Gameplay – If you had the pleasure to play Hot Shots Golf 3 (HSG3), the gameplay is the same with a few tweaks. I love the old time 3-click swing. The 3-click swing has three components: 1. Start the swing, 2. Set the power of you shot and 3. Set the impact of your shot. Setting the impact is the most important, because by how much you miss impact will be the biggest factor on where your golf ball will end up. The biggest new feature is the everybody’s club. This will allow the beginners or non video game players at a party to be able to compete against the game veterans. The everybody’s club only requires 2 clicks (start swing and power), so the beginner will have an easy time staying out of trouble. The downside to the everybody’s club is that you cannot hit the ball a long way as with some of the other club options. So you are trading accuracy for distance. The other new feature is the addition of miniature golf (I believe brought back from the 1st HSG). This game rewards you more for making a longer putt. After several plays, this became very easy once you discovered the correct putt lines. This game also has more regulation courses (12 vs. 5 in HSG3), more unlockable players and more caddies than HSG3. HSG Fore brought back the old courses, several of the players from HSG3 (some were caddies in HSG3, like Hubert) and caddies. The best new addition here was the addition of Ratchet and Jak as golfers and Clank and Daxter as caddies. Another new item was the inclusion of HSG rules when playing online or multiplayer. I believe they are: +2 water (additional 2 shot penalty when hitting into water), +2 rough (2 shots for stopping in the rough), +2 tree (2 shots for hitting the tree) and the big cup (the hole will be about 3 times the size of normal hole). The other big addition is online play. At first I was disappointed when I first logged on and began playing tournaments. The lobby screens seemed clunky and hard to maneuver around with very little help. There are only two game options in online play – tournaments and rival. At first the tournaments were a disappointment, but after a while and getting used to playing online tournaments, I began to like the concept that HSG Fore has introduced. In an online tournament, you can go to the lobby and see the upcoming live tournaments (starting within the next 10 minutes) and the tournament details and rules. Once the tournament starts, you can pick a golfer and clubs (from the ones you have unlocked in the offline) within 60 seconds. You will then be taken to the first hole of your tournament. You only get to see your golfer play each hole. Depending on the tournament time interval picked by the host, you get so many seconds to complete each hole. If you do not hole out by the specified time limit, you get booted from the tournament. When you complete the hole by the time limit, you go back to the tournament lobby and wait for the next hole. In the tourney lobby, you can message the other players, but it can only be written. The only draw back is online is not headset compatible. It is fun finishing a hole early with a birdie or eagle and going to the lobby and see the other scores come in as you wait. Graphics – The graphics in HSG3 were tremendous. HSG Fore has taken this a step higher. You now get the character’s clothing to move on windy days. Also, after you hit a ball in the drink, your caddie will be looking in the water with a ball retriever. The different locations are great and the ability to pick your seasons is good. If you pick summer, you will see the course being irrigated while you play. In the winter you will get snow showers and the grass will be brownish. Sound – The caddies and characters are funny at first, but after you play awhile some can get very annoying. It does seem that the sounds and commentary are in their proper place (match the situation) during gameplay. Value – I have been playing about 25 hours and have unlocked all the players in VS. mode (both easy and hard) and I am about 75% of the way through the tournaments. With the addition of online play, the additional value of this game is even higher for a great offline game. Tilt – Being a fan of HSG3, I am very pleased with a game that more than doubled the available courses. And at the same time adding online play. I give this game an excellent rating.
I will admit that I have never played real golf in my life, heck I doubt I would be able to get the golf ball in the air, but this game just got me hooked. But that’s the beauty of the game, you might not like watching o... Read Full Review
I became addicted to this game while I was playing the demo of it at my store. The cartoon-ish characters... the outlandish quotes... the playful music... but more important, the challenge of having perfect timing and ac... Read Full Review
