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A free game that turns any PC into a high-action billiard table

A free game that turns any PC into a high-action billiard table

Vote: (20 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: wissly

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(20 votes)

Free

Developer

wissly

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • An authentic recreation of pool that trucks in a committed sense of realism
  • Challenge mode and difficulty settings offer a decent level of variety

Cons

  • No lack of billiards games on the market
  • Pretty bare bones in its presentation

The 8 Ball Pool Billiards offers a more or less authentic recreation of the game of pool, and with both single player and multiplayer options available in the game, it should keep you and your friends occupied for some time to come. The market for video games is flooded with unique takes on classic real world sports and games. Games like Super Stickman Golf and Ridiculous Fishing take staid and recognizable sports to their craziest and most absurdist extremes, while hits like Rocket League smash together elements from separate games to create a frenetic new experience. 8 Ball Pool Billiards isn't the type of game to go to such extremes, and it's better for it in many ways. What you see is what you get, and what's on tap here is an authentic experience that should keep you satisfied until you can make it out to the local pool hall with friends.

Billiards is ultimately a game of physics and geometry. Succeeding means finding the exact right angle to launch your balls and the perfect strength with which to hit it to make sure it goes along the trajectory you need. That means that any game that looks to replicate the billiard experience needs to pay special attention to their physics engine. 8 Ball Pool Billiards largely gets this right. The pool cue feels like it has real weight in your hand, and the slightest adjustment to your angle or strength could quickly throw your perfect catalyst of sunk balls completely out of whack. The fundamentals here are strong enough that an amateur could hypothetically use this game to learn the basics of the game and a hustler could use it to sharpen their skills when they can't make it out to the hall. You can't replicate the real feel and heft of a pool cue, of course, but this game offers the next best thing.

This is a game that wears its simplicity like a badge of honor. It's transparent in its honest attempt to replicate the real feel of billiards without any unnecessary flourishes, but the developers are smart enough to have included any number of additional features and modes to help extend the shelf life of the game for aspiring pool sharks. A number of different skill levels are available in single player mode so that you can scale up the difficulty to match your proficiency level, and the learning experience inherent in this game is built on through the inclusion of a challenge mode. This mode presents you with direct objectives to achieve, forcing you to play outside of your comfort zone and develop a more holistic approach to pool. Challenge mode can almost feel like a traditional puzzle game. In terms of aesthetics, there's a number of tables you can choose from.

Pros

  • An authentic recreation of pool that trucks in a committed sense of realism
  • Challenge mode and difficulty settings offer a decent level of variety

Cons

  • No lack of billiards games on the market
  • Pretty bare bones in its presentation

This download is no longer available. This could be due to the program being discontinued, having a security issue or for some other reason.

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