There are a few billiards games on the 360 Live Arcade, but only one of them is 80 Microsoft points.
While the more expensive choices get most of the attention, “Balls†isn’t a bad pool-simulator. But with a complete lack of charisma and some physics problems, hardcore billiards fans may opt to spend more cash on a better alternative.
As soon as you start the game, a loading screen pops up that welcomes you to the game and says something along the lines of “there are no alcoholic beverages here, just fruit juice and pool.†While this has nothing to do with the quality of the game, it’s a bit of a turn off in the fact that a more seasoned programmer wouldn’t put anything like that in their game.
The same thing goes for the music, which is utterly inane and repetitive. Anyone who has been to a pool hall knows it’s a place for top 40 and classic rock and while it’s obvious those songs would be impossible to get for an independent game, there are plenty of great tracks on Creative Commons that the game’s developer, Mischievous Monkey, could have used instead.
Graphically, “Balls†is easily the best looking pool-sim on the system and incorporates Live Avatars nicely into the experience [even though seeing your own avatar stand next to the table while you shoot is a bit weird]. At times however, it can be a bit difficult to tell if a ball is solid or stripes, as the camera’s zoom function needs a bit more polish. Aside from that, the game’s visuals get the job done.
The biggest problem with “Balls†is in-fact, the balls themselves. Clunky game physics make even the most routine shot challenging at times. Throughout your gameplay experience, you’ll see balls rattle out of pockets far too often and at times fall off the table, to only be counted as a made shot. Because of this, you’ll spend more time aiming a shot than you should. As a result, the game looses some of its charm. As well, the amount of English you put on your ball doesn’t always have the desired effect, making the game not as realistic as it could be.
Guess you get what you pay for.
Many of these qualms come into play during a single-player game, mainly because the AI is rock solid. They rarely miss routine shots and if given an opportunity, the AI will run the table on you in short order. In two-player games though, these problems are essentially negated because both players have to deal with them. Able to play a local game, or via X-Box Live, “Balls†ends up delivering the goods on the multi-player front.
Ultimately that’s what saves the game.
Making up for the music and somewhat bland approach is the fact that, just like in a real pool hall, there’s an arcade cabinet present in the virtual pool hall. The game featured, “Grunt Assault 1.2†is a “Geometry Wars†clone that can be pretty fun at times. There’s also demos of of two other games the company is working on, “Hexytrench,†which will remind some gamers of “Carcassonne†and “Extreme Jigsaw Madness,” which is obviously, a timed jigsaw puzzle game.
Regardless of the goodies added in and the overall bang for your buck this game provides, “Balls†is an average pool simulator at an insane price. If you can deal with its flaws in single-player or you intend to play it in only two-player situations, you may end up enjoying it.
Everyone else may opt for something with a bit more polish though.
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