I don’t look at casinos as very friendly environments. After all, they are after your money,a nd somehow I can’t see gambling for money as fun. I’ve only been to two casinos in my entire life, Niagara and Estoril (Portugal). I wasn’t too impressed by the smoky environment, blinking lights and beeping noises.
A virtual casino on my PSP at first didn’t seem all that appealing either, but “let’s not be picky”, I thought, “since I might actually learn something from this game”, seeing as I only know how to play Blackjack and a little bit of Poker.
Hard Rock Casino’s Adventure mode puts you in the shoes of a minimally customized virtual man or women out on a quest to turn their $1000 into a million, taking their chances in a series of casinos.
Each casino has a series of goals to achieve before you can unlock the next one, for example, double your money while playing a certain game, win something at the slots, do a certain number of correct plays at Blackjack, win this many times in a row, and so on. Several goals are presented to you, but you only need to complete a few of them to unlock the final goal and advance to the next casino (there are four of them).
My first problem was not knowing what to play, since I really didn’t know the games. Fortunately, there is a handy tutorial feature that explains each game step by step. Your virtual dealer will speak to you and tell you what to do, from placing a bet to the value of each card, teaching you the basics and not-so-basics of each game.
So after a few quick lessons, I was off to win some virtual money. Yep, cause that’s the only kind of money I’ll gamble. I used to play poker for cookies by the pool with some friends and that’s as far as my gambling went. I also used to eat all my cookies at the same time…
The casino is separated into four major areas: slot machines, sports bets, table games and poker room. There is a series of different Poker games to play: No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha Hold ‘Em, 7 Card Stud, Big Raise Hold ‘Em. Then you will find Blackjack Casino War, Pai Gow, Roulette, Craps and Baccarat at the tables.
You can test your luck and the several slot and video poker machines for either money or a car, or maybe bet on horse racing or other sports. There are also tournaments for a number of things.
Tournament is also one of the other available game modes, as is Quick Play where you can just pick a game and play for a while. I used it as a practice mode since it’s not tied to your Adventure mode earnings.
Although this isn’t a game for the masses, it’s a very good casino simulation with very simple and easy controls, good voice acting (mostly during the tutorials, since people at the tables get a bit annoying), interesting graphics, great lighting effects and textures. The graphic side only lets you down in the character customization process.
The music is pleasant, although it could use more variety, and the sound effects are reasonable.
The replay value is quite high, not only because you will be trying to constantly win more money and unlockable goodies for your character, but you can also hop on wireless mode and play against other people.
I actually ended up becoming “good friends” with Casino War and Baccarat, aside from Blackjack, they’re my three favorite games to play – and probably also the easiest. Granted, I’m not going to run off and bet at the nearest casino, but I actually like the idea of having my own portable gambling machine now. That way, I won’t lose my cookies nor my money.
Special thanks to Michael Meyers and Crave for providing a copy of this title.