Customer Reviews

Hoyle Casino 2004

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Each year, Sierra and Hoyle have released a new version of Hoyle Casino. Each year, they have added additional casino games or new modes of play. The 2004 release of Hoyle Casino breaks this trend. Hoyle Casino 2004 adds no new games into the mix, and offers little value compared to the 2003 edition.

Other changes from the 2003 to 2004 edition include not being able to play the game without the CD in the drive. This is highly annoying for those who may wish to play the game on multiple machines that they own. Previous versions allowed you to play the game without the CD in the drive (internet play and player voices were disabled.) Sierra would have been wise to pay attention to the furor of the customers for Intuit's 2003 TurboTax release and their complaints about copy protection methods.

An additional change that I find particularly annoying is that the game pauses itself if you open a different window during play. While playing poker in Hoyle Casino 2003, I would often open a web browser and switch to it while the computer plays out a hand I folded out of. In Hoyle Casino 2004, the AI players do not play while the program window does not have focus.

While the gameplay is still the same great gameplay that one would expect from Sierra and their Hoyle Games line, the 2004 edition does not present enough value to make another purchase worthwhile.

Shortly after installing the game, I start up a $1000, 14 hand Draw Poker tournament, with 8 players.

I lost profoundly. Those eight players managed to come up with SEVEN four of a kinds. Over 14 hands.

In all years of real poker playing I probably see a 5-card draw poker four of a kind one in every 100 or maybe 200 hands. Not 50% of the time.

Next tournament, first hand, I managed a three of a kind, and lost to a flush and two full houses. Just how many cards are in this deck anyway?

The graphics, sound, game choices, and presentation are nice, but with such a skewed random number generator, who needs it?

Find the 2003 version in the bargain bin instead, which looks and sounds almost identical and at least played a fair, fun game.

I find the Hoyle Casino 2004 game remarkably diverse and charmingly addicting. Yes, the CD must be in the drive for the game to work. Pity the pirates.

The games seem very Vegas like and it's enjoyable to try out many of the options I would never have the guts to play in a real casino. The computer players can be amusing, but unlike other reviewers I find them dumb and unlucky. I can routinely beat them in Poker (and that's the best way to rack up lots of money quickly). To the other reviewer who felt the computer players were biased: Pal, learn when to fold!

I did find the "talking" feature to be really insipid. Hoyle needs to hire someone with talent to script the other players, so I think for the future talking computer players could be a real riot. (The drunk, the flirt, the unintelligible foreigner, etc.) And the silly "Dealer" makes comments no real deal ever would, "Player loses!" Fortunately you can turn that nonsense off.

Overall: Very fun, well worth the price. Recommended.

I really wish I had read the reviews here about Hoyle Casino 2004.

I bought the game this week, and did a full install on my laptop. I use my laptop for travel, so I expected to be able to play this game on the long flights.

Lo and behold I was shocked when I found out that I could not play the game without the CD inserted in the CD-Rom.

As a frequent traveller I find this unacceptable. I tend to lose CD's when I travel, or damage them due to the hectic packing and unpacking of my personal things. I tried to make a backup copy of the CD, and found out that I have to buy a program that will defeat the copyright protection like Alcohol 120% or CloneCD.

Even if I do spend the extra money and time to make a portable copy of the original so I don't lose it or break it, I will still kill the battery if I'm on a flight that lasts more than a couple of hours. The other solution is to make an image of the CD on my hard drive, and point the game to that. This would take up more precious space on my hard drive, when the game already took up 455 MB of space on my drive with the install already.

All in all I am very fed up with Hoyle and their disdain for paying customers. I don't want to be treated like a criminal, and I will boycott all future Hoyle products.

Stay away from this product!!!

This game is OK for the basics, but don't expect anywhere near a real experience here. I can't tell you how many times I get beat on the last card, with just one higher card, say a 9 high to my 8 high. Always with only one card higher! That's not real. Plus, too many of the players are idiots, while a few are otherworldly lucky. It's nothing close to a random draw, and that's what you need for a real experience.

I found this game extremely addicting. I play this all the time. The characters crack me up although you do get used to hearing the same lines after a while. It would be nice if Sierra had updates so their characters would have more variety of things to say or new characters to add.

I have no problem playing with the cd inserted because ALL the other games I own (Sims, first person shooters, adventure) are like this so I'm used to it.

Since I don't own any other gambling games the only thing I can compare this to are the online types. To me this is a whole lot more fun.

The makers of this software managed to take a good product and make it bad. The cutesy little drink and voice additions only get on your nerves after only a minute or two. As for the playing they seemed to have added flaws that aren't there in the previous versions. And the poker playing which is what I enjoyed on the older versions is awful in this version. The players are viscious and if you like playing a more laid back game it won't happen in this one. I'm taking this one off my computer and putting the older one back on. I'm only giving this one star because I wasn't allowed to give it no stars.

UPDATE 1-DON'T RUN FULL SCREEN:
You may be able to run other software simultaneously with this game, including WebCams, if the game is not played in its default FULL SCREEN mode. This must be initially set up without other software programs running. 1) Start Casino, then press OK on the SIGN IN screen. 2) These buttons will become available: FILE, GOTO, OPTIONS and HELP. 3) Select OPTIONS, then WINDOW. The program window will no longer appear in FULL SCREEN mode. The minimized window that it runs in cannot be scaled, or sized to any custom dimension. It's a little on the small side, but is usable. You are supposed to be able to switch between FULL SCREEN and WINDOW modes as needed, but any attempt to return to FULL SCREEN mode after this will likely cause the game to quit functioning.

UPDATE 1a-STARTUP TIME SAVER:
Skip by the 3 animated splash screens by pressing ESC as each one appears.

UPDATE 1b-NEW PLAYERS:
Be careful that when you're done using FACEMAKER that you choose SAVE, then ADD. If you elect to UPDATE, you'll lost a character you previously designed.

UPDATE 1c-DOWNLOAD VERSION UPGRADE:
Visit www.sierra.com's where there's a 3 MB upgrade to Version 1.1. It makes one bug fix as follows: "Version 1.1.0.0 fixes a bug in Roulette Tournaments that would skip even numbered rounds."

UPDATE 1d-GUARANTEE:
Sierra offers a "No Risk Guarantee." You can get your money back within 90-days of purchase, if you send the product to them. Retail stores won't accept software returns due to copyright issues.

Boardroom:

Suit A: How can we rake in lots of extra dollars from unsuspecting gamers?

Suit B: I Know, lets change the year and the box, throw in some different backgrounds and sell it.

Suit A: Brilliant! why did we not think of that last year?

Suit B: We did.

Suit A: Did we? OK lets roll with it.

Let me start by saying that the graphics and audio interaction is nice. However, that is where it ends. They have removed some of the video slots that were on the old version and as far as the poker goes? This is the most non-dealing version I have ever seen. I have played some poker in real life and I have never gone so many hands without even a pair, had so many "high card" hands in a row and seen so many flushes, full houses and four of a kind hands as the "computer players" get in a tournament. I was really disappointed in this version. I have faithfully bought the new versions each time they came out, however I have doubts about doing it again. Sierra/Hoyle let me down this time.