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Love Microsoft or hate Microsoft, you have to admit that the software giant somehow manages to pump out one innovative idea after another. First Windows, then Xbox, and now card games — on your computer!
That's right, card games aren't just for casinos and stag parties any more, as Microsoft has brought the immensely popular Solitaire to the PC, and in stellar fashion to boot. Addictive gameplay, a great cast of characters and fantastic graphics combine to make Solitaire a standout among PC games.
The rules of the game are actually quite complex, but like most Windows products, Solitaire is accompanied by a comprehensive tutorial that will transform even the most clueless rookie into a seasoned card shark (at least as far as Solitaire is concerned). Essentially, players start out with seven stacks of cards, each with one card more — the first stack consists of one card, the second stack has two cards, and so on. Each pile has one card showing, and the goal is to sort the piles in descending order, in alternating colours. If one stack, for example, is showing a red 10 of hearts and another is showing a black 9 of spades, the 9 goes under the 10, and a new card is flipped over from the pile the 9 came from.
But wait — not content with simplicity, Microsoft has thrown in an additional twist. Whenever an ace is revealed, it's put off to its own separate pile, and cards of its suit can then be piled atop in ascending order as they are revealed. If you have the ace of diamonds, for example, and you reveal the two of diamonds, you can then place it atop the ace. The goal here is to create four full piles, one for each suit, from ace on up to king. To further complicate matters, the rest of the deck is kept hidden, with three cards revealed at a time that can be sorted into the various piles as needed.
All of this requires serious strategy and forethought from the player. As in chess, you're going to have to think several moves ahead. More often than not, the game will end in frustration, but that adds to Solitaire's addictiveness.
Graphically, the game looks great. All the favourite characters are there, from the Queen of Hearts to the Jack of Diamonds to the King of Spades, and they're animated very nicely. The cards move smoothly at high frame rate, even at high screen resolutions, and there are no signs of slowdown even on older PCs. Solitaire demonstrates its graphics engine beautifully when you win a game — in celebration of your victory, the cards cascade wildly across the screen in psychedelic fashion.
The game's graphics also incorporate an element of advanced artificial intelligence (AI), switching up the designs on the backs of the cards at random — sometimes you get floral patterns, and sometimes you get a smiley sun with sunglasses on. The game takes place on a green backdrop, which simulates a card table nicely and adds a good touch of realism, fully immersing the player in the atmosphere of a real-world card playing session.
Solitaire's big problem is its sound, or more accurately, its lack thereof. The gentle swoosh of cards as you move them around the board is pretty well the only sound effect, and the game could have benefited greatly from some more effort here. Some background sound effects, like the sound of slot machines going off to create that high-rolling casino feel, or catch phrases from the characters ("I am the King!" or "Get Jacked, baby!") would have increased the game's already impressive realism.
Solitaire could also have benefited from the custom soundtrack options that are all the rage on consoles these days. Something along the lines of the Vice City car radio, allowing you to program your own collection of tunes for background music, would have been an nice touch.
Despite its lack of a decent soundtrack, Solitaire is still a solid all-around package for card sharks or rookies alike. In fact, I have no hesitation saying this is by far the best thing to come around since the real card game was invented. Which begs the question: What's next for Microsoft? With the advances in processing power and software design we've seen recently, it seems like the sky's the limit in terms of what skilled developers can do with video games. I for one would like to see the software giant really flex its programming muscle and make a concerted effort to bring chess onto the PC. Yeah, that'll be the day!
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