GamesRelay

Name: Everybody's Golf: World Tour

Everybody's Golf: World Tour or Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds as it is known in North America is a continuation of the popular Japanese Golf series and the first incarnation to come to the PlayStation 3. At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking this is just another 'cute' game from our friends in the East, there's big colourful and cute anime-esque characters to choose from and the whole game has a decidedly perky feel to it; however scratch beneath the surface and you'll find yourself a golf game that can stand up and be counted with the best of them. This is by no means a golfing simulator, ala the Tiger Woods series from EA, it's got a decidedly arcade feel to the whole thing, but don't think it's going to be a walk in the park, there is some serious stuff at work here.

The game offers a variety of controls, each based on a standard power bar which sets itself off with a button press from right to left. First there is the 'Everybody's' mode which is for the amateur player, this mode will allow anyone to pick up and play the game and the player only has one button press to take a shot to decide on their power. The 'Traditional' mode allows the player to first select their power with one button press and then accuracy of the shot with the second, finally there is a new mode to the series, the 'Advanced' shot which dispenses with the power bar and gives you the chance to base the power of your shot on the height of the club. The accuracy is then determined by how quick you can press the button on the way back down within a given range. Each mode has its advantages, but the further up the scale you go the better the overall shot can be, full power advanced shots will go further than any of the other modes on full power for example.

To begin with you just have a couple of characters from the full roster of 15 to choose from, each of these characters have there strengths and weakness's, some can hit the ball dead straight each time, some will naturally hit the ball slightly to the left or to the right, some will have problems playing out of the bunkers and some will let the bad weather affect their shots. Your own ability to play the game will heighten or weaken these abilities and as you progress you'll unlock different abilities and equipment for the characters to use which will again affect how they play; a different club can allow a character to be an able player in the bunkers rather than give a poor performance. Playing with the same character also adds 'Loyalty' points which will give you additional advantages such as more 'Power Shots', the ability to add a better front or back spin to your shots and as the game progress's you'll have access to professional standard clubs which again make tweaks to your characters overall performance. Characters are split between Novice, Intermediate and Professional grades, the further up the ladder you travel the harder your shots become to get right but the more powerful and accurate they become.

As the game title suggests, the course's you play on are based in various parts of the world, though none of them are actual real courses, that doesn't mean to say that there not a joy to play. Or a nightmare, depending on your position after a shot. In total the game ships with 6 courses which see you in the Scottish isles, Japan, Europe, Africa, the US and even The North Pole. Each course is tailored to make your game progressively harder, notably the US course (The Crown) is probably one of the hardest courses ever played in any golf game with its impossible greens. Each course is unlocked as you progress through the single player game, once a course is opened up it can be played in both single player and multiplayer modes and progressing further in the single player mode will allow you to open up a mirrored version of the course, in effect giving you 12 to choose from once completed.

The game engine itself is superb; you've got a lot to think about when planning a shot. From the tee you'll have to think about the wind speed and direction which is annoyingly unknown at first, but you'll be able to garner some clues from your environment, the trees move in accordance to the wind, so if you see the leaves on the trees just gently moving then you can expect a low wind, however if there swaying quite fast then there is a high wind, you can also drop some grass from your hand to better determine the speed and direction of the wind.