Chessmaster: The Art Of Learning (5.8/10)
Chessmaster: The Art Of Learning is an extension of the Chessmaster series from PC. Chessmaster engine is a formidable opponent (to be fair, I would not consider myself a great chess player). Game has some mini-games, which provide good exercise and tactic development. These modes are especially good for quick plays if you do not have the time or the desire to play a full game of chess.
The Story (7/10)
There is not much of a story here. It is a chess games after all. However this doesn’t mean you can’t do fun ways to carry the game of chess. Unfortunately, there is no attempt to try anything fun and interesting.
The Gameplay (6/10)
I understand it is hard to make a chess game and come up with innovations, however I would expect at least same level of detail from any Chessmaster game, regardless of its platform. One downside of the game is the missing chess games. PC version of Chessmaster comes with many recorded games that you can play and learn about the grandmasters.There isn’t a single classic match to be reviewed. I was thinking maybe they had some storage problems, however even the GBA version had roughly 100. Also the game takes about 100MB (so there are more than enough storage for these standard features we got used to). The tutorials that comes with the game are considered good for beginners. If you are an intermediate or a better player, you should not be getting much out of the tutorials.
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The multiplayer part only supports an Ad-Hoc game with someone who also has a copy. This is very frustrating, in our age there is absolutely no excuse to release a board game without online play support (what were they smoking?). Even though, there are many single player modes, they get old pretty fast. There’s a Quick Game option that matches you against a random opponent, or you can go into Classic Chess and choose from one of four modes. As you know chessgames can take a long time, at least Chessmaster: The Art Of Learning allows you to save your game anytime.
The Graphics (5/10)
The graphic system of PSP version is essentially the same one from Nintendo DS. There is no option for a 3D board, there are limited 2D chess sets to choose from. I would have enjoyed the fancy 3D boards that PC version has, as well as those nice animations of the pieces. Come on people, PSP is a way more powerful and capable machine than the DS. I take it as an insult to release the same game (well actually it is less of a game, even DS version has recorded games you can review).
The game has Chessmaster Josh Waitzkin animations on the side. He gets really boring, there is only couple recorded animations of him, and they keep repeating one after another.
Sound (5/10)
The Music (6/10)
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
There are not much good about this game, it lacks the visuals of Chessmaster, it does not have the advanced tutorials of the series. It looks like Ubisoft is doing the EA tactics, releasing inferior games based on successful history of the series. These guys apparently are not trying to give us a good, fun game. they are trying to get in to our pocket. I would advise anyone who would like to play chess on their PSP to go to the Online Chess Kingdoms route. I see Chessmaster: The Art Of Learning as a missed opportunity for the PSP gaming community. It could have been wonderful…