"The only N-Gage poker game with Multiplayer!" screams the Games section of the N-Gage website. Yes, Million Dollar Poker is here, and with a good handle on the terminology of poker, I think I can safely say that the closest poker term to describe Million Dollar Poker is... a bit of a flop.
This is the third attempt at a Poker game on the N-Gage (it's even more prevalent than a falling blocks game, a la Tetris). Both Cafe Poker and World Series of Poker Pro Challenge have had issues that stop them being genuinely good games. They all had just enough wrong with them to keep them in the “quirky” category.
Unfortunately Million Dollar Poker suffers many of the same issues, and while it's got a big name licence behind it (Gus Hansen, three times World Poker Tour winner, who is involved in a number of online Poker endeavours), it still doesn't quite work as a game with mass appeal.
Nokia have pushed the online component of Million Dollar Poker, and this is the only current N-Gage game that can do this, so it's the big selling point and probably the part everyone will look forward to. Shame that you can't try it out in the demo version, though (more on that later)...
Getting online is a painless process, and you stay within the game interface, choosing an avatar until logged in, and then you are taken to the regular N-Gage “choose an online game” screen, where you can join a game in progress. Once connected, there's very little difference in the play between multi-player and the single player modes in the game, except that there is a certain visceral thrill that comes from knowing you are playing other people around the world.
Assuming that Million Dollar Poker takes off, this online component, coupled with the N-Gage Arena forum, could be what makes the game worthwhile. There is already talk on the forums of a regular time for people to get online and play each other, and this is where the joined up community of N-Gage users can be of benefit. Right now though, just as the game launches, there are only a handful of players active – always a worry in online multiplayer games.
Million Dollar Poker is aware of that, and provides a number of single player modes for you to play on your own. As well as the pick-up game (exhibition mode), you have the Career mode, which gives the game its name – by playing through tournaments around the world, you can earn money. This is unfortunately only valid in the game itself – unlike the explosion of on-line poker on the wider internet, there is no real cash value behind the game. No winning an actual million dollars in online play here, just the N-Gage Points pickup as you race to get the 1000 points that every N-gage game has to offer.
Sensibly, you have three profiles available, to shape three different careers, although I do wonder if anyone will take the time to build up all three of them in the game.
When it comes to playing the game, Million Dollar Poker's user interface is simple and easy to understand. It's based around “the chip” which is on the screen, and in the four directions (matching cursor pad directions) are the options available to you, be they raise, check, fold or otherwise, depending on which part of the game you are in. I especially love the fact you have to press in the D-pad to glance at the cards you have been dealt.
I'm also going to assume that this glancing is recognised by the “advanced AI”, which is pretty good. There are more elements of human play in this than the other N-Gage poker games, including the computer players using tactics such as slow play to try and ruffle you. I suspect this is where Hansen has had the most input in the game, helping the developers implement something that feels human, and challenging, and it's noticeable., If there was a way to pitch all three poker variants together, my gut feel is that Million Dollar Poker would come out on top.
And I also want to say that the “Heads-Up” single player option, where you take on just one opponent across the table in a straight mano-a-mano duel is great fun, and far more exciting than the regular eight players (AI or human) across the table.
But Million Dollar Poker has some flaws which bring down my impression of the game. I've already mentioned that multi-player requires, err, players to fully experience that, but the game itself could have done with some serious work on the graphical front.
While not as cartoony as D-Choc's Cafe Poker, the graphics are not what you expect from a modern N-Gage game. Gameloft have again taken one of their regular mobile games, and simply dropped in the requisite N-Gage elements to get it to Nokia's required level. The Graphics are okay for a regular java game, but it would have been nice for the graphics to be a little bit more photorealistic to match the rest of the atmosphere of the game.
Is it enough to damage the game's prospects for those looking first of all at the demo? I think so, because the demo does not let you get experience the full Million Dollar Poker experience before forcing you to decide whether to pay for the game.
And this is Million Dollar Poker's one amazing fail. The downloadable demo is short. Very short. In fact it's so short that I couldn't even finish the first hand of cards that I was dealt. Nor could I try the multiplayer – arguably the biggest feature of the game. The single player tournament was also not open to me until I paid the cash.
When you compare this to other N-Gage games, I really feel that Gameloft are cutting off their noses to spite their face. A demo should make you want to play a game because you like the game, not because you've seen the barest hint of a stocking top and feel like guessing about the rest of the features.
Million Dollar Poker has a lot going for it. While it's still not got a mass appeal in the way that sports games such as FIFA have on N-Gage, it does raise the game when compared to the other poker titles. But it doesn't raise it enough to take it into consideration for non poker players. Competent and solid, this is one for poker fans, and not many others.
-- Ewan Spence, July 2009.