PSP - Daniel Negreanu's Stacked

Format
PSP
Publisher
Myelin Media
Developer
BattleBorne
Country of origin
US
Genre
Card games

Daniel Negreanu’s Stacked

By David Rasmussen
20th Mar 07

Hawaii is not the most welcoming place for people with gambling addictions.
There are no casinos here, the cops seem to have a bad habit of wanting to arrest you if you even so much as hold a private gambling session in your own home (either with other people or on the computer), and you can’t even seem to have a lottery in the state without it being illegal. Yes, our state is like a big MommyState, always looking out for us… whether we want it or not. Me? I don’t mind, I have a hard enough time stomaching the tedium of reviewing a gambling game heaven forbid do the real thing.
Speaking of gambling games how about a game based on a gambling show that appears on… MTV?

You’re kidding, this is actually from MTV? What’s next?! JACKASS The GAME… wait, I better not say that… it might come to pass. But because you can’t seem to get enough of games involving virtual vice like gambling then how about this game, which is about as interesting as watching a show about people playing Texas Hold ‘Em for profit… which is to say not so much.
Now before the die hard gamblers rise up in protest here’s the thing about this game… it’s fixated, to a harsh degree, on Texas Hold ‘Em, and while that is all well and good you can find way too many games out there with a wider variety of gambling games on one release so such a limiting title like Stacked is just boring in comparision to the more generously packed options out there than this.

No matter how many options you have (which isn’t much), the only saving grace about this game is that there is this ability to play online (24/7) if you wished… now then, all you have to do is find someone online to play against… good luck. Otherwise with only the option to play Texas Hold ‘Em you’ll find that this game gets old faster than you’d hope it would (even if it does offer a “Career“ mode of sorts and the ability to practice this game… which is good since while it won‘t take you long to get the hang of Texas Hold ‘Em it will take you awhile to get used to the slanted playing field this game sends you out on), to the point that not even if you bought this for sale ($11) at Barnes & Noble (or some local gameshop where you dug this out of the bargain bin) will this game be worth it.

Considering that you can find games with more variety (and more depth) even for the GBA, heaven forbid the PSP, there is no reason for you to buy such a limited game. What? The graphics? Well it does a fine enough job presenting a “real” environment with actual virtual players you can “create”… except for the fact the word “create” may not be well used when describing this game as you do not as much “create” an avatar as you pick from a few dozen “options” which all are actually quite limited since you don’t actually do any real “creation” in this character creator as you just pick a “look” and stick to it.

Then there’s the gameplay itself, which often freezes during gameplay for short periods of time, killing off any sense of realism as it chugs along looking pretty enough, but not flowing seamlessly from hand to hand. Worst is the lack of facial expressions (which you start with only smile or frown with two “?” meaning there might be unlockable facial features in the game… no good since for the most part your AI opponents seem to make this feel more like poker night on a Borg ship from the lack of facial expression from your opponents (which wouldn’t matter anyway since actual players have such limited facial expressions to begin with). Oh, and while this game’s namesake Daniel Negreanu (who gives a rather dry boring “lecture” on how to play Texas Hold ‘Em if you’re willing to listen to it) does give “advice” on how to play your hands (choosable from your limited menu of options) you’ll find that 8 out of 10 hands he seems to want you to throw the cards, and even when he does want you to play it out half of the time his advice is either wrong or the game seems to experience an effect I expect to see out of a racing game instead of a gambling game… the rubber band effect.

Somehow, no matter how you play, the AI always seems to bounce back and recover quickly as the AI dealer will at times seem to just lay down the right cards for them to win in a pinch (even if you have a dominating hand and seem to be assured a win). This sucks as you’ll throw down all your chips on what should have been a good hand, only for the AI of one of the opponent players bouncing back with the luck of the draw or a surprising “good hand” which just fries you like nobody’s business. That sucks.

Otherwise the main cross to bear against this game is that it’s ONLY about Texas Hold ‘Em. With other games out there which has a more well rounded selection of gambling games to play, and don’t suck nearly as bad as this game? Why spend even $11 on this when you can have a far better experience playing some other game that doesn’t suck as much as this one does. Only people who want a cheap cheap card game and don’t mind playing Texas Hold ‘Em and ONLY Texas Hold ‘Em should even consider this game.

Stacked, a game that sounds like it should be a lapdancing stripper sex program but isn’t… well, it should have been about strippers and lapdances since what it is about sucks… gets 2 Royal Flush(es) down the Tidy Bowl of Suckitude out of 5.

-- David Rasmussen 20th Mar 07

PSP Daniel Negreanu's Stacked Images