HOYLE Casino Games 2009 – PC – Review

Many of us have the desire but
sometimes we don’t have the will – the desire is to hit it big in Vegas at the
slot machines or at a game table. Yet the will is weak when it comes time to
having the guts to spend big money. I have a rule anytime I go to a casino:
Never leave with less money than I walked in with. That usually finds me
playing very conservative, usually at games that have an extremely low buy-in.
Almost as soon as I get ahead in money I will usually quit, even if that means
I’m only up by a few cents.

However, I still have the desire to
be a big player one day and probably the only way that will ever happen is with
a game. Hoyle Casino Games 2009 is just the game for those would be high
rollers like me. You get a huge collection of new and classic casino games to
live out your fantasy. The standards such as Poker and Blackjack are included
in both table style and video/slot machine style for the purists that love just
those two games. The rest of the casino crowd will probably feel right at home
with the enormous variety of games included.

The game includes a rather deep
create a character mode called Face Creator. The Face Creator mode has a rather
impressive number of different features you can customize for your character. From hair color, eye, nose, facial hair, hair styles and voices there are plenty
of variety for gamers to create their own unique character. The game includes a
built-in store where you spend Hoyle bucks to further customize your character
with even more avatars such as The King, Dracula and many others. You can also
spend your bucks on décor items such as clocks, teddy bears and speakers. The
customization for your character really is an impressive part of Hoyle Casino
Games 2009.

There are additional features that
were a pleasant surprise to see in Hoyle Casino.  There is an achievement
system in place that rewards you with additional Hoyle bucks if you meet certain
conditions during the games. The rewards will vary depending if you’re playing
a single player game or an online game (called VIP REWARDS for the online
section). Finally a trophy case lets you show off all of the goodies you’ve
bought with your Hoyle reward points.

The gameplay experience really comes
down to what you’ve probably already experienced playing other casino games. Poker plays like poker. Blackjack plays like blackjack. Slot machines play
like slot machines. If you’ve played a casino game before, which I’m sure most
of you have if you’re reading this review, then you’ll be right at home when
playing the game. But if you’ve never played some of these games then you
probably should keep the instruction manual handy. The game doesn’t offer any
hand holding to give you an overview of how to play the games. Clicking on Help
to bring up the rules opens up a PDF file with the rules for the game.

 

Hoyle Casino Games 2009 is another
worthy addition to the line of Hoyle games released over the years. If you
have one of the older versions there might not be enough enhancements to grab
your attention. The achievements and shopping experiences are a nice feature
but really have no impact on you playing the game. Actually playing the games
is where Hoyle Casino does a solid job of replicating the casino experience. The sheer number of games and interaction with the computer controlled
characters does a good job of creating a virtual casino experience. Just keep
in mind what you’re playing and you shouldn’t have a problem trying to become a
big spender with Hoyle Casino Games.

Review Scoring Details
for Hoyle Casino Games 2009

Gameplay: 7.4
If you’ve been to a casino then you
shouldn’t have any problems jumping feet first into Hoyle Casino Games 2009. I
do wish the game would have included some brief tutorials so gamers won’t give
up on the more exotic games besides just slots, poker and blackjack.

Graphics: 7.5
Slot machines look like slot machines and the poker table looks like a poker
table. You don’t get the full effect of the actual casino experience such as
coins dropping from the slot machines but the visuals do work.   

Sound: 7.0
The music in the game is a constant
loop of smooth jazz style that I honestly expected to hear from the game. The
voice acting in the game from the other characters was solid but it had a few
eye-rolling moments.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
If you’re a casino veteran then you
won’t have any problems playing the games. If you’ve only played blackjack and
poker many of the other games might require several sessions to get comfortable
with.

Concept: 6.0
Besides the achievement functions we
still get a casino game that we’ve seen before.

Multiplayer: 7.5
The game does include an online mode
called the Hoyle Royal Suite which includes a friends list, tournaments and
leadership boards to rank you against other players around the world.

Overall: 7.1
Hoyle Casino Games 2009 is a solid
package for gamers looking for another (or new) casino style game. Plenty of
games, nice customization features and a solid presentation will keep you
playing.