World Championship Poker 2 Preview - PSP

Playing cards against digital opponents is always a tough challenge – if you do believe that the games designers haven’t given the AI the added edge of knowing your hand (that’s our excuse we always use), it’s hard to read their poker faces. Where World Championship Poker 2 looks to succeed is with a very capable AI, which means novices may be a little put off, but the game does include 14 variants of poker, so there is something for everyone. Download the free magazine to read our World Championship Poker 2 preview. Click here to read the full World Championship Poker 2 Preview for Sony PSP now!

World Championship Poker 2 Preview - PSP
“It’s not fun to lose a pot with the nut low because you are playing high only.” Apparently. And if that means anything to you, you’re obviously one of the millions of people attracted by the massive success of poker in recent years, facilitated by the fat bonuses of city bankers and the rise and rise of online gambling. And if you are one of the millions of new gambling addicts you’ll probably forgive World Championship Poker 2’s unadorned presentation because you’ll be too busy enjoying the heady rush of probability and bluff against the game’s already convincing AI opponents.
That appears to be the game’s real strength: the quality of the AI. And judging by the near-complete version we played, its real weakness is that it’s a bit rough around the edges. It also does little to entice new players to the joys of poker. Indeed, if you’re not already an experienced player, even the game’s tutorial screen is rather overwhelming, listing, as it does, the 14 different games on offer, which range from Texas Hold ‘em to Crazy Pineapple. You can take part in any of them over the course of the game’s career mode, which sees you scaling the heights of the global tournament circuit, or you can play them against other PSP and PS2 owners online thanks to the game’s Wi-Fi multiplayer.

HGZine is a full, free to download magazine dedicated to Sony PSP and Nintendo DS gaming. This issue includes over 30 pages of games coverage, all written by professional UK games journalists. This month, we have huge previews of WipEout Pulse, Worms: Open Warfare 2, Smash Court Tennis, World Championship Poker 2, SBK 07 Superbike World Championship and many more great games on Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. Read our massive reviews of SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo 2, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, plus reviews of Final Fantasy Fable: Chocobo Tales, Burnout Dominator and many more. Plus we have a major interview with Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada, features, news, mobile reviews and loads more too, and it's all enhanced with video and multimedia. Simply click to download and you will get the complete magazine.

Please note that this magazine is an enhanced PDF file and is therefore designed to work primarily on the PC using Adobe Reader 8. We do not currently produce versions to display on mobile platforms, such as the PSP, as sadly we would have to remove a lot of the interactive functionality from the magazine.