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Intro Similar to tennis, golf has recently gained an increase in popularity, but its recognition still falls behind the dominance of baseball, basketball, football, and so on. With Links dominating the PC side of the sport, it has only been EA who has taken charge and delivered Tiger Woods Golf for the droves of golf-happy consolers. While both titles are fine franchises, neither explored the arcade aspect; in fact, Tee Time has been the only one to try and give a little bit of flair to this sport that exudes sternness. Though it appears to be an answer to Virtua Tennis' take on tennis, Outlaw Golf falls a bit short in being the layman's entrance to golf that it would appear to be. Gameplay: 6.5/10 I know where Hypnotix was trying to go with Outlaw Golf, but it seems as though they failed to commit themselves to presenting the game in one way or another. With an extremely user-friendly interface and a stripped-down sim take on the sport, Outlaw Golf gives players the right amount of options they need, with little more to bog them down. However, when you have a golf game with girls spanking each other, a dominatrix, and a host of wacky stereotype characters, you really can't go halfway with it. Split up among a tour mode, outlaw range, and exhibition mode, players will go through 30 tour events, enhance their skills with 12 events on the range, or compete with up to four of their friends for cash, against who has the longest shot, and more. Throughout all these modes, Outlaw Golf has a consistent personality disorder; it seems as though Hypnotix couldn't decide which direction to take the gameplay, so they just plopped it in the middle of the road. Instead of having courses that feature outlandish obstacles with crazy traps, the player is presented with three rather dull courses. Although there is a healthy amount of mini-games and a tournament to utilize these courses, they just don't fit in with the game's theme. In fact, the core gameplay has a somewhat laid-back approach, much like Virtua Tennis' take on its own sport. On one hand, there are some fairly rigid courses with decent ball physics, a handful of angles and shot trajectories to use before taking a shot, and a host of other options. There are unlockable clubs that can be chosen before a round, and those already selected can be selected while playing, and there are also unlockable characters to further enhance replayability. Shots can be zoomed in on with two different angles to choose from, and a power meter is used to gauge how hard the shot should be hit. Mulligans, the ability to replay a poor shot, are plentiful and gimmes - this choice is given when a ball is near a hole, where the player can opt to put it in for a shot instead of taking longer or the risk of attempting it themselves - help to speed things along, as well as the ability to lie about where a poor shot went and being able to drop it in a better location. Players can also take wind into account and alter where the ball should be hit for better accuracy; to better assist in putting, three chances are given to hit the best shot as a line is drawn as to where the ball will go. All the features do well for the game's ease of use and playability. There's even a computer meter; supposedly, this is a gauge that increases with a good shot and decreases with a bad shot, and each benefits the player by making their shots come off good or bad, depending on how their meter is filled. This itself shows the core of Outlaw Golf's problem: to drastically increase the meter, coins will be allotted to the player that will allow them to beat up their caddy. Although spotty, a small square goes through a bar and whenever it gets inside a designated area, the player is to press the attack button and the golfer lets loose on their caddy; by successfully hitting the button while the square is in the right area, the player will perform combos on their caddy and further increase their composure meter. So, while this meter has good intentions, it ends up adding to the confusion as to which approach Outlaw Golf is trying to take. There are also several flaws within Outlaw's various systems. The composure meter is flawed as it will severely punish for a bad shot, and only randomly do the same for rewards when the player makes a good shot. There were also several instances when an impressive shot was punished for no real reason. Since this meter is so important in the entire experience, its flaws significantly affect the game as a whole. Beating up a caddy to improve composure is also troublesome as the game doesn't always detect when the button is pressed, which ends the section and thereby ruins that chance at gaining any sort of headway. The power meter is also flawed; I expect there to be some difference in what it shows and how hard the ball should actually be hit, but there is normally a significant enough of a difference that good chances at coming off a shot or two below par is completely ruined. The
flaws are minor, but numerous enough to significantly impair the gameplay. The
confusion as to whether or not the game wants to be wacky or an arcade take on
the sport is also an important one, since neither is focused on, and the game
feels to be lost in-between. There are numerous enhancements to make the title
user friendly, and the courses are bland but more serious, while the characters
are wild and outlandish. There's no doubt that there is some fun to be had here,
especially with friends, as the tour mode and exhibition mode allow for plenty
of friendly rivalries, but the design and technical flaws really bring the entire
experience down to a level that's beneath the game itself.
Graphics: 6.5/10 Sound: 2/10 The
rest of the vocals will come from the crowd and the characters themselves. While
the crowd made a lot of noise for being so small, they were also off the mark
with solid shots getting booed, but the golfer's voices were done well and on
par with their characters. The music is pretty forgettable and is more similar
to the sounds that would be heard in the Caddyshack clubhouse, rather than in
a 'wacky' title. Control:
8/10 Overall:
6.5/10 [ top ] | |||
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