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World Championship Darts brings together the high drama
of major championships with a control method that recreates
the skills of a top arrows player. Classic commentary from
Sid Waddell and Sky-Sports style presentation make for an
enthralling spectacle in both one and two player modes. Meanwhile
for those post-pub gaming marathons there are 13 party games
for up to four players...
Darts,
one of the most boring sports on the planet! There aren't
even any good looking blokes for the women in the audience
to get excited about. Nope, just a bunch of fat, ugly blokes
chucking mini javelins at a small target. So, how do you bring
all of the the glitz and glamour of the dart's world into
your living room. Well, you could stuff a pillow down your
top, drink nothing but lager all day, buy a dart board and
get all your neighbours round to "ooh!" and "ahh!"
as you throw your projectiles at the bull... Or you could
have a look at Oxygen Games's latest release for the console
market.
PDC
World Championship Darts is
so close to cracking the art of bringing darts to the PS2,
that it's quite sad that it doesn't succeed thanks, in the
main, to the fact that no effort was made on the presentation
side.
As
with real darts, the art is in the aiming and throwing of
the darts. This is handled quite well in the game. You have
to place a cursor where you are aiming and then, watching
the on-screen meter, pull back the right analogue stick and
then, when the meter reaches the desired point, push the stick
forward. If you accidentally push the stick to the left or
right, then the dart will veer off target accordingly. However,
hit the spot and the dart will sail straight to the desired
target on the board. Going for maximum score? Well, when you
hit a critical moment of tension (for example you've already
got two treble twenties and are going for the magic 180) and
the cursor starts to move, making it even harder to hit your
desired target.
To
be totally honest there is a lot here that makes this game
a totally naff offering, but for some unexplainable reason
I was totally hooked. Even
though I could see the bugs and should have been cringing
at the poor commentary and bad animation, I was so drawn to
beating my opponents that I even took the game home and had
quite a few sleepless nights playing through the various levels.
It
doesn't really seem to matter which mode you play (with the
exception of the Party Games) as this is quite simply darts
on your PS2. The
biggest problem is that it's too easy to win. I managed to
win both the first trophy in career mode and in tournament
mode on my first attempt. Even the finals in both modes seemed
a little too easy (with neither opponent managing to win any
sets - although it was close on a few occasions). Having said
that, it still takes long enough to beat each opponent.
The
commentary... The less said about this the better. This is
truly awful - like some stupid goon got into the commentary
box by mistake. Not only is it poor, but very, very repetitive.
There only seems to be a handful of phrase, so I wonder why
it was included in the first place. Not only that, but the
commentary doesn't link with what is going on on the screen.
The commentator will scream: "What was he aiming at there!?"
when the dart player has just got what he was aiming for.
Or, he'll yell: "Lovely shot!" when you miss the
treble twenty and instead get a single one.
The
presentation is also pretty poor. The computer versions of
the famous players don't really look that good. You can't
really customise your own character, despite the fact there
are some very limited elements that you can alter (like style
and colour of shirt). You can't even choose the appearance
of your dart flights!
If
you want to get the best out of this game you're probably
best off playing a two player game against a friend - and
ignoring the Party Games mode all together.
It's
an odd game. It's one that I enjoyed, on balance, but I would
certainly recommend that you rent it first. The poor presentation
may be too much for some gamers to overlook.
Nick
Smithson
Buy
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£24.99
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£24.99
(Play.com) |
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£24.99
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£29.99
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£29.99
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All prices correct at time of going to press.
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