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Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds

Score: 8.0 / 10

Unlike a lot of sports games, I’m familiar with Hot Shots Golf so it was with great enthusiasm I dropped Out of Bounds into my PS3. And my enthusiasm dropped a notch or two when I found a great looking cartoon golf game that isn’t actually a departure from previous Hot Shots Golf games.  You’ve played this Hot Shots Golf game before; it’s just never looked this good.

Out of Bounds includes the typical options prior to hitting the links to outfit your chosen golfer with clothes, clubs, etc. and also hits all the right notes when it comes to course variation, with the usual desert, temperate, etc. environs that we’ve all come to expect.

The actual golf can be relatively technical.  Though the computer defaults you to specific clubs and shot direction to keep things simple for the newcomer, for the

 

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more advanced player and those that really want to win online there are many variables that can be altered, like direction, club, and where you hit the ball.  Taking into account the weather and the slope of the greens further heightens that necessity of being a little more hands-on when it comes to getting your shot to land where you want it to.

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Out of Bounds also includes two different options when it comes to actually swinging the club.  There’s the Traditional swing meter option – press X and the slider starts moving to the left, press X again when it hits your desired power level, then X again when the slider passes the “sweet spot” on its way to the right – but for the more “advanced” player there’s the Advanced shot.  This type of shot drops the swing meter, at least in form.  You’re still pressing X three times but now you really have to be paying attention.  The first X-press makes your character pull back the club; a “ghost” image of the club appears over their shoulder.  When the club matches the ghost images you press X again to start the swing and when that happens a collapsing circle appears around the golf ball.  When the circle hits the ball you press X again.  It works well, and though it really only differs from the Traditional swing meter on the basis of form it feels much more satisfying when you master it.

With all the power made available by the Playstation 3, it’s amazing there’s no voice chat.  You can plug in a keyboard and text chat during online matches, but that’s definitely not the same as being able to talk to your opponents or friends, especially when it comes to trash talking.  Maybe Sony will splice in voice chat later, but for the time being anyone wanting to razz their friends will be hooking up Ventrilo or make use of Xbox Live.

Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds should easily meet the expectation of fans, even if it doesn’t really change the basics of the game.  It’s the best looking iteration of the series and it’s just a relaxing way to wind down the day.

- D.D. Nunavut

(April 2, 2008)

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