High Velocity Bowling review

This game is really fun.  Released on the PSN back in 2007, this game is similar to the Wii Sports game on the Wii--with a little difference.  HVB seems to be a little more realistic in that even a subtle movement of your wrist as well as follow through with the PS3 controller dictates how your ball moves.  For example you can aim for the middle pin but if your follow through  is slightly off, then the ball won't aim where you aimed it, making the game slightly hard.  You control the amount of spin on your ball with the L2 (ball spins move to the right) and R2 (ball spins more to the left.).  I find adding spin as well as good speed difficult so I just bowl normally.

You can hold the controller like a real bowling ball and, just like Wii Sports, if you play a long time your arm gets tired so I would take breaks.  Each ball and player has their own strengths and weaknesses (i.e.  some balls sacrifice speed for more spin and some characters may be better adding spin to balls whereas others may be better adding speed to their balls) which is good because it leads to better variety.  As like in real bowling, there are various oil patterns in the game which leads to various movements on the ball.  So placement of your character can vary depending on your bowling style.  I like this realism because usually whatever may work for one game or person may not work for another.

Speaking of games, a majority of action takes place online.  You can play offline in challenge mode or exhibition.  Exhibition is used more for practicing and challenge mode pits you with levels with three challenges per level.  You can unlock more bowlers and more balls as well with completion of these challenges.  Playing this game online in 2013 is still possible because there are quite a few players online that still play.  I never had any issue trying to play online.  I suggest practicing before playing online though.

Is the game better than Wii Sports?  Depends on what you want.  Both system exclusive games are fun in their own right.  And HVB is still cheap to buy so if you want a nice game that is fun to play, I'd pick this up off the PSN store.  See you on the lane!