POSTED 19/9/14


THE GOLF CLUB

HB Studios

Now that Scotland’s tidying up following their yae/nae independence referendum, it’s time for another important poll – involving the vaguely sporty pastime that they gave the world. Caber tossing! Erm, sorry, golf.

As pixel counts improve, the aim of every golf game developer seems to be realism. So godawful shirts ‘n’ breeks combos have become ever-increasingly gaudy, and sometimes taking a shot requires the kind of physics nous that’d make Sir Isaac Newton shrug.

Yet back in the glory days of Leaderboard the game was at its most fun when safely ensconced upon a couch in front of another great Scottish invention, the telly. It may have looked a tad shite, but it had playability oozing from every magnetic particle of the floppy disc.

But we’re here to talk about The Golf Club, which has nothing to do with fahrvergnügen. It is, naturally, a golf game. One which has us all Natalie Imbrooglywoogly - torn.

It looks superb – yay - and controls are simple. But they’re too simple. Left stick to aim, right stick to swing. There’s little indication of shot strength such that a shot strength bar – utilised since the birth of golf games for good reason - delivers, so other than picking the right range club and going the 100% thwack you’re left guessing. Meanwhile, putting’s just totally crapshootacular.

Presentation’s pleasing – save for a smartarse commentator you’ll wanna skelp after mere seconds - with heaps of built-in courses, oodles of user-created ones and, as the latter suggests, the ability to roll your own. This can involve simple random generation to getting totally forensic. Greg Norman even lends his name (we wonder if he’s ever laid eyes upon it?)

More sim than arcade experience, those who voluntarily don tweed trousers will dig The Golf Club. But we’d be spondulieitising if we recommended it to those just wanting a fun day on the green.

Vote time: serious or fun?

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