I haven't seen a review online yet for this game from the perspective of a disc golfer. Admittedly, disc golf is like arena football to real football - a few more gimmicks and a poorer clientelle. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to EA's interpretation of the sport. I expect that my feelings below are similar to how golfers take to the video interpretation of their sport... so here we go...
The Good:
- You now have a video game that features disc golf. And I'm not talking about something any old monkey could put together. The graphics are crisp, almost cartoonish, but clear.
- Three discs - driver, mid range and putter. They look nice.
- Fairly realistic trajectories and throws. Wind plays a minor factor in the throws, but the disc goes through the air pretty well. It'll even roll some times.
- Playing frolf on a ball course is funny if not for any other reason that you're out there pitching into chains. I'd like to see a disc golfer attempt to make his way until the K-Club's course without getting escorted by police.
- The Wii controller mirrors your movements and shows you immediate feedback on the screen. Just plain awesome. I always wondered what the inside of my polygonal-shaded wrist looked like.
The Bad:
- The courses were made for ball golf. This means:
- As such, the hazards you find at your local disc golf course simply aren't on these courses. They tried to make things more interesting by giving you a one stroke penalty if you land in the sand trap, but there aren't any trees on the greens to really stop you from knocking it in.
- Once you are on the green, there is nothing to stop you from knocking it in.
- The course pars are geared for ball golf. One one of the courses I played tonight, a par 5 hole was 156 yards (essentially a two-shot hole). Westchester had a hole that was 28 yards - something I could recreate in my backyard. Not pretty.
- The places where trees would come in handy (tee shots, off-fairway shots) are not used. Most courses have the tee in the middle of the fairway.
- No classic disc golf courses. Hopefully the next version puts some courses made special for disc golf together.
- Putting is automatic and also based on the same throwing motion as you would off the tee. I tend to throw my putts up, flat and vertical. Doing this on the Wii confuses the hell out of it. A simple flick will get you in the middle of the pin every time. I find putting in disc golf to be just as mental as regular golf, and that tension simply isn't here.
- Ranges for your discs are in yards, namely 150, 75 and 20. You can't throw the putter more than 60 feet. A mid-range doesn't go more than 220 and you can park the disc by going 450 feet. I realize this was probably to make the courses more playable, but it messes with your head when you're trying to estimate things out based on your own experience.
- Throws are consistent. Very consistent. Almost too consistent. Always consistent. My game has a boatload of inconsistency, but that's mostly because I'm awful. Nonetheless, this seems a lot less real to me to reliably peg my targets dead center every time.
- Each disc golf round is a one-off. No tournament or anything. You are a second class citizen (still). Kind of a let down, but, again, golf is the main attraction here. I can manage.
- A nitpick, but hitting the '+' button to move to the next hole is irritating considering almost every other Wii title I have bought to date uses the 'A' to move on. The 'B' to scroll windows down in the game is irritating as well - but in the disc golf portion, you don't have to do that.
That said, is it worth getting? Definitely! It's a great way to expose others to disc golf and it's a great ambassador to that end. It's great to have a game to play when itsraining outside that you can pop in and get a quick fix off of it. Be sure if you do pick it up that you get the enhanced motion sensor to go with it, otherwise you will not be able to play the game. If you treat it like wiffleball is to baseball, you'll like the game - and that's alright. Heaven knows there's enough other material on the game to play.