Midnight Pool Review
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Bar room sports are the kind of athletics anyone can get into. They not only require the minimum of effort to play, but they can be done indoors and are never far from a drink refill. You don't have to warm up (other than grabbing a beer on your way in) and there's little chance of sustaining an injury other than a sore head and wash of nausea the next morning. In other words, these are sports for the man who cares little for winning, but is happy just to take part in a long tradition of drunken companionship with other 'athletes'.

King among the pub sports is undeniably dominoes, but pool is quite popular too these days, so Gameloft decided it was time to help out the cue and ball sportsman and get him off his feet with an N-Gage version of Midnight Pool. In many ways it has succeeded, though there's an inherent problem with digitised bar athletics, and that's one of atmosphere; something Midnight Pool singularly fails to address.

Gameloft has made a wise decision to keep the tables well within the remit of the tap room (or whatever equivalent American's have for tap rooms) but sullies much of the beer fuelled, felt covered camaraderie by making you play for money - serious money. Sobriety hangs heavily in the air throughout Midnight Pool, which it really doesn't need. Lining up a virtual pool shot is steady enough, so a game like this needs to do everything possible to keep the momentum up and the solemnity down.

Of course, there's always room to indulge the more stolid sportsman in pocket gaming, and if you take your balls seriously (ahem) then Midnight Pool could well provide the staid sporting experience you're looking for.

Perhaps more importantly than capturing that elusive bar room ambience is the gameplay; or more specifically, the physics controlling the pool table. A pool simulator's gameplay hinges entirely on the realism of the ball's reactions, and Midnight Pool can at least claim success in this respect. All control requirements, from lining up a shot, applying angle and spin to the cue ball, shot power and deflection are present and correct – each making a noticeable difference to a well played shot.

Taking a shot is simple, yet wholly effective. Pressing '5' initiates the power gauge, and pressing again when it's at the appropriate level takes the shot. This allows for a remarkable level of control, which is definitely needed considering the realistic reaction of the balls.

The opponent's ability and intelligence seems to fluctuate a little sporadically - one moment making a nigh-on impossible shot, then missing another in a way that resembles a boyfriend letting his girlfriend win - but there's enough of a challenge to keep you interested as long as the sombre atmosphere allows. The different game modes pretty much amount to using different coloured balls, though again this minor adjustment to each pool game will undoubtedly satisfy aficionados of the sport.

The odd inclusion of some enjoyable trick shots is somewhat negated by the tedious and repetitive grandstanding the characters insist on performing after each and every half-decent shot. A little extra attention to your return to the table could also have slickened up the gameplay a little, but as it is you're left feeling as though you must circumnavigate the table every time to line up with the most obvious shot.

An online mode, allowing you to play against other people on the N-Gage network would really have added some depth to Midnight Pool, but it's still a mostly enjoyable distraction if you're only looking to pot a few balls. It serves its purpose as a handheld pool simulator as well as it should, but doesn't make enough of an effort to do anything particularly spectacular. With more charm and charisma, Midnight Pool would have been a lot more fun, but it still does what it promises – despite the exclusion of a suitable bar room personality.

Midnight Pool Review

A perfectly adequate pool simulator that doesn't make enough effort to really endear itself to an already full genre.
Score
Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.