Ryan Davis' review of this game is quite a bit off in my opinion, especially his comments regarding the graphics being plain and not up to the usual Xbox standards. What console golf games has he been playing lately? Links 2004 features beautiful graphics, far prettier and more realistic then Tiger Woods 2004. Granted there are not as many customization options available as Tiger, but the characters look highly realistic and animate very smoothly and believably. Ugly textures for the rough? Come on, the rough is drawn with pixel shaders to make it actually appear like grass (sort of like "fur shading" on the Xbox version of Crash Bandicoot). Trees look real, water is outstanding (not unusal for Xbox though), and how about the bump-mapping on the sand traps? Honestly, it's as if Davis played a completely different game. As far as gameplay is concerned, it's definitely not as arcade-like as Tiger. But in my opinion, that's a good thing. It always bothered me how Tiger allows you to change the spin on your ball after it's been hit. Can't do this in Links, and if that bothers you then this is probably not your game. But it plays a super-smooth game of golf. A noticebly quicker game, also, as you can speed up every shot with the A button and there aren't as many unnecessary cutscenes showing golfer reactions as Tiger. The reactions are there, but have just the right balance between excessive and nonexistent. Try this game first if you have any doubts, but in my opinion it is definitely the best golf game available for the Xbox, and absolutely worth purchasing over Tiger 2004. And I can't stress it enough...the graphics are outstanding.
Other Helpful Reviews for Links 2004 (Xbox World Collection)
Ahhh...I couldn't disagree more with the low score given by Gamespot. They game Tiger Woods an 8.8 and Links a 7.7! I would accept the reverse of these...are they playing the same golf game I am playing? Is EA shellin... Read Full Review
This game was the first golf game that I played that wasn't the Mario Golf games and I tell yah, it was a bigger transition than I expected. First off, the whole swing mechanics were new to me, and they took me a while t... Read Full Review
