Published by Interplay
Reviewed by Senior Columnist Cricket
on 8/9/00
Article
Discussion Forum
First
Impressions:
Actually,
when I looked at the glitzy packaging Caesar's Palace 2000 arrived
in, my first impression was less than positive. The game is billed
as family entertainment, which frankly, I find a problem, but I
am not going there, since this is just a review of a game. (If you
want to read my article on gambling, go
here.)
On the good side, Caesar's Palace 2000 comes with detailed instructions
on installation and game play. This is definitely a plus because
too often, games do not include play guides, let alone detailed
instructions. The booklet was well laid out and informative. The
game itself was easy to install due to the self-installer feature.
My only complaint is that it insisted on putting Windows Media player
on my computer. Since my computer (P133, 28 K modem, 32 RAM) just
met the minimum requirements for this game, it is understandable
that I would not likely have the Media player on my system. It also
tried to get me to register with Interplay so I could win "lots
of cool stuff."
Unfortunately, that is where the "easy" part ended. I launched the
game, which promptly crashed my system. So I rebooted and started
again. After an indeterminable wait, I got to the credits (which
informed me that the game was for entertainment purposes only) and
found myself viewing a screen of shadows and mixed up words. Guess
I didn't quite meet the "minimum requirements" after all, since
I do not have a 3D graphics card, and I have a P133, not a P166.
In the past if I tried to install a game that required 3D graphics,
it has refused to install, but obviously the developers were determined
to meet as many system requirements as possible and overlooked this.
Again, I crashed, and rebooted. This time I made it past the credits
and into the lobby of the game. It took at least five minutes to
reach that point. Clearly this game was meant for a higher-end system.
Undaunted, I pressed on. The lobby of the game requests that you
"add player". You cannot get past that point until you pick letters
of the alphabet from a wheel that spins as you direct it with the
direction keys. When you accept the name, the game launches. On
my computer the wheel barely moved, and I found myself slamming
the direction keys in frustration.
Crash. At this point, one and one half hours after opening the package,
I had yet to play. Still not down for the count, I tried again.
This time I actually got to the game lobby, and selected a game.
Keno looked interesting, so I picked the video keno game. The instruction
book was clear, though I did not have to refer to it for instructions,
since the game was relatively self-directing. As a novice player,
I was given a minimum amount of money to play with ($2,000) and
could bet .50 or more.
I read the keno rules and tried to pick my numbers. Not a chance.
The direction keys were useless. No cursor in sight. I couldn't
exit or move. This time when my system crashed, I gave up.
I called a friend, tucked the game under my arm and headed off to
see if a computer that exceeded the requirements would cause me
to change my mind about my first impressions.
Graphics:
With
a decent graphics card, the lobby of the game still lacked a little
something, a certain sophistication I think. It did offer a menu
that was easy to follow, however. I chose keno and launched easily.
Graphics on the keno slot machines were crisp. Again, however,
there was no cursor to be found. This game is entirely keyboard
driven.
My friend, a graphic artist was initially impressed with the graphics,
and we explored all of the games. The card games were especially
good; the cards were easy to read and the "dealers'" hands were
gloved, giving the impression that you were at a high stakes table.
However, despite the decent graphics, we eventually looked at
each other with an "I wouldn't spend money on this game" expression.
Sound/Music:
There
were options for sound effects. Each dealer had a different voice.
I did not encounter a female dealer in my travels through the
game, but perhaps didn't explore enough. More than likely it was
because we couldn't get past the novice level in any of the games.
There was nothing special about the sounds, and nothing we could
fault. The volume settings under options allow you to change the
sound effects, speech and ambient volumes.
Gameplay:
Although
gameplay is fast enough to hold your attention, the most annoying
aspect of the game is the fact that you cannot use your mouse.
It is difficult and ridiculous using the direction keys to place
a bet, select a number or a card and scroll through everything
to hit a play button. I quickly tired of each game for that reason,
not because the games were boring, but because it was too much
work to accomplish simple tasks. Nowhere in the instructions does
it allow for a mouse. It simply makes no sense that a game like
this would be a throwback to the early days of PC games.
Another drawback is that Caesar's Palace 2000 does not offer multiplayer
games (unlike free online casino games). Fortunately, stats and
scores can be saved for future play.
Here are a few of the games I played:
Blackjack The blackjack table had gloved dealers hands and easy
to read cards. I did not like the stand, hit, split buttons however.
The graphics and design just don't fit the "sophistication" of
the table, a comment I made earlier about the lobby of the game.
This held true for all the card games.
Roulette This game was a little hard to figure out, not because
roulette is difficult to play but because playing your chips without
a mouse took forever. It wasn't clear how to do this, and just
placing a bet didn't help, since the wheel was sent spinning before
you could figure out how to get a chip on a number. I finally
quit in frustration once I figured it out. Even with 64 RAM, the
game lurched occasionally in the roulette game.
Video Poker There are four versions of video poker in the form
of slot machines. You can set the coach to assist you with your
betting. Video poker kept us amused for twenty minutes, the longest
amount of time we lasted on any game because of the keyboard-driven
frustrations we encountered throughout the entire game.
Video Keno Two different versions of this game of luck are offered,
with a large variety of bet choices, all laid out in the instruction
manual.
Enjoyment:
Once
I got past the frustration of the keyboard controls, I found I
liked some of the games, particularly blackjack, keno and video
poker. I never did get past novice level in any game, however.
Clearly, if you enjoy offline play, and are willing to work hard
at the keyboard, then this game could potentially amuse you for
quite some time, since there seems to be a challenge in working
your way up the levels to professional.
However, the entire game was a major disappointment for me. It
just didn't come across as anything special. It was simply a casino-style
game like numbers of others out there. Not one single game held
my interest for more than a few minutes, and I did not experience
any excitement on the few wins I did manage, simply because the
games didn't payout much at novice level, and I ended up loosing
a lot more than I bet. Since casinos are set up to make losers
of 90% of the players, I guess that isn't surprising. At least
that part was realistic.
I visited the interplay site looking for more information, specifically
how windows media player figured into the equation, but it was
buried in the archives. Although I did locate it, I never figured
out what the media player did. Nor did I ever figure out if the
game could ever be mouse-driven. If it can be, the instruction
book certainly didn't seem to have the answer.
Multiplayer:
N/A
Overall
Impression:
Frankly
I wasn't impressed with Caesars Palace 2000. Online game sites
have great free casino games that are just as good, if not better
than the ones offered in this game. Most of them are mouse-driven,
and many offer multiplayer experiences. However, to its credit,
Caesar's Palace 2000 does have variations of classic games that
cannot be found online. These games are Spanish 21 (a variation
of blackjack), Mini Baccarat, Red Dog (which is basically acey-duecey),
Pae Gow Poker and Casino War.
Caesars Palace just doesn't live up to its claim of "heart-pounding"
play. It didn't even come close.
Marketing
Efforts Towards Women:
Not
really applicable, since women enjoy casino play as much as men.
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