Hardwood Spades
Posted March 22, 2006
Part of the Hardwood series of games for Xbox Live Arcade, Hardwood Spades adapts the popular card game for offline and online play on the Xbox 360. Clocking in at a paltry 23 MB, this quick download is sure to satisfy any craving for a fast round of grabbing tricks. Silver Creek Entertainment doesn't offer any major variation beyond the standard rules, but normality is satisfactory for this type of game.
For those unfamiliar, Spades is a turn based card game that uses a standard deck of 52 cards. The objective of the game is to garner enough points through bidding and taking tricks each round. Taking a trick means winning 1 of the 13 lots of cards played during the hand. The suit of spades is especially powerful as trump cards that overrule the other suits. Spades can be thrown in to take the trick only if you are without the suit being played. The game ends when a set number of points has been reached which is decided at the outset of the round.
Gameplay:
Silver Creek offers several game types to switch up the style of play. The game can be played with partners or 3 to 4 singles. Also, the game can be started using the mirror rule, which automatically assigns the number of points for bid by the number of spades in a dealt hand. In addition, the number of points awarded for accomplishing a nil (zero tricks) or a "shoot the moon" (all 13 tricks) hand is adjustable as well as the total number of points required to win the game.
The control setup for Hardwood Spades is beyond simplistic. The left thumbstick and the green A button are the primary controls for playing a round of spades and navigating the menu system. The menu is identical to the other hardwood games and is easily navigable. Within the options menu, adjustments to the background, table, and the card faces can be tweaked slightly.
While the offline game can become a bit tiresome due to poor teammate A.I., the online game contains a higher level of competition for a competent spades player. I did have a tough time finding a game open for other players. Usually, I had to spectate until someone left a game or start my own table and wait five to ten minutes for enough people to show up. Unfortunately, playing at peak times isn't always successful when trying to find a game.
There are 200 points up for grab in the achievement department spread over twelve tasks. Half of the points can be snatched up by simply winning games while the rest are for game accomplishments such as shooting the moon twice in one complete game. These achievements will take a solid 6 to 8 hours to complete dependent on your tolerance for losing a few rounds along the way.
Graphics:
The graphical quality is marginal at best. The card textures look average in high definition and the minor special effects are more of an annoyance than a delight. The bland backgrounds are the exact same ones found in the rest of the Hardwood series and do little to spruce up the lame visuals.
Audio:
Identical to the rest of the series, the background music is the same horrific midi file that repeats incessantly. Load up your own tunes if you prefer sanity. On the flip side, the sound effects during the game are usually appropriate and rarely annoying.
Conclusion:
Honestly, it's hard to recommend purchasing this title when the game of spades found on every PC using a copy of Windows. Silver Creek doesn't bring anything new to the table and the blatant similarities to the rest of the Hardwood series just shows how monumentally lazy the developers were. While the arcade title is on the cheap end of the Xbox Live spectrum at a meager 400 points, it's really not worth spending the points or your time either. I can only recommend this game to hardcore Spades fanatics or achievement enthusiasts seeking moderately easy points to bulk up their gamerscore.
For those unfamiliar, Spades is a turn based card game that uses a standard deck of 52 cards. The objective of the game is to garner enough points through bidding and taking tricks each round. Taking a trick means winning 1 of the 13 lots of cards played during the hand. The suit of spades is especially powerful as trump cards that overrule the other suits. Spades can be thrown in to take the trick only if you are without the suit being played. The game ends when a set number of points has been reached which is decided at the outset of the round.
Gameplay:
Silver Creek offers several game types to switch up the style of play. The game can be played with partners or 3 to 4 singles. Also, the game can be started using the mirror rule, which automatically assigns the number of points for bid by the number of spades in a dealt hand. In addition, the number of points awarded for accomplishing a nil (zero tricks) or a "shoot the moon" (all 13 tricks) hand is adjustable as well as the total number of points required to win the game.
The control setup for Hardwood Spades is beyond simplistic. The left thumbstick and the green A button are the primary controls for playing a round of spades and navigating the menu system. The menu is identical to the other hardwood games and is easily navigable. Within the options menu, adjustments to the background, table, and the card faces can be tweaked slightly.
While the offline game can become a bit tiresome due to poor teammate A.I., the online game contains a higher level of competition for a competent spades player. I did have a tough time finding a game open for other players. Usually, I had to spectate until someone left a game or start my own table and wait five to ten minutes for enough people to show up. Unfortunately, playing at peak times isn't always successful when trying to find a game.
There are 200 points up for grab in the achievement department spread over twelve tasks. Half of the points can be snatched up by simply winning games while the rest are for game accomplishments such as shooting the moon twice in one complete game. These achievements will take a solid 6 to 8 hours to complete dependent on your tolerance for losing a few rounds along the way.
Graphics:
The graphical quality is marginal at best. The card textures look average in high definition and the minor special effects are more of an annoyance than a delight. The bland backgrounds are the exact same ones found in the rest of the Hardwood series and do little to spruce up the lame visuals.
Audio:
Identical to the rest of the series, the background music is the same horrific midi file that repeats incessantly. Load up your own tunes if you prefer sanity. On the flip side, the sound effects during the game are usually appropriate and rarely annoying.
Conclusion:
Honestly, it's hard to recommend purchasing this title when the game of spades found on every PC using a copy of Windows. Silver Creek doesn't bring anything new to the table and the blatant similarities to the rest of the Hardwood series just shows how monumentally lazy the developers were. While the arcade title is on the cheap end of the Xbox Live spectrum at a meager 400 points, it's really not worth spending the points or your time either. I can only recommend this game to hardcore Spades fanatics or achievement enthusiasts seeking moderately easy points to bulk up their gamerscore.