PS2 Golf game (1 Viewer)

[MikeAlletto]

Looking for a good PS2 golf game for my dad for christmas. How is the new EA Tiger Woods game? Anyone even like golf games here?

 

[Tim Markley]

I really like Hot Shots Golf but if you're looking for a serious golf game, that ain't it.

 

[Sean Eldridge]

Hot shots might not be the traditional golf, but it definitly plays as well as any golf game. Either way, you should be well off.

Sean

 

[GlenHaag]

I thought Hot Shots 3 was a terrific golf game... I even wrote a review about it.
http://sony.gamerweb.com/reviews/ps2/hotshotsgolf3.asp
Mind you, this review was written well before this years Tiger Woods, which I have yet to play. So, you may take that with a grain of salt.
Glen

 

[EdR]

I like both Hot Shots and Tiger Woods '03, but they are very different games.

The gameplay mechanics in Hot Shots are somewhat 'traditional' for golf games, you have power meters with tick marks representing various power/accuracy levels. Pressing the X button 3 times will (in order) start the power meter rising, set the power level, and set the accuracy level.

I find the physics in Hot Shots to be very well done, despite the light-hearted look of the game.

The mechanics of TW2003 are different. You use the analog stick to essentially emulate the swing of the club, pull back on the stick and the club rises into the air, push forward and it stikes the ball. If you move the stick to one side, the ball will come off the club at an angle (you can draw and fade this way).

There are no graphs or meters in TW, it's more intuitive in the sense that you have to figure out the power level for a given shot. The physics in TW are also top notch.

The camera options in Hot Shots are amazing, you can fly over the course, look side to side, look back from the spot you're aiming at to where you stand, and from the tee.

In TW, you have fewer options, but they are enough to inform you of the lay of the land..and where to aim.

For putting, Hot Shots gives you a grid that very accurately shows you the shape of the green. Putting is done in a similar manner to driving (meters and button presses). In TW, there is very little information about the shape of the green, but you can have (optional) caddy tips which tell you where to aim...but it's up to you to figure out just how far "2ft past the hole and 3inches to the left" is on screen, since there's no measurement readout.

Graphically Hot Shots is very bight and saturated, the characters are funny and somewhat cartoonish, I suspect some kids would get into the game.

TW is more reserved and realistic. The graphics are beautiful, although some more detailed textures would have been nice.

Overall it's tough to say which one is better, TW is more of a sim, the mechanics are fun because they more closely emulate golf with the analog stick...and errors are more easily made because you need to follow through with the stick acurately. Hot Shots is probably easier, because the meters give you precise feedback about how much power you applied.

About my only complaint about Hot Shots is that there aren't enough courses...if memory serves, there are 5 or maybe 6. In TW there are 12. TW also has more gameplay modes.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

If Hot Shots 4 is online (it is in Japan), that is the game that will get me online with the PS2.

Great series of games.