High Velocity Bowling is loaded with stereotypes, cheesy one-liners and visual gags galore, and as expected, it actually works here. The developers were clearly fans of a number of bowling-themed flicks and have rightly snuck in a few references to such movies as Kingpin and The Big Lebowski. For being a relatively cheap downloadable title, High Velocity Bowling is pretty jam packed with features, modes and unlockables that should keep even the best players occupied for several hours at least. The multiplayer mode (for 2 - 4 players locally) is easy to just jump right into and get busy, although the single player Challenge Mode will likely hook you for quite a while. There are 10 characters and several themed lanes in total to unlock, along with alternate outfits, balls, "achievement" patches/rings/trophies/medals, and additionally online leaderboards. The game starts out relatively easy but becomes rather difficult halfway through. The Challenges are actually challenging, and it's easy to get hung up on the more difficult matches, tournaments or trick shots if you don't put in some time to perfect your skills. Believe it or not, High Velocity Bowling veers a bit more towards simulation than arcade, and factors such as changing oil conditions do come into play.

The motion controls implemented in High Velocity Bowling are impressive and the way you are required to hold the Sixaxis looks weird but feels right. Picture placing the controller in the palm of your hand, with your thumb on the X button, and your pinky and pointer within range of the L2 and R2 shoulder triggers respectively. You hit X to begin you approach and then swing you arm back and forward, and stopping at the point you'd like to release the ball. At the same time, you can employ a bit of spin in either direction by putting pressure on L2 or R2. The grip has a more authentic feel as compared to Wii Sports Bowling and it seemingly provides more control over your actions. I personally would have liked to have an option to control spin by also twisting the controller slightly before release. DualShock 3 support is already built right in and provides some useful feedback when tossing the ball down the lane.

For a downloadable title, High Velocity Bowling is no visual slouch. Running at a native 1080p and 60fps it's a fun game to watch, even if it's still bowling. The characters and their themed lanes are heavily stereotypical but the style is very consistent throughout and actually pretty humorous. It's a hard thing to pull off without being totally obnoxious, so I'd say they did a good job. The ball physics seem as accurate as you're going to get these days. There are some instances when the pins are reset a little too quickly I believe (as compared to real bowling), and a pin that's just about to finally tip or spin into another gets saved or swept by the machine. Not a big deal, but I'm sure I was robbed of a strike a few times. The music is fittingly of the elevator/muzak variety and is more catchy than I would have expected. For those who really want to rock-n-bowl, the game *gasp* supports custom soundtracks as well.

High Velocity Bowling is a fun little bowling title with a nice amount of "game" and an attractive price. Really, all it's missing is online play, and I guess there's always the possibility of patching that feature in later on. If you liked Wii Sports Bowling or want a simple, casual game to show off the PS3's motion control abilities, give it a try.