Pure Pool Pro [REVIEW] – Right on Cue 

Let’s be honest, virtual pool games don’t exactly come around every week, and while casual arcade apps are common, finding a game that genuinely captures the feeling of knocking a few balls about down the local pub is surprisingly rare. Well, Pure Pool Pro has come along to change that, and thankfully, it’s a blast to play. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

Right out of the gate, Pure Pool Pro is undeniably gorgeous. The developers boast about 8K visuals, and while I definitely don’t have the rig for that, playing it at 4K and 120fps looked absolutely sublime. Sometimes the balls are guilty of being a little too shiny, but overall, this is easily the best pool has ever looked in gaming. There’s also plenty of variety to be found in the design of the baize of the table and the balls, and whilst some are a bit wacky (and maybe a little hard to look at), there’s no denying that it’s all very, very pretty. 

Of course, a pool game is nothing without solid physics, and thankfully, the core gameplay here feels fantastic. The controls are incredibly intuitive, giving you a great level of precision over aiming, angles, and spin, whilst pulling and pushing the right stick dictates your shot power. It takes a tiny bit of getting used to, but after a short while you will be nailing perfect shots… well… mostly. Everything feels completely natural, right down to the chaotic moments when you put way too much power into a break and send a ball flying off the table, but hey… it wouldn’t be pool without it, right? 

“Whether you’re a seasoned pool shark or just fancy knocking a few balls about after a long day, Pure Pool Pro is without a doubt the best pool game out there right now.” 

Accessibility is handled brilliantly through the difficulty settings too, with the lower difficulty giving you clear line markers showing exactly where your cue ball and target ball will go. As you move up in difficulty, these markers give you less information until they disappear completely on the highest setting, which offers a steady way to balance out the difficulty as you start to get better and better at the game. As a veteran of the likes of Virtual Pool as well as the original Pure Pool, I know how satisfying it is to play without the guides, but it is a nice touch that ensures that even those without any pool experience can pick up a controller and play comfortably from the get-go. 

Pure Pool Pro offers a decent little selection of modes including US 8-ball, 9-ball, Killer, and Accumulator, so all of the favourites are there – I would love to see UK 8-ball added in a future update though, so fingers crossed for that. The single-player career is surprisingly meaty too, mixing standard matches with some really fun challenges. You might have to pot everything as fast as possible or sink balls in succession without missing, but my personal favourite is Royal Rumble, where you frantically try to clear the table as more and more balls just keep dropping in. It’s no WWE, sure, but it’s a unique little mode that offers something a bit different to everything else in the game. Every match and challenge has three stars to earn via different objectives too, which adds loads of replayability. It ensures there’s hours upon hours of single-player content to get through, so you won’t be finished with Pure Pool Pro fast – especially when you unlock new cues, baize designs, and ball sets to give yourself a bit of cosmetic flair. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

Of course, there is both local and online multiplayer on offer too, and playing online has been a treat – whether taking on friends or random strangers. I’ve had a few brief moments where I couldn’t find a match, but the community seems decent so far, with my only real bugbear coming with the matchmaking setup. I wish I could create proper lobbies or set up a ‘best of’ series instead of just hitting a rematch button over and over, but it’s a minor quirk rather than a real issue.   

The only genuine hindrance I’ve found so far is the camera. It locks right up close to the white ball when you take a shot, and you can’t adjust it mid-shot, often making it unnecessarily hard to see exactly how you’re lining things up or where the target ball might end up. I’ve even had moments where the cue literally covers the ball I’m trying to hit, which obviously wouldn’t happen in real life. You can stand up to look around the table to plan your move, but being stuck with a restrictive view right at the point of impact is a bit annoying. It’s not a deal-breaker and isn’t always a problem, but when it is, it’s hard not to be frustrated.

Developer: Rockwater 
Publisher: Ripstone 
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PC 
Website: https://ripstone.com/pure-pool-pro/