World Championship Pool 2004 Preview

Developer	Blade Interactive
Publisher	Jaleco
Genre	Sports
Release Date	November 2003

Video games are an incredible escape medium. Where else can you slay dragons, defeat massive armies with your bare hands or dunk a flaming basketball? But the world of video games has never come close to replicating the simple, yet sacred sport of billiards. There is nothing quite like going to the smoke-filled pool hall, cracking open a couple of cold ones (disclaimer: to those of you under 21, a cold one means "soda") and shooting some 8 ball. The old pool hall looks like it might have some competition soon though. Jaleco is planning to unleash World Championship Pool 2004 this winter on all three consoles.

The feature list of World Championship Pool 2004 is quite substantial. The 8 and 9 ball games are there, of course, but other modes include Trick Shot mode, where you'll compete to see who can sink the most challenging shots, Fun Games mode, an unconventional game where the rules have been drastically changed, and snooker, the Brit's billiard game of choice. And with a detailed coaching mode to teach you the finer points of the game, you'll be hustling like a pro in no time.

Believe me when I say this game will be challenging. It won't be a pushover like that thrice divorced, overweight chain-smoker named Larry who frequents your local pool hall. Rather than programming the AI themselves, the developers let the game run for two years so it could learn how to play for itself. Imagine playing pool for two years straight. Aside for the fact that you'd probably die from a variety of factors, including but not limited to starvation and dehydration, you'd be a pretty damn good pool player. The same is true for the AI in this game. Prepare to have your balls handed to you. Billiard balls that is.

All the tools you need to make the tough shot will be at your disposal. You will have total control over where to stand at the table, where to aim the cue stick and even add some English for those tricky spots where a little creativity is needed. To aid in shot selection, there is an optional overlay available that will show the probable course of the cue ball and any ball it hits after it is struck. Can we call this cheating? Perhaps, but cheating is such an abrasive, unsympathetic term. How about "computer assisted shot management"? Now that’s more like it!

In a move to add some legitimacy to World Championship Pool as a sports game, a lot of detail has been put upon the style and presentation. The TV style camera angles along with commentary and analysis should help in this department, although commentary has been the Achilles heel of most sports games. We'll soon see how well it works with billiards.

Online play will be the piece de resistance for the Xbox and PS2 versions of the game. (Sorry GameCube owners, no soup for you!) You will now be able to bust your mad game wide open all over this massively multi-player world of ours. Most people would consider the social aspect of billiards to be the most appealing characteristic of the game so it seems only natural that online functionality was added. But beware! Larry the overweight chain-smoker can now have his revenge on you from the comfort of his own trailer park.

World Championship Pool 2004 looks like it will be the best thing to hit the game of pool since Jeanette "Black Widow" Lee. A ton of gameplay modes, challenging AI, detailed shot selection and, best of all, online play will be a dream come true for billiard fans everywhere. Be sure to bring your "A" game, your attitude and plenty of pool chalk when this game releases in November.

Preview by Erick Kelsen