Pure Pool (PlayStation 4) Review

Pure Pool covers four main game types, with US 8 Ball, 9 Ball, Killer (three lives, pot any ball, a miss loses a life, potting two at once adds a life), and Accumulator (adds scoring, lowest ball on the table must always be hit/potted, any balls potted out of sequence are added to opponent's score). For the solo potter there is a LOT to get to grips with here as the lengthy career mode (split between US 8 Ball and 9 Ball) starts the player off on the lowest rung and embarks on a journey up the ranks from amateur to professional, all the way up to master. Each skill tier is split into five distinct stages and, in a bid to inject a bit of variety into the proceedings, also adds killer, accumulator and challenge matches into the mix. The CPU controlled opponents that make up the meat and potatoes of the career mode are merciless and even the amateur level competition will regularly dispense a beat down as any errors on the part of the player are swiftly capitalised on. Each career match is an opportunity for the player to earn three stars by meeting certain criteria (for example, come back from being four balls behind to win the game, clear the table in 150 seconds, and so on), and access to each skill tier will be denied if the required number of stars hasn't been earned, which, of course, means replaying certain matches until the entrance fee has been met.

The aforementioned challenge matches that are integrated into the career mode can also be played independently and are surprisingly addictive. There are four varieties of challenge, all of which can only be played by alone, but the inclusion of online leaderboards instantly adds a competitive element to them.

Speed Pot: This is all about clearing the table in the fastest time as possible, adding a five-second penalty for any fouls;

Checkpoint: Starting with 30 seconds on the clock, pot as many balls as possible before the time expires to zero, with each successful ball potted adding a five-second time bonus;

Perfect Potter: Just keep potting balls until one is missed, then it's Game Over;

Royal Rumble: Clear the table as quickly as possible. However, it's not quite that simple as a new ball is added every 20 seconds, which can actually be seen hovering over the table before it falls. Needless to say, there is a generous five-second penalty for any fouls committed.

Lovers of competitive multiplayer aren't forgotten as Pure Pool offers up a robust online experience with a seemingly endless stream of real live hustlers available to compete against. Though, as might be expected when dealing with random online opponents, there's a danger of occasionally getting paired up with a dawdler - the sort that seems to take an age between every shot to brew up / go to the toilet / file tax returns / whatever (delete as applicable), so the lack of a shot timer seems a bit of an oversight, especially as leaving a game prematurely results in a forfeit. There is also the option to start up an online league for those with a few friends who own the game, so it seems a shame that similar provisions weren't added for the local multiplayer component that only caters for two people. For anyone that regularly has buddies round for beer and video games, it seems a shame that there is no party mode included - such as a round-robin tournament for three-to-eight players, or even a game of 'Killer' for more than two players, which would be fairly easy to implement and would get plenty of usage in such a household, at least. Make it happen in a future patch, VooFoo!

There's a lengthy list of Accolades to be earned during play, each of which are awarded for meeting certain criteria and contribute towards the overall XP (such as pot three balls off the break, win a game with no fouls). Each player has a card displaying their current XP, as well as other pertinent stats relating to game history (wins, losses, fouls) and these serve as a handy gauge for weighing up potential opponents. At the heart of Pure Pool is a persistent social experience and VooFoo has made it very easy to find competitors, as, in addition to the traditional 'quick play' option to find an online match, it's also possible to scroll down a list of all the gamers currently online at that precise moment, peruse their player cards, challenge them to a game or even download their DNA. What's that...? Download their DNA? Well, it might sound morally dubious but it's actually a very clever way of enabling play against friends (or even enemies) when they are not online or available for a match.

Pure Pool constantly monitors the tactics utilised by everybody playing it, such as whether they break hard or soft, employ a lot of spin or none at all, leave an easy pot over a pocket or sink it on the first opportunity, and it will attempt to replicate this in the form of a downloadable DNA profile. In theory, the more games a player has under their belt, the stronger their DNA opponent will become. Cool, eh? To put this to the test, the DNA of a dawdler that had recently been locked horns with (see earlier) was downloaded, and it was amazing to find that when they won the first break it took them about two minutes to take that first shot. Proof positive that being irritating is actually inherent in the genes.

Pure Pool isn't without its faults, though, as the camera angle can prove a little problematic at times. It seems that VooFoo's decision to make Pure Pool more like a 'simulation' rather than an 'arcade-style' game has led to the total omission of the obligatory overhead view during shot set up. Whilst this decision is understandable to an extent, seeing as evolution has yet to bless humanity with a removable head/extendable neck for any real life pool situations, it does make it very hard to accurately line up longer pots. The view whilst cueing is slightly adjustable via the touch pad, and there is also the ability to get up and virtually walk around the table at any point during a turn, but neither of these abilities help a great deal with the task at hand, other than providing an overall idea on the whereabouts of the balls from a better vantage point. There's also the odd occasion when numerous balls are potted simultaneously at opposite ends of the table, and rather than pan out to show what could have been a fairly phenomenal shot, the camera will instead just focus on the pocket the first ball went down.

Another slight annoyance is the constant ticker tape display along the top of the screen that flashes up every time a new person logs onto the servers. It's reassuring to know Pure Pool is a popular game - and a BIG install base equals a lot of potential rubes to hustle - but seeing a never-ending stream of names flash up can be slightly distracting at times, and it would make far more sense if this newsflash facility was reserved for friends who own the game... or, better yet, could be disabled altogether. These annoyances can be overlooked and worked around, to an extent, but it goes without saying that a patch addressing these issues would be welcomed by many and greatly improve what is already an excellent game.