GAMEOV3R

Forum member and Gameov3r's personal butler, Captainff, gives us his impressions of Capcom’s We Love Golf!

To start off with you can play with one of four characters, each of whom has 6 different outfits they can wear. You then choose what kind of game you want from simple practice to some mini-game style 'nearest the pin' or 'ring shot' (no sniggering Tooms!) to a tournament (only 18 holes, not 72) or character match. Winning, or completing, each of these then unlocks further challenges for you to overcome, or extra outfits, or new characters for you to play. Which is good because the biggest challenge I have at the moment is maintaining the will to trawl through the beginner stages of the game.

WHAT!?

Yes. So far this game is incredibly easy to me.

Way back in the mists of teenagehood I used to play golf games with a friend on his Amiga 500. Many of you may remember the swing mechanism .. .. .. click to start the swing, click to set the power at the top of the swing, click as the swing rushes back to hit the ball true (or hook or slice). A similar mechanism is employed in We Love Golf! except it involves the motion sensing on the wiimote. Press 'A' to start the shot and then swing the wiimote backwards while watching the power gauge .. .. .. hold it in position until the 'ghost club' reaches it then, swing the wiimote forwards so that it crosses the start line at the same time as the ghost club for a clean shot. Too early or too late produces hook or slice. This whole process can be performed using the 'A' button .. .. .. click, click, click but that would remove some of the fun.

The wiimote motion sensing is also used when setting up your shots. Point the wiimote up at the ceiling for an overhead view, point it down at the floor to take the shot, point at the TV to see a view down the fairway to the green. It works really well and is intuitive to use.

Keeping in mind that this isn't a serious golf game, I think the physics of the game are relatively good. The spangly music, cartoony graphics, silly catchphrases and animations when you sink a putt, the relative stupidity of the opponents to begin with, all point to a game that is designed to ease the non-golfer into the game gently.

Back to the difficulty of the game for a moment. I've not played a golf game for over 15 years and in my first tournament game, once I'd played some of the other modes to learn the controls, I scored -19 over 18 holes and my nearest opponent was 37 strokes behind at +18. Other people who have played it more than me have reported a Pro level in the game so hopefully the 1 player experience will eventually provide some challenges, because at the moment for me it is ridiculously easy. I suppose that if you have NEVER played a golf game that this would be a great place to start because you can make errors and still feel like you have achieved progress.

What I'm most looking forward to is meeting up with real people online and pitting my skills against theirs. Yes that's right. Online. As well as the ability to play with up to 4 players locally Capcom have included an online option. Play against friends or strangers online. I've yet to try it out for two reasons .. .. .. .. firstly I wanted to get an understanding of the game and secondly it seems that I'm the only person on the forum who has bought it!

Overall : So far I'm enjoying it but it isn't providing me much of a challenge yet. 7.5/10

Many thanks Captain.

GAMEOV3R will be pleased with you. He may even allow you a night off!