Card games have, for better or worse, been rather popular in today’s society. Perhaps this is due to the popularity of the “World Poker Tour,” which airs virtually every weekend on the Travel Channel. Quite frankly, I do not really care for card games. This is probably due to the influence of the former pastor at my family’s church (he preached against gambling outside of sermons) and the fact that I find them boring. Enter Crave’s World Championship Cards.
In this game, you create an avatar who begins the card journey in his parents’ garage as he works his way up the card championship ladder. Why is that person stuck playing 33 different card games (around 29 if the variations of rummy and solitaire and war are removed) instead of being on the poker tour? My best guess is that the avatar cheated Dave Foley out of a few million when they last time met for poker.
As previously mentioned, there are around 33 different card games. These games range from solitaire, war and gin rummy to go fish, hearts and cribbage. There’s one major flaw with all of these games: They are not fun. Card games are supposed to be, at least in my [insane] world, around 50 percent strategy, 50 percent chance and 100 percent social. War is not one of those games, and it is not fun by oneself or with other people over age 7. Furthermore, it is downright repetitive because the X button is constantly pressed. The other games all rely too heavily on chance to win, and no major strategy is needed. Granted, it does not help that the computer AI is downright brutal. I constantly lost the first-tier games for about 30 minutes. Most of the games I have no clue how I was able to win. There is a variation of rummy that pretty much tells the player what moves are available and will not let the player pass until those moves are performed. Thus, where is the strategy? Obviously, it is not here.
The good news is that there are tutorials in the game. There are two problems with them. First, the tutorials are pretty much text boxes that pop up after something is done during a mock card game. In other words, the tutorials are bland and poorly implemented. Secondly, the tutorials are buried under menus. Need to “play” a tutorial to brush up on how to play a card game? You have to quit the current game, back out to the main menu and then select the “extras” menu. Is it too much to ask for an accessible tutorial? It would have been useful to have the tutorial load when a person initially plays the game, thus players would have an idea of what is going on. Or having it available at a press of a button before starting a card game would have been nice? However, a rule sheet for each game is available when the game is paused.
Here is the problem, or perhaps the good part, every little detail of the game is in that rule sheet. It probably would have been better if it gave a quick overview of the game and some quick tips. If I wanted to read that much, I would read the manual. And no manual should be greatly lacking in details about the game. But, this one does. This little tidbit brings up the debate of online/in-game help verses the traditional physical manual. Everyone loves well-implemented in-game help, like in Final Fantasy VII or in Mario Party 6 or Avernum. But I am of the camp that believes nothing replaces the information inside that manual. World Championship Cards fails to walk that fine line and makes already boring gameplay even worse.
As if to make matters worse, the graphics look like they belong in the very early first-generation PlayStation 2 games. The game tries to go for that realistic feel, but it just feels muddy and pixilated and just downright dark (as far as light goes). The avatar, which moves around his house or room in between games, just does not move correctly. The worst part is the 30-second loading screen that pops up whenever any action is performed. Turn on the game? Thirty second loading screen even before the title screen pops up. Want to start a card game? Thirty second loading screen. Quit said game? Thirty second wait. The game does even push the graphics card inside the PS2. While this may have been acceptable when the PS2 first came out, it is not so acceptable during this day and age.
As if to add insult to injury, the audio does not fair any better. The majority of the music consists of bad southern rock and horrid voice acting. For example, the “flamboyant male” voice set is insulting to southern men, gays and men in general. I firmly believe that women would find the female voice acting just as grating and bad. It feels phoned-in and fake. I quickly found myself turning the volume off on the television and listening to some music on my computer.
There are furniture and other things to buy to “stylize” your living space. There are two problems with this design aspect of the game. First, you cannot arrange items in your living space however you like. Second, you cannot interact with any of those said items. No faux-channel surfing, no turning the lights on and off, and no sitting or laying on the bed and sofa. Granted, this is not Animal Crossing, so why are players being teased with this option? It makes an already half-finished game feel rushed.
Online multiplayer is available. I did not check it out. First, the games are so poorly done that I would not even want to take these games online. Could you blame someone for not wanting to play these card games? For me, online gameplay is not to be a selling point for certain genres. If I want to play online, I’ll break down and find a free MMO. Offline mode should be available, then it should be used to refine one’s skills (which this game lacks). Second, I do not own a network card for my system, so there is no way for me to play online. (Try justifying it to a dad who is a physician and constantly on call who used dial-up connection for over 10 years.)
World Championship Cards is a game that is trying to cash in on the card craze. This could have been the “dream” card game if the presentation, gameplay and tutorials were stronger. The only reason I sank time into this game was because I was required to do so. A player can find better games for free online. Heck, the three versions of solitaire on my computer are stronger than they are in this game. Avoid this game, because there is something wrong when customizing one’s avatar is more enjoyable than the actual gameplay. Even my dog agrees with me, because she was present when I played it for a while. Cinnamon got up and sat in front of me during that time and looked into my eyes. I swore she looked at me as if to say, “Why are you playing this game? This is even more boring than what you usually play. Let’s go outside instead!” And you know what, we did just that.
