Hoyle Casino is a franchise that has seen several iterations, but don’t look for much change with the 2008 edition.

In fact, if you have this title already, there is really no need to get it again. The games are basically the same, there is no online or multiplayer game and all this title does is serve as a primer for those who wish to learn the nuances of some games (yes, it does come with an Official Rule Book), as well as get a hand on betting. The new features to this year’s edition are multi-pay lines and the video games (poker and blackjack), but those alone are hardly worth the price of admission.

That the game purports to offer more than 600 games is a bit misleading. This game does have a wide range, but many of these fall into selected categories and are merely variations on the same theme. There are 18 general categories of games: Baccarat, Big Raise Hold’em, Blackjack, Caribbean Stud, Craps, Fortune Pai Gow Poker, Four Card Poker, Horse Racing, Keno, Let it Ride, Pai Gow Poker, Poker, Roulette, Royal Match 21, Slot Machines, Three Card Poker, Video Blackjack and Video Poker. The number of games advertised comes in sub-categories and different looking tables. For example, if might pick Four Card Poker and get the options of $5-$1,000, $10-$2,000, $25-$3,000, $100-Unlimited and Tournament. That is where the game gets is high number in terms of games offered.

There is a face creation editor that has a few more choices than in previous iterations, but don’t look for a whole lot of variety. The games graphics run at a low level, meaning that higher-end machines won’t get sharp and clean images. The game only requires a Pentium II 300 MHz machine with 128 megs of RAM and a 600x480 display – which should give you an indication of the video quality. And the audio is fine but actually it hasn’t changed much since the inception of the series.

The basic game play goes like this: You are spotted $5 million and turned loose in the casino to play anything you want. There is no story, no driving motivation to have you climb a ladder of success. The only thing driving you is you. You can leave a table (aside from tournaments) any time you wish. The AI players are pretty good in that they play percentages well. There is no difficulty setting, so players will have to stay sharp and bet smart right out of the gate.

It really is time that this series stepped up, though. It would be much more entertaining with online tournament functionality, but as it stands now, this is merely a re-iteration of the previous series with too few new options to warrant a solid recommendation.

Gameplay: 6.0
The games flow smoothly and you can click to get past the pauses for audio commentary from the AI players.

Graphics: 5.5
Has anything changed since the series first released? The answer to that is not much.

Sound: 5.0
The music is adequate and the comments from the AI players, as well as your own created player, just gets old after a while.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Concept: 5.0
This is a format that has been in place for a long time. While a few cosmetic elements may have been added, and a couple of new games, if you have a Casino game, you know what this package contains.

Overall: 5.5
A decent purchase for anyone who has a low-end machine and likes to play solo casino games (and who does not have a previous version of the game), but for those looking for a little more excitement and interactivity from a casino-based game, this is a ‘fold.’