Review: Pure Pool PS4

After the success of the critically acclaimed Hustle Kings on PlayStation 3, VooFoo Studios have honed their craft and taken hyper-realism to a whole new level with Pure Pool. Renowned for beautiful high definition graphics and silky-smooth gameplay

Pros:

• Gorgeous graphics, Some of the best looking balls I have ever seen.
• Opening tutorial section that explains all the controls and basic rules.
• Uses a two stick control scheme, Left to move around the ball and the right stick flicked back then forward for shots. X is used for fine tuning whilst circle is for spin.
• Touchpad is used for looking around the table where as pressing square will allow you to stand up at the table and see more.
• The whole of the game is one big social hub, You are always connected online and you will get notifications of players coming online, not just friends off your list but all players.
• Has a Platinum trophy if that’s your thing.
• Options allow you to change the cloth colour and table design on the fly.
• Easily challenge friends and randoms to games by bringing up the players tab and hitting challenge.
• Setup your own private league with friends. You can set the game type so 8 ball, 9 ball etc along with how many matches each player must take part in. Results are shown in a league table.
• Offline practice against a random AI character.
• Help section will go over the controls again and explain each game type to you and give general hints and tips.
• Practice area, When you first boot the game the first place you start is the practice area, its the main area.
• Has local play for up to 2 players.
• Career mode is a series of matches against AI in a tournament style ie you must beat one before facing another. Along the way you will unlock bonus mini games and your goal aside from winning is to collect stars. Stars are awarded for completing the 3 objectives within the match. This could be things like win in under 2 minutes or pot a ball when breaking. Stars unlock new tournaments.
• You can check what the objectives are in game at any time by pressing R1.
• Game types available are: US 8 ball, 9 ball, killer,perfect potter,royal rumble, speed potting.
• Accolades are awarded for many things and act as like mini trophies. A few examples of accolades awarded are: pot 3 balls consecutively or pot a ball from over 150 yards or pot in the corner 3 times in a row.
• Accolades earn you exp along side winning matches and ranking up in turn unlocks new cues.
• You have a players card which everyone can see. This card wil show your last few accolades earnt, your rank with exp bar, full stats on games played shots taken etc and your availability.
• You can download players DNA from the players tab. You do not even need to face them first. Simply click on someones name and hit download. The DNA version of a player will play very much as if you were playing them for real.
• Full online leaderboard support across all mini games and challenges with a country flag next to everyone’s name.
• Brilliant ball physics that we come to expect from VooFoo. balls move naturally.
• Cinematic camera angles.
• When you are on the black the screen gets darker and you can hear your heart beat, if you are successful at potting you are given a slow mo ball strike where you see the chalk flying off the cue.
• Challenge mode is more your arcade mode, Here you can play events like pot as fast as you can, perfect potter or best consecutive pot score. Leaderboards will show your best score but also how many attempts you took.
• My games tab is a shortcut to quick matches or the last game played and accessing league games.
• the game is really easy to get into and is perfect for players who want an easier time of it.

Cons:

• cannot change the music track in game.
• no actual pause button, Instead you just bring up the overlay and the game continues.
• You cannot just quit easily out of a game.
• No overhead camera
• No instant replay or save replay options.
• No skip AI shots in game.
• Cannot chalk your cue for better shots. that whole mechanic is absent.
• No restart match/challenge apart from going back through the overlay.
• No custom avatars for your player card.
• No power bar for shots.
• Only the one basic control scheme.
• The camera likes to fly all over the table after shots.
• Cannot adjust the sensitivity of the shots or do really precise shots.
• You are always online and cannot turn off or filter player online notifications. Your player card always says your ready to play and it would be nice to turn it off.

In Summary, its a pool game and it does the actual pool part well. i mean it looks absolutely fantastic, It just gets let down by so many downgrades. To think this team is the same team that gave us the awesome Hustle Kings, it feels wrong that we have lost so many features. Yes it looks better and yes they are going a new way with the UI and player interaction…But it feels like they forgot to put all the fine tuning, power bars, multiple camera angles and just general standard features in. you never really feel like you have complete control of your shots and the AI doesn’t help with their unbelievable long shots and crazy spins. but if you are a gamer that wants to play pool and not worry about the intricacy of a fine shot and just want to shoot it out on an even play field, this is perfect. I mean personally I feel its lacking but when I played against my 8 year old, he found it easy to get into and in turn made my life easier as I didn’t have to guide him. its a mix bag overall but for me it feels like its only half a game. That said it is a pool game and i do likes a pool game! The physics and looks are bang on, It just needs a bit more to satisfy hardcore gamers. It can all be easily fixed and I hope it happens.