With less than a month before PlayStation Move hits shelves, we're finally getting a (post-E3) chance to play some Move-controlled games for ourselves. Yesterday, we grabbed our bulbous Move controllers and took a swing at John Daly's ProStroke Golf. Wee!
Above: John Daly is known forhis signature style
So first off, I don't play golf and I've never played a golf game (even Wii Sports Golf, gasp), but from my golf-ignorant perspective, ProStroke Golf looks incredibly realistic to me. Definitely no goofy golf here. It actually seems realistic enough to the point where if you played through all the extensive tutorials and practiced your skills with the game, you could build a good foundation for going to learn to play golf IRL. Not like you could go out and play a par game on an actual course right away, but you'll have a good knowledge base about the technical aspects of golf, like which clubs to use when, which stances work best in which situations, how to correct for certain types of terrain, and so on.
Above: If he misses this, itwill be totallyembarrassing
We're told that one of the major features that sets ProStroke Golf ahead of the other golf games is the first-person ProStroke mode. To enter first person mode, you hold the Move controller like a golf club and point it at an imaginary golf ball on the ground, then hit the move button. From there, you can adjust your stance and take as many practice swings as you'd like, and you can even view were the ball would have gone had the swing been a real one by hitting triangle after you swing. Adjusting the position of the ball in relation to your feet will change the height of the trajectory, while twisting the controller can change the direction of the swing, and you can even put a spin on the ball.
Above: Grid lines help you judge thetopographyto correct for hills and dips
As far as the Move motion control goes, it seemed to work quite well. It's hard to give a general opinion of how well Moves works based on a golf game though, since the movements you need are relatively simple – mainly swing direction and the angle of twist on your controller grip. Still, we can honestly say that in this case, the controls seem to work entirely as intended, which is more than can be said for most motion-controlled games on the market right now. With its combination of accurate controls and what seems to be highly realistic golf physics, this is definitely a game that golf enthusiasts should keep an eye on when it ships October 5 – look for our full review then.
Aug 26, 2010
