World Championship Poker All In (Xbox 360)

As good as poker is, and as addictive as poker is, this game shouldn't exist on the Xbox 360. Clearly ported up from a lesser format, it seems to be graphically dwarfed by the power of the 360. The user interface is inexcusable - you'd be horrified if you saw it on an online flash game - and the gameplay layout is no better, with a small portion of the screen showing the important stuff (like the cards). There is no emphasis on your hand other than that it's the one with the cards face up at the start. The rest of the screen is reserved for various cameras cutting around the poorly designed, and badly-modelled poker rooms.

A typical play of the career mode might be something like this:

First off you create your own avatar. The options here are limited - male and female about sums it up. Next you can add some crazy or not so crazy accessories to your chosen character.

You begin your career as a World Poker Champion in your basement, playing through a painfully long game, working your way towards playing more painfully long games around the world in various locations. Quickly you will become irritated by your opponents constant repetitive banter - that's if the music doesn't get to you first. Quite soon the sound on your TV will get turned off, followed soon after by your 360, before the game finds itself in the nearest bin.

My advice is to fold on World Championship Poker All In.

Released on 30th November 2007 By Oxygen Interactive.

Written by Nick Gripton.