Texas Hold 'Em - Review
Added September 12th, 2006 by Dakota Grabowski
People will argue over the fact if poker should be considered a sport or not. It’s a hot topic among the card sharks and jocks with the rising popularity of poker. Microsoft is aiming towards drawing in that large crowd with their release of Texas Hold ‘Em Poker on the Xbox Live Arcade.
With Texas Hold ‘Em, Microsoft made the decision to provide gamers a chance to download it for free for the first two days. That’s right, no charges added or anything, Texas Hold ‘Em was there for the taking. Now that the two days have long been past, people are still downloading this poker themed game due to one simple reason, the fact that it is poker! People nowadays can’t seem to get enough of it – whether it is on television, in the movies, or in video games – there’s no way of stopping this pop culture phenomenon, it’s like Pokemon for adults!
There are two forms of gameplay, single-player and multiplayer. For the most part, the single-player is a breeze and doesn’t offer too much competition. Computer players will throw out a few odd raises, but it’s rare that you’ll see them playing it all or nothing like the online competition does. If you are looking for tough competition, then avoid the single-player experience at all costs. You should strictly play the single-player game mode for the achievements and end all relations with the boring mode after that point.
The multiplayer mode is where you’ll find all the supposed card sharks trying their best to bluff their way to the top. You must take into consideration that you aren’t playing with real money; the competition online will vary from respectable to dimwitted. With no real money involved, too many players will put all their chips on the table to persuade others to fold. The incentive to winning isn’t high except for increasing your bankroll which is merely only there for bragging rights.
There are a few options when you head online; Quick Start, Competitive matches and Player Matches. Quick Start will throw you into the action at a random table without too much waiting. The Competitive matches are for all those awkward encounters with strangers that you never wanted to meet in the first place. Within this mode, you will not be able to invite your friends. The Player Match is the opposite and allows you to invite your friends to try your best at showing up each other.
In the future, Texas Hold ‘Em will allow players to chat with each other via Xbox Live Vision. I have currently been using Xbox Live Vision for Uno to chat with people with video streaming and it seems to insert energy into everyone as they can see their opponent. With poker, I am expecting many players will enjoy seeing their opponent’s actual poker faces and determine if they are actually bluffing.
In comparison, I’d say Texas Hold ‘Em is the second best card game currently on the Xbox Live Arcade. It definitely is better than Hardwood Hearts and Hardwood Spades, but isn’t as entertaining as Uno. In terms of what I’d like to see done by the developer TikGames next, I’d love to see them bring their Suduko/Latin Squares game to the Xbox Live Arcade or even their movie mogul driven title, Cinema Tycoon.
Summary:
If you didn’t receive Texas Hold ‘Em when it was free, I feel your pain. Currently, it is running at 800 MS points to download. If you don’t avidly love poker, I suggest you avoid this rendition on the Xbox Live Arcade. If you love card games, the interface and graphics are mediocre when compared to what the team behind Uno put forth in their title. Hopefully Microsoft and TikGames implement the camera features soon to generate deliver more reasons to play this game. Who knows, you may just end up playing Howard Lederer on Xbox Live and having the chance to see him on the camera play his best against you.
With Texas Hold ‘Em, Microsoft made the decision to provide gamers a chance to download it for free for the first two days. That’s right, no charges added or anything, Texas Hold ‘Em was there for the taking. Now that the two days have long been past, people are still downloading this poker themed game due to one simple reason, the fact that it is poker! People nowadays can’t seem to get enough of it – whether it is on television, in the movies, or in video games – there’s no way of stopping this pop culture phenomenon, it’s like Pokemon for adults!
There are two forms of gameplay, single-player and multiplayer. For the most part, the single-player is a breeze and doesn’t offer too much competition. Computer players will throw out a few odd raises, but it’s rare that you’ll see them playing it all or nothing like the online competition does. If you are looking for tough competition, then avoid the single-player experience at all costs. You should strictly play the single-player game mode for the achievements and end all relations with the boring mode after that point.
The multiplayer mode is where you’ll find all the supposed card sharks trying their best to bluff their way to the top. You must take into consideration that you aren’t playing with real money; the competition online will vary from respectable to dimwitted. With no real money involved, too many players will put all their chips on the table to persuade others to fold. The incentive to winning isn’t high except for increasing your bankroll which is merely only there for bragging rights.
There are a few options when you head online; Quick Start, Competitive matches and Player Matches. Quick Start will throw you into the action at a random table without too much waiting. The Competitive matches are for all those awkward encounters with strangers that you never wanted to meet in the first place. Within this mode, you will not be able to invite your friends. The Player Match is the opposite and allows you to invite your friends to try your best at showing up each other.
In the future, Texas Hold ‘Em will allow players to chat with each other via Xbox Live Vision. I have currently been using Xbox Live Vision for Uno to chat with people with video streaming and it seems to insert energy into everyone as they can see their opponent. With poker, I am expecting many players will enjoy seeing their opponent’s actual poker faces and determine if they are actually bluffing.
In comparison, I’d say Texas Hold ‘Em is the second best card game currently on the Xbox Live Arcade. It definitely is better than Hardwood Hearts and Hardwood Spades, but isn’t as entertaining as Uno. In terms of what I’d like to see done by the developer TikGames next, I’d love to see them bring their Suduko/Latin Squares game to the Xbox Live Arcade or even their movie mogul driven title, Cinema Tycoon.
Summary:
If you didn’t receive Texas Hold ‘Em when it was free, I feel your pain. Currently, it is running at 800 MS points to download. If you don’t avidly love poker, I suggest you avoid this rendition on the Xbox Live Arcade. If you love card games, the interface and graphics are mediocre when compared to what the team behind Uno put forth in their title. Hopefully Microsoft and TikGames implement the camera features soon to generate deliver more reasons to play this game. Who knows, you may just end up playing Howard Lederer on Xbox Live and having the chance to see him on the camera play his best against you.
