While poker games have been a staple diet of consoles for as long as we can remember, there are few that manage to capture the tension and excitement of playing in a real world casino for real world hard earned cash. Pure Hold Em by Birmingham-based Voofoo Studios is one of the rare offerings that is arguably as good as playing the game face to face with real people.
From the moment Pure Hold Em fires up every aspect of the game says this is a product that has been developed with an instinctive love and appreciation of one of the most popular card games in the world. With a wide variety of game modes and tables on offer, Pure Hold Em is an excellent choice for both seasoned players and those new to poker.
We played the offline mode for a few days working our way up the ranks and earning XP and credits so that we can buy into the more expensive tables. But it was online that the game truly came alive. Rather than opting for badly animated NPC’s, VoFoo has wisely chosen to represent other players with a futuristic iPad interface. Each tablet shows the players name and offers you the opportunity to zoom in and check their playing styles, how many chips they have left and other useful statistics. Excellent. Calling, checking, raising and folding are all handled intuitively with the press of a button and you can pan across to examine your opponents or allow the camera to follow the action automatically. Pure Hold Em also offers you the opportunity to chat with other players which really helps immerse you in the game.
Visually Pure Hold Em stands head and shoulders above any other poker game we’ve played on a console. The graphics are crisp and sharp and the animation when the cards are being dealt really make you feel as though you were in a real club or tournament. VooFoo also offers players the opportunity to customise the design of the cards and tables. An idea used to good effect in VooFoo’s recent Pure Pool game. And, just as in Pure Pool, when the tension mounts up and the final card is being turned over, everything slows down to a Matrix-like slo-mo which, no matter how many times you see it, never gets old.
The only thing we weren’t too crazy about in Pure Hold Em is the introduction of micro transactions where you can buy your way into tournaments with real money. A nice touch if you’re too rubbish or lazy to work your way into the big league but its an option that can be too easily abused by inexperienced gamers.
Apart from that miner niggle, Pure Hold Em is by all accounts an excellent poker game that deserves to be played. Highly recommended.
8/ 10
