DDD Pool Review

Written by: David Laprad Published: January 22, 2007 The end of the Virtual Pool series after the third release left a gap in sports simulations that wouldn't be easy to fill. Plenty of offerings appeared over the years -- yet none captured the game with the same precision and sense of atmosphere as Celeris. At least the drought is over for eight and nine ball fans! DDD Pool from Paprikari is an excellent rendition of the game that made Minnesota Fats a household name and The Hustler one of the best films ever made. Here's what the 11 MB download offers: Simple controls that all but perfectly simulate the process of shooting the cue ball. Spot on ball mechanics and English. And visual details that could only have been applied by a loving hand. You can even see the lights above the table reflected in the cue ball! A couple of tweaks to the interface -- such as in-game help screens rather than an external HTML manual -- would get new users into the groove quicker. And more game modes would be a wonderful addition. But you won't find a better looking or playing pool game this side of Virtual Pool 3 -- independently developed or otherwise. Perhaps the gang at Paprikari "Just hadda show those creeps and punks what the game is like when it's great -- when it's REALLY great!" Scoring (out of five stars): Graphics: Ease of use: Gameplay: Challenge: Sound effects: Music: Final analysis: Click here to download the free trial version of DDD Pool.