inconsistent AI, shallow career mode, no online Wifi, "tell" feature, multiple cartridges required for multiplayer
The Bottom Line: It's all fun and games until someone calls your all-in with 8-2 off suit.
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| kjell1979's Full Review: Texas Hold 'Em Poker for DS |
Texas Hold'em Poker for the DS is the final installment of my 2009 Summer Poker Series on the DS. While this game takes some positive features from the other games like a smooth interface and multiple poker variations, it also has a brutal foundation of bad AI and terrible multiplayer options. So does the good or bad win out when all is said and done?
Gameplay
Texas Hold'em for the DS is a quick way of getting your Texas Hold'em poker fix when you're away from your computer. The game of no limit Texas Hold'em is a fairly basic game that relies on luck and your ability to understand your opponents before they can figure you out. Each hand starts with your opponents each being dealt two cards. Then the dealer places 5 common cards face up which can be combined with the cards in your hand. The dealer first deal 3 of the 5 cards at a time, then the 4th and 5th cards individually. Players take turns placing bets, raising bets and calling. At any time you can fold and drop out of the hand with no further risk of losing money. The best combination of 5 cards wins the pot.
Like World Championship Poker for the DS, Texas Hold'em Poker DS features several poker variations beyond simply no limit Texas Hold'em:
5 Card Stud
5 Card Draw
7 Card Stud
7 Card Baseball
Omaha Hold'em
Tahoe Hold'em
This is a pretty standard set of poker variations many of which are virtually unknown or underplayed by many casual poker fans.
While you can play a quick game or tutorial, the meat of this game is the career mode. In this mode you try to maximize your bankroll by winning tournaments in casinos where the stakes increase. The more money and tournaments you win, the more casinos get unlocked. While this is a decent diversion, there's no glitter or substance to this mode. There aren't any deep stat tracking. There's not much variation in the tournament rotation like there is in the World Poker tournaments. For instance you have limit Texas Hold'em or heads up play and other variations like that.
Like World Championship Poker, the AI is really puzzling. At first it seems as if the AI is somewhat competent. They'll respond to small raises but fold when you go all in. However, when you combine that, you can really screw over your opponent. If you have any kind of hand (A-A, 8-2, etc.), you can bet small amounts to raise the pot, then at the river you go all in and if you have a large chip advantage the AI will fold, even if they have $50 left in their stack.
Controls
The interface for the most part is much cleaner than many different poker games. The interface is mostly stylus based whether its selecting a "tell" or folding up your cards to see what your hole cards are. The bid interface allows you to type in a custom amount, check, call, or fold. I prefer to drag your chips into the pot, but it's not a big deal. In fact you could argue the calculator interface in Texas Hold'em DS is much faster for those who are used to it. To me it just doesn't seem as immersive. Though Texas Hold'em DS doesn't stress immersion so much as it stresses streamlining the amount of hands you can play in a sitting. So overall the controls are precise and effective even if they aren't perfect or stylish.
Graphics
The graphics are pretty substandard. The character models are weird and the "tell" system is effective, but like with World Championship Poker, it should be turned off unless you want the hands to progress at a brutally slow pace. That and with the hideous AI, where's the satisfaction in drawing someone into a big pot by suckering them on your tells? Once you turn off the graphics break down rather well and allow you to play through an impressive amount of hands quickly. I prefer a stack of chips to pull from as in other poker games rather than an amount calculator, but that's a wash.
Sound
The audio is ok. The sound effects can be really annoying at their default level. Having the shuffling card noises drown out the music isn't what you're looking for. I end up turning off the sound effects and just leaving the music turned up. The music itself isn't too bad at all. It's an easy listening type tunes which doesn't exactly sound like poker, but it does when you factor in that you're not playing the game in a casino but rather the comfort of your own home or in the car.
Replay Value
The replay value is one of the worst aspects of Texas Hold'em DS. The computer AI is so bad that it's almost worthless to play single player. The local multiplayer does not features the single cartridge download play so you have to have multiple cartridges to play. To this end the local multiplayer is pretty much worthless due to the sheer amount of money you'd have to spend to get it to work. Another problem is that there's no online Wifi multiplayer either. Most great Texas Hold'em Poker games for the PC of other consoles at least feature a strong online component. So even though there's a lot of casinos to unlock and many different poker variations to play, the AI and lack of a suitable multiplayer option turn this game into one you'll end up setting down very quickly.
Texas Hold'em Poker for the DS is one of the worst poker games I've ever seen. The "tell" feature falls on its face. The AI is some of the worst I've seen for a card game based DS cartridge since Clubhouse Games. There is simply no enjoyable way to play poker on this unless you have a group of friends each with a DS and a copy of this game. Given my verdict so far, the fact that there are even 6 people out there with this game is slim let alone of they're all your friends. I really am at a loss for words as to why you'd want to play this game. If I had to do things over again, I probably wouldn't even spend $1 for it.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
kjell1979
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Location: Oxford, Mass
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