This is the game for real SCRABBLE fanatics!If you are an occasional player or someone who plays for amusement only you may find this game a little irritating. Imagine the scene: during the game you play a word starting with A one space below the 'Triple Word Score' square and the Playstation then plays QAT through your A with the result of getting 36 points and you didn't even know the word existed. It is times like these when the occasional player may question whether the Playstation is making up words. It isn't!
The game has access to the complete official SCRABBLE words (yes, including the offensive ones) in its memory. It will never challenge your word if it is correct (if your word isn't it tells you), nor can you challenge it because its words are always correct. So there is no option to add words as the game has them all (this certainly stops players from adding false words just for the points in future games). However, this also means that it does help your game as you learn words you never would have come across anywhere else.
As your rack of letters is only on the screen when it is your turn, when you have finished your go the game shows your new rack of tiles before moving on. This is very useful as you can write the letters down (or indeed use a real set of SCRABBLE tiles) to work on while opponents are having their go.
The sound is fine (the music on the menu screens is wonderful and I agree with another reviewer that it is a shame they cannot have an option to have it playing during the game).
The graphics, however and if I am being extremely picky, are very slightly disappointing. While most of the time they are fine, the letters on your rack can look a little indistinct (especially the J which can look like a badly drawn I at times). However, none of this affects the actual game so should not be considered a real problem.
You can play with up to four opponents with a mixture of human and computer. There are ten levels of computer opponent which is enough to give anyone a decent game.
Features include three types of game: original SCRABBLE, Conundrum and Anagram. For the original game you get several different types of board to choose from (I personally have found the Stonehenge board to be the best). They don't all have the writing on the relevant premium squares so you have to get to know which colour means which extra points (i.e. light blue for double letter score, dark blue for triple letter score, pink for double word score and red for triple word score).
Of the other two games Conundrum is the best. Anagram involves the game showing you a jumbled word and you have to guess what it is. Fine if you know a lot of obscure words (ALAAPS anyone? And yes this is the real word not the anagram).
So all in all, if you are a true SCRABBLE fan or are willing to be beaten by some really strange words then this is for you!
