World Snooker Championship 2005 (Xbox)

The controls are fiddly and, as you'd expect from such a technical sport, every button or combination of buttons on the pad allows you to control your shot in different ways. It takes a lot of getting used to (and the patience of a couple of popes and a saint is required whilst you learn), but once the basics are understood you can work up - and, believe me, the first time you get the ball to corkscrew perfectly back into position having made an awesome shot, you'll have a grin on your face that only dynamite could shift!

So, why the low score? Mainly because the computer opponents AI is lethal. Your opponent doesnt seem to make mistakes (unlike real life) - example, playing pool (best of 3 frames) I played the lowest ranking opponent. He beat me in straight frames - my total number of shots over the 2 frames? 2 - and one of those was the initial break! And this wasnt a one-off - over the course of a two week period, everytime an opponent came to the table, he'd clear up. This isnt me being soft - I appreciate a challenge, I really do. But I need my challenge to be a gradual learning curve - if Im easily beaten by the lowest ranking AI (who doesnt make mistakes) how can I fare against the top seeds? Exactly. And that just proves my point - if all you're doing is staring at the TV, watching the computer potting shots perfectly, you're not actually playing a game: all you're doing is watching an animated video.

Practise makes perfect, but unfortunately you'll have run out of patience way before then.


Very good, takes time to get used to.   August 1, 2005
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

World Snooker Championship is visually, a great Snooker sim and a really achievement. I have grown up playing a fair amount of Snooker / Pool and have generally enjoyed Snooker sims - Virtua Snooker comes to mind.

When I started up WSC I did what I normally do with a new game - plunge straight into it. I started up the exhibition game and delved straight in. The first thing I noticed was that the aids used in the game don't make the game ludicrously easy as some other games once did, but does allow you to learn the basics of the game reasonable well. The aiming device gives you a broad impression of where the ball is going to go, without being too specific and doesn't give you too much indication where the cue ball is heading.

The revision for this game over the previous years example was the addition of the thumb stick control for power, now I still haven't gotten used to this although I really wish I could as adding this kind of "feel" into the game adds a real dimension of realism that increases both the playability and the enjoyability of the game. However, I found this control to be jerky and all to often either barely moved the cue ball or sent it speeding around the table at speeds more used to an F1 track.

The game itself is tough, and really takes some time to get used to. I found myself drifting off a lot of the time to play the excellent Pool sim side game. I found this really enjoyable and a lot easier to get to grips with. As with real life Pool is an easier game to pick up but no less difficult to master...

Overall this is a quality sim, worthy of your money, but do be aware it takes some commitment to get any good at it, don't expect to be knocking in centuries after a few hours...


Snooker 2005   May 25, 2005
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is the first X Box snooker game which I have owned, having previously owned PS2 versions.

The graphics are fine and smooth, and the control is excellent. The computer opponents are easier than the PS2 versions but you cannot expect them to be push overs. The game prides itself on realism and so, the difficulty has to be realistic. You are initially ranked 104 in the world and cannot expect an opponent to regularly miss a 6 inch pot. On the PS2 versions I found that one mistake meant essentially end of frame. On the X Box it isn't the case, and you are generally given (against better ranked opponents) more "cracks at the whip" to win the frame. However, there are more qualifying rounds.

Within a few hours I found making 30+ breaks to be fairly frequent. However, practice makes perfect and I would urge you to do the learning section.

One of the "side" games is pool, which is excellent. My only critism here is that one mistake does mean end of frame, but hey, it's a smaller table and much much easier to score.

Overall, an excellent game


Brill   May 17, 2005
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Im not even a Snooker fan but this game is very good. MUST BUY.