Tuesday, March 27, 2007
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Good: Swing control is different and easy to pick up
Bad: Average graphics, sparse sound, dull career mode, no online play
Moral of the Story: Stick with Tiger
When it comes to golf games, it seems like the Tiger Woods series dominates the list. The series practically has a monopoly on the genre, and the mere fact that ProStroke Golf would even attempt to challenge that hold is admirable. Unfortunately, that's about the only truly admirable quality in ProStroke Golf. The game is simply an underwhelming experience in terms of graphics, design, and replay.
The game's most distinguishing feature is its swing control, which at least differs from the patented Tiger formula. This has been changed for the PSP version so that you control your swing using the shoulder buttons. Holding the right shoulder button starts your backswing, and then switching over to the left shoulder begins the downswing. There's a power meter that appears along the bottom of the screen, and by timing your button presses accordingly, you can hit the ball at various power levels. Additionally, you can line up your foot stance and club face prior to swinging, but the effects of doing this are fairly unnoticeable. Overall, it's an easy-to-use swing setup, but not necessarily better than other golf games.
The game has a fairly limited selection of modes. Players have the choice to jump right into a match or they can choose to participate in a tournament, career mode, or training mode. The training mode is fairly unhelpful, opting to throw giant blocks of text at you and expecting you to absorb all of it. On the plus side, the game is pretty easy to pick up, so sludging through the training scenarios isn't really necessary.
The career mode, usually the main attraction in games like this, is also poor in its implementation. Your options are limited to playing match after match with little else to do. Sure, you win money, but there's really nothing to do with it. You also gain renown, which is used to increase your golfer's status and unlock bigger events, but even this feels like little incentive to keep playing. Even more painful is the fact that every time you enter a tournament, you're stuck with a partner whose every move you're forced to watch. It would be nice if there was a faster means of skipping this, as it makes tournament play almost unbearable.
The game offers little in the way of replay. Most gamers will quickly grow tired of the career mode, which is basically the game's main attraction. There's a course designer feature, if you feel like putting in the time. Multiplayer for up to four players is offered via ad-hoc wireless mode, but online play is nowhere to be found. Since the core gameplay isn't that great, you probably won't find a lot of friends that want to play through 18 holes.
The graphics on the console versions of the game were pretty lousy, but fortunately they look slightly better on the PSP. A lot of the pixelization in the terrain is less noticeable, thanks in part to the system's smaller screen. The animations are still somewhat stiff, and the extended cutscenes between shots can grow annoying quickly. Overall, a pretty average visual package.
The audio isn't significantly better. Sam Torrance, Ian Baker-Finch, and Alan Green provide commentary, and more often than not, they sound pretty bored. Ambient effects are minimal and sound pretty bad when they are present. Background music is kept to a minimum, but it's not particularly great when it is there.
ProStroke Golf is really an all around average game. There's really no reason to play it. If you want a realistic golf game, stick with Tiger Woods.
Graphics: 5.5
Sound: 5.0
First Play: 6.5
Replay Value: 5.0
Gameplay: 6.0
Overall: 5.7
lawrence.comrade
