GameSpot editors' review
-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 02/26/1997
- Updated on: 05/02/2000
- Released on: 12/31/1996
- Originally published on GameSpot: Virtual Pool (PC) Review
When designing a military flight simulator, programmers have a certain leeway in reproducing the physical properties of the aircraft and its surroundings. After all, only a lucky few have ever actually flown a real F-16, so no one will notice if the plane doesn't capture the precise "feel" of its real world counterpart. Unfortunately, the designers of Virtual Pool do not have this luxury. Since all of us have held a cue stick at least once in our lives, Interplay has to ensure that the table physics are 100 percent accurate in order to suspend our disbelief.
To this end, the Celeris design team employed mathematicians and physicists to ensure absolute realism. As a direct result of their meticulous attention to detail, Virtual Pool succeeds in reproducing every possible nuance of the game. In fact, Interplay claims that the physics are so accurate that it will actually improve your real-life pool game - or your money back!
Of course, outstanding physics are useless without a control scheme that allows you to actually take advantage of them. Fortunately, Virtual Pool utilizes one of the most elegant and responsive interfaces ever created for a computer game. By providing a direct link between the mouse and the motion of the onscreen cue stick, Virtual Pool allows you to recreate all the draw, English, and spin you would apply to an actual cue ball. All you have to do is line up the shot, pull back on the mouse, and then stoke forward as you would a genuine pool stick. By moving the mouse gently, you can make smooth and accurate shots. If you roll the mouse with force, you can send the onscreen balls careening off the rails. This direct interface is so convincing that you can almost feel the contact with the ball.
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