Stacked (with Daniel Negreanu)
Know when to walk away, and know when to run
Tags: Stacked (with Daniel Negreanu) Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Oct 18th, 2006
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stacked (with Daniel Negreanu) (title page) | 1 - 4 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Other | No | ||
 |
Poker has swept into the popular consciousness these days in a way that only certain toys have – nearly everybody knows about Tickle Me Elmo, even if you never had one. The biggest variant of the game is Texas Hold ‘Em where 7 cards are in play, 2 face down to each player, and 5 face up in a communal “trough” where each player attempts to make the best hand possible out of a combination of 5 cards.
 |
First, players are given their face down cards and a round of betting ensues. Then the first three face up cards are laid out on the table. This is the “Flop” which triggers another round of betting (or folding). Then another card and another round of betting, then the last card and the last round of betting. There are nuances and subtleties to the game, but those are the basics that are needed to be known before saddling up to the table.
 |
What makes Stacked stand out from the rest of the poker offerings out there is the artificial intelligence of the other players. Instead of just one or two types of players (going all out our playing reserved) there seems to be several different types of players, and when there is a large group around a table all trying to get your chips away from you, it can be a bit much to keep track of how everybody else is playing as well as attempting to change things up a bit for your own game.
Occasionally Daniel Negreanu will offer some advice in the form of Pro Tips. These are just tips, mind you – I was dealt a pair of Jacks face down and was counseled to throw them away and fold before the Flop was revealed. It’s not as silly as that all the time, but don’t just take the Pro Tips as the recommended way to play.
 |
Another fault with the game is the bare bones presentation – there is absolutely no style. While there is a percentage meter that appears to show the likelihood of winning the hand with what is shown, it flashes by too quickly. The running ticker in the upper right corner only serves as a distraction since not enough of what is being displayed is on display, and players have to spend too much time reading the script as it passes by instead of what the other players are doing.
 |
Stacked doesn’t offer a lot of environments, which is odd for the Career Mode. There are a multitude of places that are visited throughout the year on the poker circuit, and this game doesn’t even attempt to recreate that. The “create a player” choices are very limited, especially after having played 2K’s World Poker Tour with its very deep character creation system.
 |
Coinciding with that lack of presentation is the game’s lack of any other offerings other than Texas Hold ‘Em. There are plenty of games around that offer this style of poker, so having only one game to play really limits the title’s ultimate appeal. There are plenty of tournaments, mostly variants of single and multiple tables with different limits, but that doesn’t change the basic poker style on offer.
Graphically the player models and animations are decent, but nothing spectacular. It is a bit unsettling to see players throw in their cards without even touching them. And don’t get me started on the lack of variation with regards to the chip stacks.
The last complaint I have is with the game’s audio. The music during the menus and the actual in-game audio is so different that I initially thought there was nobody speaking during the game. I had to turn my television set up higher than I ever had to for a videogame to hear the chatter at the table.
 |
I know it sounds as if I’m being a bit overly harsh it’s because the game deserves it. After so many poker games have been released, to have something this sloppy come out only really shows that there isn’t any care about making a good game but instead people want to cash in on the Poker craze before it goes away completely.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Good AI variations + Plenty of tournaments with betting limit variations |
5.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
+ Audio + Graphics + Shallow presentation + Only Texas Hold 'Em which is already available everywhere |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| If you want Texas Hold 'Em, there are plenty of other ways to get it. This game may have been alright had it been released even a year ago. As it is, Stacked just falls flat inthe face of the competition. | |
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: Stacked (with Daniel Negreanu)
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Oct 18th, 2006 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
