Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19335 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Codemasters
• Released on: 2003-11-28
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 95

Manufacturer's Description
The chart-busting success of World Championship Snooker returns for a new year and a new snooker challenge. Veteran snooker fans and championship newcomers step up to the table in opposition to Peter Ebden, Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan and more than twenty top players from the world of professional snooker. With incredible enhancements in every area of the game, plus new game modes and a more compelling snooker experience than ever before, World Championship Snooker™ 2003 is set to make the big breaks frame after frame.

Customer Reviews

We are the robots
Well, first I want to say that the guy giving this only 1/5 should RTFM !! You can finetune your aiming by holding down the 0 key. That is however the first flaw: the controls are terrible. To have any idea of where you are aiming, you have to hold the CTRL key for the overhead view + hold the 0 for the fine aiming + use the arrow keys for the actual aiming. When applying spin you have absolutely no idea of where exactly you are hitting the cue ball. And the different cameras are all but useless, except for the overhead camera meaning that you will be holding the CTRL key throughout most of the game.
The biggest problem however lies in the AI. Obviously a CPU could be perfect in this game as its all about computing ball trajectories so a CPU could virtually pot any ball from any position. A human on the contrary would not take an almost unpottable ball unless he has no other options and can have a shot to nothing. Also his positional play will be key to having long breaks. Not so with the AI in this game. I've seen the CPU play the most unlikely pots, including long distance plants, while there being obvious others that any snooker player would play. This gets extremely frustrating extremely soon : on my first game, which was an 8-ball game, the CPU cleared the entire table on its first visit! It's like playing a dumb robot rather than a human! Add to that that even on the easiest setting, the CPU still makes 30s or 40s on every visit and you see that there is little fun in competing the CPU.
Add to that mediocre animations (I can imagine some snooker pros sueing Codemasters feeling insulted by their digital counterparts) and unsynchronized and dull sounds, and there is very little left. The only thing this game is good for then, is to play with someone else, or to show the physics to a beginning player when you don't have a table around.
I picked up this game at a discount after reading quite some favorable reviews. Well, those reviewers obviously have never played a game of snooker or watched it on television...

Codemasters? Will they ever learn?
I was Asked by Codemasters to Beta test their First Attempt at W.C.Snooker whcih happened to take place online, youd log in and then play a match against a Computer player, Well the experience Was Sadly very Annoying, You See what happens is you break off and then sit and watch the CPU player make a 140ish break, This happens just about every time, Not very Satisfying at all, With this experience i let Codemasters know exactly how i felt, and now we have WCS2003, and boy does this game drive you nuts!! You start a career as a Professional, even tho you cant play for didly, and thats where the problems start! why o why cant you start a career as a Amatuer? and work your way up to the World Championships? i know with practice you can make decent breaks, ive even made a 62 myself, but every time you miss thats it, frame over! what a waste of career mode! 2 Player and online mode are the only way to have fun with this game! Even Ronnie and the boys dont make 130-140 breaks every time they go to the table in real life!! all you end up with is the feeling your playing robots! not real opponents! I gave this 2 Stars simply as there is a good game in here somewhere, but it aint playing against super human CPU players... the pool option adds 1 Star to this Review! Foul and A Miss for CM!

Extremely Addictive!
Its not often a game makes you get out of bed at 2 oclock in the morning to play! But this game did! I think the best part of this game is the balance between it being too difficult and too easy. The beginners aiming guide gives you a great idea of how to make a start on the game without allowing you to pot every ball on the baize from anywhere on the table.

The real player and competition information is excellent, as is the extensively detailed career mode. The option of buying different items of clothing and kit add a new dimension to what in the past have been fairly one dimensional games.

The fun games are exactly what they are. Whether you want a serious tournament to play in or just a quick potting burst, this game offers you everything.

The first time I played I spent 4 hours on it without even looking up.

Great game, highly reccomended to any snooker fan!