We Love Golf! (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

When the Wii-mote was first revealed, golf was a sport that undoubtedly crossed many a gamers' minds as they tried to think what kind of games would be ideally suited to the new motion controls. As a result, we've seen a large number of golfing related titles on the Wii, not just from EA and their Tiger Woods series but also from many other developers including the likes of Nintendo and Tecmo. We Love Golf! represents developer Camelot Software Planning's first attempt at bringing the sport to the Wii as well as their first attempt at getting to grips with the Wii-mote, with publishing coming from Capcom. But is this attempt heading towards the green or destined for the bunker?

Gameplay

Developer Camelot Software Planning are no strangers to the golfing genre and so although We Love Golf! is a new game entirely made from scratch on a completely new system, the development team still know how to put together a good game. Having made a success of themselves in the genre thanks to the efforts of the Mario Golf and Hot Shot Golf games, We Love Golf! builds upon many of the foundations laid out by those. At its heart, it's a pure golfing game, and as arcade in its build as it could possibly. Gone are all the fluff and padding seen in the more realistic golf simulations and coming in their place are modes and gameplay designed specifically to allow the player to simply have fun and not have to worry about all the excruciating detail that other games may pile on. The game is made up of a healthy selection of single and multiplayer modes, with the game having undergone a few significant changes from its initial release in Japan to its release in the West. The single player options allow you to partake in many of the staple offerings of the genre, from the likes of Tournament play to stroke and matchplay. These offerings may be more streamlined in comparison to those found in the likes of the Tiger Woods' games but the game is better for it because it becomes more accessible and easier to understand for those new or unfamiliar with the sport. There are also some more original offerings available to play through in the game such as Ring Shot and Target Golf. The former of these sees you taking to one of the game's courses and having to hit your golf ball through a series of multi-coloured rings while also ensuring you get a par or less on the hole you are playing. It adds a level of uncertainty to the game while also helping you to improve your ball play.

There is a significant amount to do in single player and there are plenty of unlockables to discover, with secret characters unlocked through player challenges and a very special selection of unlockables courtesy of Capcom coming in the form of costumes for the characters. This normally wouldn't be that big a deal but when you start to unlock these costumes, you'll see Capcom has gone out of their way to provide some fan service with costumes in the form of Chun Li from Street Fighter, Zack from Zack and Wiki and Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblins. It's something that will surely please fans of these games and easily extends the length of the game as you'll definitely want to take to the course again to see your costumed golfer parody as some of Capcom's most famous mascots.

Yet while the single player is undoubtedly fun, the game really does come into its own more in multiplayer, which supports up to 4 players. Here, you'll get to play through all of the staple modes you'd come to expect but the way the game has been built makes it much more than the mundane because We Love Golf! was clearly meant for playing in multiplayer with friends round. But if your friends can't come over, Camelot have included an online mode for the European localisation allowing you to play against your friends or anyone in the world. It works well and is certainly robust in it's make up although does lack the options to vary the gameplay enough to warrant significant playtime.

Controls

Choosing not to try and emulate a true 1:1 swinging technique, Camelot have gone for a control scheme closer to that seen in the Mario Golf games. In game, you'll be presented with a swing meter along the bottom of the screen. Holding the A button, you'll move into your swing stance and you do your backswing to move the cursor along the meter to the desired point and when it accepts that, the cursor then drops to the stationary point and you unleash your swing to hit the ball. It takes a little getting used but you'll get to grips with it quickly and soon be getting birdies and eagles with ease. Fade and draw can be added to your shots by twisting the Wii-mote and the game replicates these twists of the controller realistically. The one downside to the controls is that once you get used to them, the game becomes easy and you'll rarely be troubled in the single player matches with the AI. It does dilute the experience somewhat due to a lack of competition but the controls aren't fully to blame for this.

Graphics

Camelot has clearly taken inspiration from their other golf games and the same bright and colourful palette has been applied here. Character models look very similar to those seen in the Hot Shot Golf games and look great with good animation and a high level of detail. They do, however, suffer from being rather generic in their looks but this can and will be overlooked when you start unlocking the costumes which transform them into various other game characters. The courses themselves are well designed and look great, if only lacking a little in detail. There is a decent number of courses available, just not enough to compete with other golfing games and so you'll often find yourself repeating holes over and over again in tournaments and challenges.

Sound

The music that plays throughout the game, lingering in the background, suffers from the same problem as the characters in that it's entirely generic but it does make for a pleasant listen. Just don't expect it to jump out and grab you. The voice work for the characters is well done but there are only a few lines of text and so you'll be hearing a lot of repeated speech. Sound effects are all similar to those from the other Camelot titles and do pack a punch.

Final comments

As a first attempt at bringing the sport of golf to the Wii in their own trademark style, Camelot has done a very good job. We Love Golf! is a good package that provides ample content for both single and multiplayer play. The only problem is that it seems better suited for play with more than one person. The mechanics of the game are unique and work well but do make the overall experience somewhat easier than it should have been. Saying that though, the game is still very much an enjoyable one and with such an elaborate fan service lying behind the gameplay in the form of costumes, the game will continue to pull you back in for another go just because of how well it plays and just to see the likes of Chun Li take to a golf course.

Pro: Visual presentation is of a high quality, plenty of content including some nice unlockables, unique control scheme that works well...
Con: ...but the control scheme does make the game easier, better suited for multiplayer than single, some of the presentation is rather generic
Final score: 8

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