Players : 1-2
Caesar's Palace
is a casino simulator of five games: Roulette,
Blackjack, Slots, Craps and Baccarrat, and all the sights and sounds
are of the actual casino in Las Vegas, and you play by the same rules,
with the same odds and payouts, as authenticated by Dr. William Bertram, Ph.D.
Starting The Game
When the game begins you are placed by the Signpost, from which point you
can select any of the five games. First, however, you will need to go to the
Cashier to register the number of players and collect your chips.
From here you can also save/load your position to the memory card, or to save
space you position is also encoded in the form of a password which, when
entered, will restore your bank balance.
You can also select the Management option which will toggle computer
players, game sound, play dialogue, and ambience. Finally the Tutorials
option will go through each step of all games available apart from Slots.
Playing the Game
There are five games available which are as follows :
Roulette: The table is presented in front of you, and you place your
chips by using the directional-pad to move your cursor onto the required
number and clicking once. Further clicks add extra cash to that pile, and the
amount that can be bet on each click of the button can be altered.
The game does not give any odds on each outcome, but these are explained in the
tutorial, more of which comes later. After all bets are placed, the wheel can
be spun and then fate decides the rest. The graphical representation of the
wheel is very good and fills the screen, making it clear to see where the ball
is going.
Slots: Three different machines are available, which have minimum bets
of $1, $5 and $25 respectively. With each spin of the reels you can bet one,
two or three times the minimum bet amount. The reels and main controls fill
the screen, giving an easy readout.
Blackjack: This version of this game allows up to three players
(with at least one being the Playstation). Firstly, place your bet and the
initial cards are dealt. Then you can choose to hit (take a card), stand (take
no more cards), or double-down (double your bet). If you go bust (over 21) you
lose, and if you win you double your money, unless you score Blackjack (21) in
which case you win at 3-1, as long as the dealer hasn't got a Blackjack either.
The other two games which are available are Craps and
Baccarrat, neither of which I'm familiar with, but both are
well-covered in the tutorials like Blackjack and Roulette.
Tutorials
Something I've not seen before in a casino game is a tutorial. For Roulette,
Blackjack, Craps and Baccarrat, a tutorial is given in the shape of
a full-motion video (FMV) clip in which an American goes through each stage of
the game in quite a cheesy manner.
Graphics, Sound and Playability
The graphics look fairly classy as they are digitised from the actual casino,
but what you're mainly interested in is the graphical representations of the
games at hand, which are shown in plenty of detail.
The sound is also functional. The roulette wheel is spun - that's exactly what
you hear. The cards are dealt in Blackjack, and sampled sounds of this is what
you hear. The reels of the fruit machine go round and round, and... yes, you
guessed it. However, it doesn't need anything else to be added to it. One nice
addition though is the ambient effects of the surrounding crowd.
Playability is fine, but takes a bit of getting used to. Working your way around
the cashier's desk seemed complicated at first, but careful following of the
instructions will get you through. Also, in some of the games, after setting
up your bets and then moving to "Next", it can be all too easy to accidentally
double-press a button an undoing everything you've just done which can be
quite frustrating.
Overall
The one problem with casino games is that their fun to play for a while, but
to me their appeal soon fades as you're not winning real money. The amount in
your bank is just an ever-increasing (or decreasing) figure, and if, in the case
of the roulette wheel, you place a bet on every available option, you can't
fail to lose. I've not always felt that way though, as I used to enjoy the
Casino game that was available for the Atari 2600 VCS almost 20 years ago.
The consensus is then, that if this is the first time you've come across
a casino-style game, you'll have a lot of fun with it, but if you've been
down this road a few times before, there's not a lot more on offer here.
This can be shown by the fact that I didn't play each game for too long,
but my girlfriend loved it and couldn't stop playing.
GRAPHICS : ***
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC : **
PLAYABILITY : ***
ORIGINALITY : **
ENJOYMENT : **
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OVERALL : **
If you're after some more info on Interplay's games, check out their official
Website at : www.interplay.com
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
