Reviewed: November 3, 2006
Reviewed by: Roger Cox

Publisher
Oxygen Interactive

Developer
Gusto Games

Released: September 12, 2006
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-4
ESRB: Everyone

8
8
7
7
8.0

Supported Features

Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
When it comes to golf games the first one that comes to mind is Tiger Woods PGA Tour. It seems that recently golf games have kind of fallen off the map. In earlier years there was the Links series and of course Mario Golf. Links is no longer with us (May the series RIP) and Mario golf is not a seasonal game, so that leaves Tiger with the only real golf game available. Not so this year as Oxygen and Gusto Games have put out a realistic golf game called ProStroke Golf: World Tour 2007 that is a definite contender.

ProStroke Golf Features:

  • International Talent: Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Ben Curtis, Tomas Bjorn, Colin Montgomerie, Ian Woosnam, Mark O'Meara , and Zhang Lian-Wei.
  • TV commentators: Sam Torrance, Ian Baker-Finch and Alan Green.
  • Course and tournament creator, allowing you to design and develop your own courses.
  • Courses from a range of spectacular locations across the globe, including The Brabazon at The Belfry and Lake Nona.
  • Game Modes range from Quick Match Play (3-18 holes) through multiplayer to a comprehensive career mode.
  • Caddy Feature offering Golf Pro training exercises, enabling you to add the advanced techniques of the pros.
  • Single Unit and Wireless multiplayer for PSP sytem, and turn by turn multiplayer for PC (on and off line).
The game also features Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Ben Curtis, Thomas Bjorn, Clin Montgomerie, and Ian Woosnam to name a few. There are also a wide variety of real-life courses that can be found around the globe including The Brabazon and Lake Nona. Is it definitely worth your time to take on the pros around the world in ProStroke Golf?

ProStroke introduces a variety of new features in an effort to produce one of, if not the most accurate golfing game experience to date. It does this by changing the way you strike the ball and by giving you more control over the direction, curve, and distance your ball carries.

You golf from a natural view point (looking down at your ball on the ground). It is here that you can adjust how you want to strike the ball and also how hard to you hit it. Before I took my first swing I thought this viewpoint would make me nauseous, but I was wrong. This is actually a very cleaver way to approach golf and I’m shocked no one had done it sooner. Then after I thought about it, a game developer really has two choices. First off, they can make the striking view behind the golfer (3rd person) or they can make it looking down at the ball like you would do naturally before and during your swing. There’s no good way to implement both.

The way you get a good shot off is a little different than you may be used to. You’ll be using the right analog stick to move the power bar from right to left then back right. You must make this a fluid motion to achieve the best possible swing. It is surprisingly easy to do and I found that it felt more natural than the Tiger Wood’s game. But if you are a little skeptical you can change to the swing view after you are satisfied with your aim.

All of the other features are similar to the Tiger Wood’s game. Like looking up and down the course, positioning the arrow on the course where you want the ball to go, the wind mph, yards to the hole, and the percentage strength you need to hit the ball where you want it to go. If you are at all familiar with the Tiger game or the Links series then you’re sure to understand everything immediately.

ProStroke Golf also comes with a very nice, easy to use golf course designer. You can design your very own professional course. You’ll have the power to manipulate the course however you see fit by adding bumps, slopes, bunkers, and scenery (like tree’s and bushes). What is amazing is that this course designer is so much fun that it takes away from the games great golfing experience. Good news is that you can play on your custom course after creating it. (Let’s see Tiger’s game do that!)

While Tiger Wood’s and the Xbox 360 may have a huge upper hand on this game you really can’t compare the two graphically. Instead I went back and played Links 2004 for the original Xbox. ProStroke compares nicely with Links and the only real difference I could see was that the tree’s in Links weren’t as pixilated. The player models, ball physics, greens, and fairways have all been nicely designed.

One thing this game could have used is more colorful courses, but that doesn’t really matter when you consider everything else it offers.

One thing about a golf game that gets old quick is the commentary. Not so with ProSroke who hired a great team of well known international voices such as Sam Torrance, Ian Baker-Finch, and Alan Green. These three guys did an exceptional job and the commentary is some of the best you will hear on any platform (including the 360 and PS3).

The downside comes in the form of the crowd who is always cheering at about the same volume. It gets repetitive and there wasn’t enough variety in terms of hearing planes/helicopters fly over, birds chirping, and people mingling. The game also doesn’t support Dolby Digital.

While the career mode is pretty basic, it is lengthy. Training exercises are a good way to hone your skills and scorecard challenges are a good source of fun. The main thing that will keep people coming back for more is the easy to pickup and play, but hard to master gameplay. The multiplayer aspect of the game is enjoyable, but lacks Xbox Live support.

ProStroke Golf: World Tour 2007 offers up what hardcore golfing fans have been waiting for. With its realistic and unique approach to swinging the club, all the way to the amazing course creator, this game is the full package.

Try not to spend so much time on the course creator that you forget about the golfing aspect of the game. The career mode is a fun experience as well that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially at this game’s price point.