Chessmaster
Score: 89% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment Developer: Ubisoft Entertainment Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Board Games/ Strategy
Graphics & Sound: Chessmaster has been around for nearly as long as I can remember playing video games. The graphics have always met or exceeded expectations. Chessmaster for Xbox is no exception. There are lots of boards and sets of pieces, each with its own theme and color scheme. There are also three whimsical chess sets that incorporate animations – no, you don’t get to cut off the heads of your opponent’s pieces. We said whimsical! Not diabolical. Without turning it into a full on Chess-based MMORPG, say EverPawn, what more could anyone want? Sounds, audio, and music are above par. The voice-based tutorial sections actually make you feel like you’re being instructed by a real tutor instead of being talked down to or working with some sort of flawed A.I.-based shopping kiosk at the mall.
Gameplay: This game has great A.I. (see Difficulty below), and of course head-to-head play. Once you start, you pick an opponent, choose a board, set the pieces, and start playing. Oh, there’s a lot more than that, in terms of tutorials, puzzles, and other window dressing, but when you strip the trappings off, it’s chess, baby. To show you the level of commitment (extraordinary for a $20 Xbox game), there are even 500 famous chess games pre-programmed into the game so you can watch what other legendary chess masters did to earn their stripes; each with in-game commentary. The learning tools are incredibly helpful (it’s not unthinkable that someone who wouldn’t know a chess piece from a coconut could actually use the Chessmaster tutorials to become a fairly decent player). The game also comes with 60 tournaments for the player to work through, so beating the game isn’t super easy. There is also a create-a-tournament feature that helps to extend gameplay beyond the normal game’s presets.
Difficulty: Naturally, if you’re playing your friend and they are better than you at chess, you might have to spike their iced tea to get in a fair game (or two). But you can only make use of this strategy once (or twice, depending on how quick on the uptake your friend is on matters other than chess). If you’re looking to get better at chess, then Chessmaster is truly the place to be. Because the game has 180 different opponents, each with a different skill level, finding an opponent to match you, or challenge you, is absolutely no problem. It’s also possible to work through a “Chess Puzzle” where you are set to a particular challenge on a pre-set board, and you have to figure it out. You can also put a timer on your match play, so it’s possible to set up the amount of stress you want to be associated with each move.
Game Mechanics: Sorry, at the risk of sounding like a broken record... it’s chess. You move, they move, you move... until someone wins or -- oh, the unthinkable!! -- it’s a draw. Chessmaster has never been a game that will dominate the likes of Halo 2, but it does hold its own against the likes of, say RollerCoaster Tycoon. Ubisoft recognizes that as long as it doesn’t screw the development pooch (man, does that sound indelicate or what??), they can reap the rewards of having the top-ranked chess franchise year after year after year. And in a world that’s built on the challenges of creating and selling sequels to hit games (Jak 4, anyone?), that sounds like -- cha-ching!! -- check mate.
-Jetzep, GameVortex Communications AKA Tom Carroll
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