World Championship Poker 2

Poker you've got to love it, trying desperately to catch your opponent breaking a sweat or giving you any sign at all that he is bluffing and then before you know it you have folded and he has all the money.

But is poker able to convert easily into the world of video games? Well if Oxygen Games new release World Championship Poker 2 is anything to go by then the answer is yes.

The career mode is where it's at in this game, Oxygen has introduced an RPG like system which enables you to improve certain skills such as Actor, Convincing, Hand Strength, Keen Eyes, Stare Down, Stone Face and Tough Read, this enables you to customise your characters in different ways by increasing your stats for the way you want to play.

World Championship Poker 2 also introduces a new mini-game during play, this happens when you have made a wrong move or when the computer detects that a tell you have made during your turn could be advantageous to other players, the mini game comes in the form of revolving markers that appear on the screen, when this happens you have the option to use your poker face or bluff marker and when this is done your character will replicated the expression chosen within the game and if you don't do this your character will give the game away whether your hand is good or bad.

Of course just because this tell system is in place doesn't mean that it is perfect, for example sometimes the computer will force the mini game on you even when you think your hand isn't particularly strong and therefore if you fail to pull off the poker face and the computer raises and forces you to call then the your cash can quite easily disappear.

Saying all this though the tell system is a fantastic idea, after all this is what poker is all about and in many of the other poker games I have played there is no such system in place, it's all about the hand you draw so this sort of strategy does give the game an authentic feel that makes it unique amongst poker games, it just needs some more work that's all.

Another strong point to the game is your opponents AI, this is very good as they will bluff, check and call the night away all the while playing to your hand and although it isn't perfect, it's a great advancement for any poker game as usually you get bizarre calls being made from all angles.

One of the other pleasing aspects is that Oxygen Games have included a multiplayer mode using the PS2's network play, this allows you to play against your friends using the cash you have earned from career mode, you are also able to transfer any cash you earn in multiplayer back to the single player again, which is a nice touch. The multiplayer is fairly basic really as there aren't enough options to make it really stand out from the crowd, however it does what it needs to so it's a start.

Graphically the game is a bit disappointing, the character creation system is quite limited meaning that you can't really create someone who will stand out from the crowd, this therefore is a bit of a letdown, also the venues all seem a bit lacking in personality meaning that they all feel the same really.

World Championship Poker 2 is definitely a game going in the right direction to it's destination, it isn't quite there yet but it is an improvement on many other poker games out there, if you like your cards then this could be the perfect game for you.