RPG-style system
Poker is a deliberately slow game of skill, but it should have moments when it speeds up, such as during periods of aggressive play. World Poker Championship 2 just seems to run at the same slow pace throughout.The action is, for the most part, unpredictable, with players occasionally going all-in, bluffing, folding and changing the way they play a hand, and the NPC’s occasionally react well to the ‘action’ and will bet big with strong hands and occasionally have an uncanny knack of knowing when you’re bluffing, but ultimately it never really feels as if you’re relying on skill to win.
Every hand that you win in World Poker Championship 2 feels like it was pure luck, rather than skill. The AI make some crazy decisions and after a short while I ended up having no faith in the system at all and spent a whole tournament calling every single bet and hoping to ht something on the flop, no matter what I had in my hand. What was the result? I won!
The balance between the NPC’s intelligent gameplay, their reactions to your moves, and the speed of the game, just isn’t realistic at all. At times you can read a player based on the way they’ve played previous hands, but on other occasions they’ll pull out a ‘Straight’ when you thought they had nothing but a pair.
Click for larger imageThroughout your career there’s an RPG-style system, which allows you to upgrade certain skills, such as ‘bluffs and ‘tells’ As you earn points from doing well in tournaments you can assign them to certain areas, which will make you better at that particular skill.
You can switch camera angles to take advantage of the game’s tell and bluff system which allows you to try and read their mannerisms, but it doesn’t add anything to the gameplay. This is because the emotions of the players are often so exaggerated and comical that it’s pretty obvious whether they’ve got a good hand or they’re bluffing.