Hardwood Hearts
Posted March 23, 2006
Of the three Hardwood games created by Silver Creek Entertainment, I enjoyed Hardwood Hearts the most due to my fondness of the card game. The developer doesn't add any major modifications to the basic game rules, but the existing rule structure is sound. The game is specifically designed to quickly toss players into the game of Hearts, offline or online.
For those unfamiliar with the game of Hearts, the object of the game is to avoid point cards in order to have the lowest score by the end of the round. The points are assigned to the entire suit of hearts as well as the Queen of Spades which is worth a staggering 13 points. Also, pulling in the entire group of point cards, while risky, will assign the entire group of points to each of your three competitors and zero to your total. This chancy maneuver is called "Shooting the Moon".
Gameplay:
There are a few options that can be adjusted at the outset of the game. Besides being able to change the winning point total or the length of the round, there is also a selection for a higher caliber of play called Spot Hearts. Spot Hearts is an advanced method of scorekeeping that assigns point totals based on the card value. For instance, the 4 of Hearts would be worth 4 points, the Jack of Hearts worth 11 points, and so on. The Queen of Spades is assigned a monstrous 50 points which usually means serious trouble for its recipient.
The control scheme is identical to the Hardwood Spades game, using the left thumbstick for navigation and the green A button for selection. This control scheme is straightforward and easy enough for anyone to start playing. Within the menu system, you will find the same options for customizing the visuals which are found in Hardwood Spades. The board, background, and card faces are adaptable to your preferred layout. Also, there is an option for speeding up the card motion which can significantly speed up a round of play.
If you get tired of beating up on the lackluster skills of the CPU, the online game offers a greater amount of enjoyment. Due to the design of the game, it's much easier to jump into a round of online play at any open table. Each table I personally started up usually filled up within two minutes of play. The game doesn't suffer from lag, but it will suffer from indecisive players who cannot choose a card without lengthy scrutiny. Overall, there is more fun to be had in the online arena especially if you are skilled at the game.
The 12 achievements provide 200 gamerscore points for those interesting in boosting their score. The vast majority of the points are extremely easy to snatch up and shouldn't take more than a few hours of play to grab most of them. Overall, the other two Hardwood games offer more of a challenge when it comes to gamerscore points.
Graphics:
Once again, the visuals for the Hardwood series fail to impress. The bland, blurry backgrounds are out of place and horrific looking on a high definition display. The card and table textures are fairly sharp, but do not blend well with the rest of the surrounding visual flair.
Audio:
If I have to listen to that same spacey midi track one more time, I'm going to puncture my eardrums with an ice pick. The annoying, repetitive tune is once again at the forefront of a Hardwood game. Crank up a custom soundtrack and end the suffering. The sound effects are very similar, if not identical, to the Hardwood Spades game, but they are satisfactory for their part in the game.
Conclusion:
I love playing Hearts, but you can find the game for free on every home computer across the country. Silver Creek Entertainment doesn't add anything unique to the game of Hearts nor do they differentiate the game from the rest of the Hardwood series. The game isn't worth the 400 points required to play considering the amount of wonderful Live Arcade titles available for the same price. Honestly, Silver Creek should have just combined all three of their games into one package if they wanted these games to be successful.
For those unfamiliar with the game of Hearts, the object of the game is to avoid point cards in order to have the lowest score by the end of the round. The points are assigned to the entire suit of hearts as well as the Queen of Spades which is worth a staggering 13 points. Also, pulling in the entire group of point cards, while risky, will assign the entire group of points to each of your three competitors and zero to your total. This chancy maneuver is called "Shooting the Moon".
Gameplay:
There are a few options that can be adjusted at the outset of the game. Besides being able to change the winning point total or the length of the round, there is also a selection for a higher caliber of play called Spot Hearts. Spot Hearts is an advanced method of scorekeeping that assigns point totals based on the card value. For instance, the 4 of Hearts would be worth 4 points, the Jack of Hearts worth 11 points, and so on. The Queen of Spades is assigned a monstrous 50 points which usually means serious trouble for its recipient.
The control scheme is identical to the Hardwood Spades game, using the left thumbstick for navigation and the green A button for selection. This control scheme is straightforward and easy enough for anyone to start playing. Within the menu system, you will find the same options for customizing the visuals which are found in Hardwood Spades. The board, background, and card faces are adaptable to your preferred layout. Also, there is an option for speeding up the card motion which can significantly speed up a round of play.
If you get tired of beating up on the lackluster skills of the CPU, the online game offers a greater amount of enjoyment. Due to the design of the game, it's much easier to jump into a round of online play at any open table. Each table I personally started up usually filled up within two minutes of play. The game doesn't suffer from lag, but it will suffer from indecisive players who cannot choose a card without lengthy scrutiny. Overall, there is more fun to be had in the online arena especially if you are skilled at the game.
The 12 achievements provide 200 gamerscore points for those interesting in boosting their score. The vast majority of the points are extremely easy to snatch up and shouldn't take more than a few hours of play to grab most of them. Overall, the other two Hardwood games offer more of a challenge when it comes to gamerscore points.
Graphics:
Once again, the visuals for the Hardwood series fail to impress. The bland, blurry backgrounds are out of place and horrific looking on a high definition display. The card and table textures are fairly sharp, but do not blend well with the rest of the surrounding visual flair.
Audio:
If I have to listen to that same spacey midi track one more time, I'm going to puncture my eardrums with an ice pick. The annoying, repetitive tune is once again at the forefront of a Hardwood game. Crank up a custom soundtrack and end the suffering. The sound effects are very similar, if not identical, to the Hardwood Spades game, but they are satisfactory for their part in the game.
Conclusion:
I love playing Hearts, but you can find the game for free on every home computer across the country. Silver Creek Entertainment doesn't add anything unique to the game of Hearts nor do they differentiate the game from the rest of the Hardwood series. The game isn't worth the 400 points required to play considering the amount of wonderful Live Arcade titles available for the same price. Honestly, Silver Creek should have just combined all three of their games into one package if they wanted these games to be successful.