I'm now able to sink it on the game so it will be interesting to try it out in real life and see if Ultimate 8 Ball has really taught me how to nail this shot. Realistic indeed! Coincidentally, this was before I went to the School of Pool and this was one of the basic shots featured there. Taking aim with my virtual pool stick, I let go and watched the balls travel the same way they do in real life. When I make this shot in real life I always over cut the ball sending it into the side wall a little before the pocket. The ball I'm targeting is clear across the long part of the table on the opposite side with the cue ball close to the corner pocket. To put it to the ultimate test I waited until I got into a situation that I've been in a hundred times before. They way the balls traveled on a break, the constant velocity and ricochets off the sides of the table looked extremely convincing. Playing the various games I became convinced that the physics engine is the best out there. This is fine and dandy except that it doesn't let you switch to an overview camera which I think would be a lot more useful in seeing what angles the balls are moving. In the 'watch the shot' option the CPU takes the shot showing you how it's done.

Each shot comes with three options: description of the shot, watch the shot and practice the shot.

However, I did find one thing a bit irritating. After completing these I was ready to shoot with the best of them and was very impressed with the way it was set up. In the School of Pool you can practice basic shots, placement shots and advanced shots.

The great developers working at THQ added a School of Pool so I decided to give this a whirl. After I had tried a couple of different games, I found I wasn't shooting quite as well as I would have liked.

The first time I started a game I was a little disappointed with the long loading time, but after a playing a long satisfying game or two I wasn't ever irritated by it again. They did a pretty good job of giving each character strengths and weaknesses and playing styles. The last sixteen characters are the human players and from here you can watch your name march to the top as you sink more balls and win more games. From here you can view the eighteen unique characters and their stats, like their win/loss records, accuracy, etc. The screens are well lain and one of the first things that will catch your eye is the pool ladder.

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