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I will call your bluff

Published November 26, 2010
3 out of 5 starsScore: 60/100

Will admit this straight away. I am not really a good poker player. In the company this game offers I don't really need to be either. When playing against people you never know what to expect and too often you end up leaving the table with less money you started with. Well not with this game. Telltale have taken Texas Hold'em with a all-star cast and planted these to a fictional bar called The Inventory. The cast consist of Max, Strong Bad, Heavy from Team Fortress and Tycho. This seems like a odd cast and odd setting but it actually works.

Heavy
What you get is a basic poker game with some Telltale humor. The cast are true to their characters and design. Action happens only around a poker table and only thing differentiating from a normal video poker is the witty banter between characters. Each player has $10 000 when starting and players are eliminated when funds run out. After player(you) has been eliminated the end-game can be watched or a new game can be started with new 10k. 

Visually game is pleasing. Nothing fancy. Just a cartoony look in vein of Sam and Max games. Only funny thing is the difference between characters. Max and Strong Bad got simplistic 3D look where Heavy is much more detailed character. Tycho being almost a cel-shaded. 

Music is cool blues tunes that suit the poker atmosphere nicely. There is surprisingly lot of dialog. The chattyness can be adjusted which probably determinate what kind of re-playability value this has. Needless to say that the banter is not as funny the second time around.

Max and Strong Bad
There is a bunch of unlockables and achievements as hooks. The unlockables come in two forms. The more important being a Team Fortress 2 items. Which is one individual item from each character. New poker tables and decks are the second unlockable which opens from winning games.

This will not make you a better poker player and doesn't really give lot of  challenge if you know how to play already.Then again price is only £5 which is OK for just the funny banter.

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