World Championship Snooker 2007

For all their capacity to amaze, there are some things that videogames, in their current form, simply cannot do: synthesise the taste of a succulent joint of pork, for example, or take care of irksome household cleaning (much as 1980s Tomorrow’s World liked to convince us otherwise). Sadly for Sega though, another more important addition to that list comes through the simulation of realistic snooker safety play; a phenomenon more the fault of traditional control pad design than any group of programmers.

Faced with an analogue stick too sensitive to successfully simulate the smooth motion of a well-delivered cue, Blade finds itself with little alternative than to create a digital option, offering information about the relative angles of object and cue ball. Therefore, before every shot players can view arrows showing the directions of the two, as well as a rough circle showing the white’s finishing spot. Trouble is, to save players faffing about with arbitrary levels of shot power, the system only appears once you’re applying enough oomph to actually reach the ball you’re trying to hit. Sounds helpful enough, but there are plenty of implications that arise as a result.

For a start, we’re sure any snooker fan out there is pretty aware of situations during matches in which reds are placed so dangerously that neither player wants to do anything more complex than simply roll up to the bunch, to play safe. Frustrating stuff, but relatively rare all the same. Armed with Blade Interactive’s aiming mechanism though, not only is it possible to achieve this feat with ease, but leaving an awkward shot behind any ball, regardless of table position, also becomes a viable shot option. Of course your opponent – be they CPU controlled or at the pad – can simply return the favour ad nauseam, so a certain degree of self-restraint is required to keep the whole thing from descending into chaos, as both players chase a single ball around the table.

Another technical fault prevents meltdown, though. If you are given concrete evidence of whether or not you’re going to touch the object ball, a whole range of absurd regular safety shots rear their heads, an example being baulk line attempts to plant the merest clip on a red lodged against the top cushion. In one match deadlocked at 50 points each, our CPU opponent completed a kiss on a red, doubling across the table after jawing the ball to land back in baulk, while using the spider. At least AI opponents are afforded the same pinpoint accuracy offered to players, right?

… continued