Outlaw Golf – GC – Review

Ah … the peace and quiet of
the local golf course. Usually, when I think of golf I think of green grass,
trees, and just good old-fashioned competition between friends. Well, Outlaw
Golf for the Gamecube (and for the Xbox recently) has come out to shatter that
whole idea and throw the “good sportsmanship” thing right out the bathroom
window. Well, what better way to use a 4 – Iron than to bash someone over the
head, right?

When you play Outlaw Golf,
don’t be expecting to see some clean-cut folks or players like Tiger Woods out
hitting the links. The motley assortment of players ranges from such misfits as
a stripper, an ex-con, a wannabe rapper, or a dominatrix … just to name a few.
Each one has their own caddies as well, who consist of partners, lawyers, and
significant others and just add to the overall wackiness of the title.

The controls in Outlaw Golf
are similar to other golf titles out there, and there is also a trajectory meter
to help you determine where your shot will land or how much it will arc to avoid
hitting trees and such when hitting down the fairway. In addition, the point of
contact on the ball can be adjusted to allow for lower hang time and higher
rolling or vice versa. One really neat thing that they did in this title was to
implement using the control stick to hit the ball rather than the typical “Three
button press” that any of us golf gamers have grown used to. Basically, you tilt
the stick back to get power, then push it forward quickly to hit the ball.
Veering right or left even the slightest bit will cause the ball to hook or
slice, and you have to be careful on where and how you push forward. If you
haven’t tried it yet … it may sound like a pain. I would have agreed with you,
but after I played with it a few times and got used to it, I found it to be much
more accurate than the three button thing since you can almost perfectly match
up the power that you want to have when hitting.

Another difference that was added in for Outlaw
Golf was the usage of a “composure” meter. Basically, as you make good shots or
sink birdies, you can gain composure and ultimately get “in the zone” which
helps your shots on accuracy and such. On the opposite end, if you start messing
up or playing badly, you get nervous or rattled and playing worse and the only
way to relieve tension is to take it out on your caddy. That’s right … they
aren’t just there to carry your golf bag for you. As you are playing, you earn
“Beating Tokens” for low scoring holes or X amount of holes. Use a beating
token, and the screen changes to a sliding bar where pressing the A button at
just the right time while it zips into specific areas results in a funny and
painful scene where your golfer grabs their caddy and beats the you know what
out of them. It sounds cruel, but hey …we play to win, right?

There are two main modes to
outlaw golf, which are Exhibition or Outlaw Tour. Exhibition is a single game
setup which allows you and up to four buddies to play through a variety of game
styles, such as stroke or match play and ranging to other not so common things
like time attack or only being allowed to select a putter and one other type of
club to play with. The tour mode consists of 30 different events spread out on 3
different courses, and is where you will unlock new items like equipment or
players. Tour mode also contains the Outlaw range, which are mini games that
allow you to polish up on your skills and earn some attribute points for your
golfer to help him or her get a little better prior to hitting the course.

Now, the game overall is fun
and pretty accurate from a physics standpoint, but there are a couple of things
that not only didn’t make sense but also tend to make it more frustrating than
enjoyable at times. For one, hitting a ball just a tad over the green or having
it land on the edge of the fairway and the rough tends to drop your composure …
and rapidly at that. For example, hitting a ball which lands on the green, rolls
by about an inch away from the hole, then off the other side and onto the edge
of the fringe will cause the composure meter to go from the top to “even”,
although it wasn’t really a bad shot to begin with. Hitting in a water hazard?
Understandable. Hitting in a sand trap? I can see that too. Hitting a centimeter
off the fairway when it stops rolling? I really don’t see how that would make me
nervous or be a bad thing, but that’s what happens.

The second issue I ran into
is in the putting itself, which is where the majority of golf games are won or
lost in my experience. By pressing the control pad left, you get a grid that
measures the direction of the green and shows inclines or declines. Pressing the
X button then pulls up the ball’s path and shows where it will go, so all seems
OK and you are ready to putt. There is a little Power Meter in the lower right
hand corner of the screen which tells you how hard the ball needs to be hit to
get to the target zone that you selected (You move the target over the hole to
get the %). When you pull the stick back, the power meter is broken down into
four bars that represent 25, 50, 75, and 100% power. So, having to hit the ball
50% power is an easy line up … or so it would seem. Almost every time I putted
at the listed percentage, regardless of composure or the golfer or accuracy
rating, I came up really short. The main problem here is that hitting the ball
too much harder messes up the trajectory, so a lot of potential birdies turned
into pars or bogeys really quick.

Graphically, Outlaw Golf is
a solid and good-looking title. The golfers and their animations are fluid and
funny, and the courses themselves look great and contain a various assortment of
overpasses, mesas, passing planes, birds, etc. to add to the atmosphere. As for
sound, the wisecracking and insulting announcer is funny and causes a lot of
laughs, while the character voiceovers are great … although a little repetitive
after a few times. The crowd who is watching was done well also, and will laugh
at you for messing up or run screaming if you act like you are going to hit the
ball in their direction. The music, while somewhat forgettable, isn’t bad and
consists or a metal / southern rock / hip hop mix.

Overall, Outlaw Golf is a
funny and challenging golf game that is a good break from the usual “Hot Shots”
or Tiger Woods title from EA Sports. Unfortunately, there are a couple of flaws
that can quickly turn into more of an annoyance than it may be worth for some,
and no more than three courses to play on. If you are looking for a golf title
on your Gamecube, this may provide some good fun and silly comic violence … but
I would recommend renting prior to making the final purchase.

Gameplay: 7.2
A decent and
overall accurate golf title for the Gamecube which adds some comedy and a little
bit of a different twist to what many refer to as a “gentlemen’s sport”. The
controls are easy to get into after a few tries, but some weird calls on the
composure meter and seemingly inaccurate putting distance recommendations can
quickly get frustrating.

Graphics: 7.7
The environments
were well done and look great, and the characters themselves are well animated
and fluid on their movements. More courses would have added to the overall feel
of the game however, and even with three different courses … it all kind of has
the same feel to it after you play through a few times.

Sound: 7.5
The music, while
somewhat forgettable, is good and doesn’t get overbearing at any time. The
voiceovers are good, but tend to get a little repetitive after a few times of
hearing the same thing. The announcer adds to the game as well with his
wisecracks and insults towards you as you play.

Difficulty: Hard
It will take a
few tries to get used to the control stick for many, and this is a game that you
can probably never 100% master. The tutorial is a verbal walkthrough, which
isn’t bad, but doesn’t let you practice either. It will also take some time to
get used to some of the ball physics and speed of some of the greens as well, to
avoid over or undershooting the mark.

Concept: 7.7
The addition of
some rough and hard hitting golfers to break the traditional golf games is a
welcome addition to the genre. I would love to see a second one come out,
hopefully addressing the issues found in this one.

Multiplayer: 7.9
Since humans
aren’t perfect like AI can be, this is a fun way to go at it with up to four
friends and see who is best on the Outlaw golf course.

Overall: 7.3
Well, this turned
out to be a fun game that I keep going back and playing constantly, despite some
frustration and the fact that I walk away mad some of the time after playing it.
If you are a big fan of golf or golf games this could be a good addition to the
growing GC library … but either way I would hit your local rental store first.