World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets

"Not as good as last year but it does have more options."

Another year and another poker game. What can you really add to make it worth while to update your poker video games? Well to be fair, there is a good amount of stuff that was added to this years title.

We get a number of quick events which is nice as the previous game only had two options if I remember correctly. We have Texas hold'em, Hold'em Vs selected Pros, Custom Game, Custom Tournament, Speed Game, Black jack and Poker.

We also have a slightly more fleshed out career mode. We get a weekly schedule which shows us the game to play and well you play them. It's very simple but with it being little text options it's easier to see what you're getting into.

The game play is typical poker but I ran into a few problems almost instantly. I finished my first game without ever seeing my cards and I was highly confused. You need to hit B to view your cards. It's simple enough but there is an option to just have it auto check your cards which makes more sense to me.

I found the AI to be a bit too good for the start of the game, that and I kept getting dealt the worst cards I've ever seen dealt in a poker game. And maybe I don't understand the rules but there were numerous times where I wanted to fold but the option wasn't there.

The game has average graphics but ultimately nothing special. The character models are a bit bland and muddy. The table is down sized in the middle of the screen, a model of your pre-generated character is on the right and a list of players on the left side of the screen so it's all tiny. I found it hard to make out numbers on the cards sometimes as well.

This one has an announcer pre and post game but I found them too annoying to listen to. Other than that and the music there really isn't anything else to the sound in the game. No music during rounds and you can hear cards and chips and that's about it.

The game also features on-line player and single console multi player. I didn't spend a lot of time on-line but it seems to be semi-healthy which was surprising to me.

Poker fans need only apply for this game. We have so many card games on the 360 already I just can't see a reason to rush out and buy this game. I also feel that while it was more limited, last years game was a bit better. Not a whole lot but better none the less.

Story - N/A
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay value - 7/10

Final Score - 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/08

Game Release: World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets (US, 09/26/07)