Price: 7.99
Released: Out Now
With the barrage of downloadable content available from the Playstation Store, games can struggle to garner any attention from gamers. Many developers offer reasonable content through innovation in various genres of games. So how does ‘Hustle Kings’, a pool simulator hold up in the market? Pool games are by their very nature going to appeal to a fairly limited audience and may struggle to provide longevity for gamers. Does ‘Hustle Kings’ break the mould??
Anybody familiar with pool will feel immediately familiar with ‘Hustle Kings’. The game features many variations of the classic game such as US 8-Ball, Black Ball and 9 Ball. There is not a huge difference between all game types but all of them work perfectly fine.
Gameplay is similar to any modern day pool sim. The left and right sticks control your aim and striking of the cue ball. Controls are tight and with some practice you will become quite adept at quick aiming and even using trick-shots. With a quick push of the R1 button you can switch camera angles to get a different perspective on your shots, this is a useful tool but also adds a frustrating element to the gameplay. When in free camera mode, you lose the ability to alter your shot and I found myself many times, simply not making the shots because I could not line it up. This was the only restriction I found though and for the most part the game plays very well.
The game features career mode, online as well as the option for local multiplayer and some very fun trick shot mini-games. The career mode is quite lengthy and challenging but is not very deep and acts more as a means through which to play a number of game types then as an integral part of the experience. Online matchmaking is easy and any games I found were generally lag free. One complaint I would have however is that many of the online players are in the habit of quitting the game as soon as defeat looks likely. This is to be expected of course but I wish the developers gave better incentive to stay in the game.
Visually ‘Hustle Kings’ sports a simple but very polished look, the table and balls are very well animated and the arenas in which you play have a very ambient and relaxing feel despite being quite bare. The audio is no slouch either, offering a chilled lounge vibe and some light rap that compliments the dynamics of the game exceptionally well.
‘Hustle Kings’ is a great pool game. At 7.99 it offers an experience that most full price pool and snooker games don’t even reach. If you are not a fan of pool games, not much has changed in this title but if you are in the market for a pool sim to sink the occasional few minutes into, this title is just about the best you are going to find.
8.0 Great Value
