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November 15, 2003 | 10:00 PM PST
by: Will West
In twenty-five years of video gaming I’ve played golf games on practically every game console there is. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Outlaw Golf, Simon & Schuster Interactive’s entry into the GameCube golf arena has elements of all three: good, bad, and just plain ugly.
Outlaw Golf is billed as having “great golf” and “bad attitude.” This is more than half true.
The developers were trying to bring a little humor, sex appeal, and fun into Outlaw Golf and I can respect that. Each of the game’s golfers is a humorously dysfunctional stereotype and is paired with a similarly bizarre caddy. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t laugh at some of the humor, but overall it is repetitive and only mildly funny. The announcer has better lines than any of the golfers, but they get stale pretty quickly.
Sex—or at least sexy female golfers—is part of the game’s intended appeal to young, male gamers. Among the female golfers included are: a biker babe, a stripper, and a Japanese dominatrix. Unfortunately, even here Outlaw Golf falls short. A bit more over-the-top approach with the skin and titillation might have helped distract male players from the game’s shortcomings. (Note to self: Design and market video golf game with totally hot babe golfers who strip and perform lewd acts the lower gamers shoot below par. Even if it’s lame, I’ll still make a killing!)
The “Stellar Golf Engine” promised on the package doesn’t quite reach the stars. I am the first to admit that I’m not a fan of the analog swing-type golf game controls, but I’ve learned to deal with it. Outlaw Golf’s analog swing controls, however, are rather substandard. I wish some of the bright boys programming console golf games would give gamers the option to choose another control scheme. As far as I’m concerned there wasn’t anything wrong with the old hit-the-button-three-times golf controls.
Fairway play in Outlaw Golf is pretty standard with the exception of the “Composure Response System” which is designed to simulate how the frustration you feel from hitting a bad shot in real golf can mess up your entire game. It succeeds admirably in injecting a healthy dose of real-world frustration into a video game—and I’m not sure that this is a good thing. I stopped playing real-world golf fifteen years ago because the frustration wasn’t doing my ulcer much good.
One can regain composure in two ways: 1) hit a good shot, or 2) beat the crap out of your caddy. With a low “Composure” rating it gets more difficult to hit a good shot, so if the former isn’t likely, the latter may be your only hope. Players are awarded “Beating Tokens” for shooting well. In theory the beating up your caddy to relieve frustration in a video golf game sounds like it could be pretty entertaining, but it really wasn’t much fun. (People with young children in the house should note that Outlaw Golf’s twisted take on sportsmanship is probably every bit as bad as the game’s “strong language” and “mature sexual themes” for impressionable young minds. Keep in mind that “TEEN” rating.)
Outlaw Golf’s biggest drawback is that it is cursed by one of the worst putting interfaces of any golf game I have ever played. For starters, the hole is difficult to see and sometimes disappears altogether. Adjusting the camera angle can usually take care of this problem, but the gold target with which one aims putts often obscures the hole in ways that cannot be fixed. The 3-D grid overlay for the green is poorly done and is of limited size, meaning that it doesn’t always reach all the way to the hole—and the graphics aren’t sharp enough to give you a clue how the green breaks without the grid. The power controls for the analog swing putting are almost nonsensical. Regardless of the length of the putt, it is about three times more difficult to sink one in Outlaw Golf than it is on an actual golf course. This should not be.
Outlaw Golf only features three courses on which to play. Players can unlock different events on each course, different golfers to play with, and different clubs to use as they progress through the game, so this does introduce a fair bit of variety. Neither the graphics nor the sound is going to set the world on fire, but I’ve certainly seen and heard worse. The bottom line is that if you’ve got a jones for GameCube golf, there are better titles out there. So keep looking.
Outlaw Golf is billed as having “great golf” and “bad attitude.” This is more than half true.
The developers were trying to bring a little humor, sex appeal, and fun into Outlaw Golf and I can respect that. Each of the game’s golfers is a humorously dysfunctional stereotype and is paired with a similarly bizarre caddy. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t laugh at some of the humor, but overall it is repetitive and only mildly funny. The announcer has better lines than any of the golfers, but they get stale pretty quickly.
Sex—or at least sexy female golfers—is part of the game’s intended appeal to young, male gamers. Among the female golfers included are: a biker babe, a stripper, and a Japanese dominatrix. Unfortunately, even here Outlaw Golf falls short. A bit more over-the-top approach with the skin and titillation might have helped distract male players from the game’s shortcomings. (Note to self: Design and market video golf game with totally hot babe golfers who strip and perform lewd acts the lower gamers shoot below par. Even if it’s lame, I’ll still make a killing!)
The “Stellar Golf Engine” promised on the package doesn’t quite reach the stars. I am the first to admit that I’m not a fan of the analog swing-type golf game controls, but I’ve learned to deal with it. Outlaw Golf’s analog swing controls, however, are rather substandard. I wish some of the bright boys programming console golf games would give gamers the option to choose another control scheme. As far as I’m concerned there wasn’t anything wrong with the old hit-the-button-three-times golf controls.
Fairway play in Outlaw Golf is pretty standard with the exception of the “Composure Response System” which is designed to simulate how the frustration you feel from hitting a bad shot in real golf can mess up your entire game. It succeeds admirably in injecting a healthy dose of real-world frustration into a video game—and I’m not sure that this is a good thing. I stopped playing real-world golf fifteen years ago because the frustration wasn’t doing my ulcer much good.
One can regain composure in two ways: 1) hit a good shot, or 2) beat the crap out of your caddy. With a low “Composure” rating it gets more difficult to hit a good shot, so if the former isn’t likely, the latter may be your only hope. Players are awarded “Beating Tokens” for shooting well. In theory the beating up your caddy to relieve frustration in a video golf game sounds like it could be pretty entertaining, but it really wasn’t much fun. (People with young children in the house should note that Outlaw Golf’s twisted take on sportsmanship is probably every bit as bad as the game’s “strong language” and “mature sexual themes” for impressionable young minds. Keep in mind that “TEEN” rating.)
Outlaw Golf’s biggest drawback is that it is cursed by one of the worst putting interfaces of any golf game I have ever played. For starters, the hole is difficult to see and sometimes disappears altogether. Adjusting the camera angle can usually take care of this problem, but the gold target with which one aims putts often obscures the hole in ways that cannot be fixed. The 3-D grid overlay for the green is poorly done and is of limited size, meaning that it doesn’t always reach all the way to the hole—and the graphics aren’t sharp enough to give you a clue how the green breaks without the grid. The power controls for the analog swing putting are almost nonsensical. Regardless of the length of the putt, it is about three times more difficult to sink one in Outlaw Golf than it is on an actual golf course. This should not be.
Outlaw Golf only features three courses on which to play. Players can unlock different events on each course, different golfers to play with, and different clubs to use as they progress through the game, so this does introduce a fair bit of variety. Neither the graphics nor the sound is going to set the world on fire, but I’ve certainly seen and heard worse. The bottom line is that if you’ve got a jones for GameCube golf, there are better titles out there. So keep looking.
November 20, 2009
