We Love Golf! (Wii) Review
Posted by Drew Robbins on 08.21.2008
Camelot, makers of Mario Golf, make their debut on the Wii with We Love Golf! Is this game on par with their previous efforts?
Golf and motion controls just seem like a natural fit. Oddly enough, this natural fit has yet to really blossom into any golfing game worth playing. Camelot, makers of Mario Golf and the Hot Shots Golf series, have joined the fray of golfing on the Wii in order to bring us We Love Golf! (Which by the way, it must have taken tremendous strength to keep from naming it Wii Love Golf!) Luckily, for fans of golf on the Wii, this game panned out fairly well.
Gameplay
As can be expected from a Camelot golf game, the gameplay is solid. Everything, from putting to teeing off, controls well and provides for a very fun golfing experience. Hitting the ball is done by holding down the A button, and then bringing your controller back, stopping in time with the circle placed on the shot bar, and bringing it forward. It sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it is. The game is incredibly simple, as the learning curve is so small it is practically non-existent. In fact, this game may be too easy. Usually when I play a golf game, like maybe Tiger Woods, I’d have to think for a while before I actually took my shot. How much power should I apply? Which club should I use? These are questions you won’t run into while playing We Love Golf. The game tells you how hard to hit the ball, and automatically chooses which club best fits the situation (though, I’m fairly sure that has always been a feature in Camelot golf games). 18 holes flies by as you spend very little time between shots thinking about what you should do next. To match with the already easy difficulty, your computer opponents are incredibly bad at golf. For example, on my first tourney, I was about ten holes in when I realized…I’m 12 shots ahead of the computer! The game puts up almost no challenge, which will make playing against them get old very quick.
Enough of where this game falls short, lets take this time to look at where the gameplay shines. As I’ve already mentioned, the controls are very fun. Motion controls allow you to get more immersed into your experience, much more than the immersion felt when you just twist a joystick or press the “A” button. This immersion leads to an amazing feeling of accomplishment when you hit a hole-in-one or a long put, even with the knowledge of the game’s difficulty sitting in the back of your mind. Winning a hole in the game’s one-on-one matches with a put from the edge of the green is an almost surreal experience.
One-on-one matches lead naturally into my next point, the amount of game modes. If you’ve ever played a Mario Golf game all of these modes will seem pretty familiar. You have the standard tournament mode, the aforementioned one vs. one match, target golf, ring shots, stroke play, and Wi-Fi play. Since I’ve already mentioned one on one match, let’s focus on that first. In this mode, you challenge one of the game’s golfers in a game to see who can win 10 holes first. This mode mostly just serves as a way to unlock the game’s horribly generic characters, and much like tournament, puts up very little challenge. It usually only takes me 10 holes to beat any one of the opponent’s, as the computer has a severe putting problem, causing them to get bogeys on many of the holes.
Next up is the tournament mode, which can probably be found in any golf game ever created. In the same manner that one vs. one served in getting you characters, this just helps you unlock the courses. As I’ve already mentioned in this review, these tournaments turn into huge blowouts that have practically reached a conclusion by the tenth hole. My personal favorite feature of this mode is the scoreboard. While it also displays your dominance of you’re A.I. counterparts, it also displays what there names are. Instead of the standard “Jim” and “Bob” you would expect to see on this list, Capcom has allowed Camelot to use names of famous characters. Even though you can’t see them golf, merely the thought of Dante and Nero golfing on the beach brings a smile to my face.
Ring shots have been a staple of Camelot golf games, and they certainly belong in this game to serve as some form of challenge. Instead of just blasting through the course, this mode makes you try and hit through every ring on the course before you hit the ball into the hole. While ring shots are not particularly fun, they do give the game a bit of challenge, which is a very welcome addition.
The last of the single player modes is target golf, which is the only other challenging mode in this game. Much as you would derive from the name, you attempt to hit the golf ball into specified areas in this mode. You can hit to targets from your first shot, second shot, or on the green with putting. Normally this is a mode that I would pass over, but Capcom dangled a carrot in front of my nose. How so, you may ask? Playing target golf is the only way to unlock the Chun-Li costume. At the time of this review, I have yet to unlock Chun-Li, as beating second shot target golf on the advanced difficulty is so tough it almost made me quit the game, entirely.
Now onto what everyone cares about when it comes to sports games, the multiplayer. If that really is all you care about, then I have good news for you. We Love Golf is a Wii game that actually features Wi-fi play, in what I can only describe as an unprecedented move. Actually using the online features a system provides? No, that is insane. Alas, it does use those features, and it uses them well. The game suffers from very little lag, as it plays fairly smooth over the internet, making it the antithesis of Brawl’s online mode. You can play friends, or random players, in a 9 hole battle to win five out of four holes. I played two games and can safely declare that this is more of a challenge then most of the single player, though still not quite as tough as target golf.
Overall, the gameplay is good, but it is far too easy to be a lasting experience outside of the multiplayer.
Graphics
I’d hope you weren’t expecting anything special out of the graphics department, because if you were you will be very disappointed. We Love Golf suffers from being extremely generic. Everything from the characters, to the courses you play on lack any form of personality. First off we have the characters, who look like a bunch of average joes out for a good day of golfing. While it is similar to Hot Shots Golf in this aspect, that game actually allowed you to customize characters, so you created your character’s personality. None of the characters really stand out, and this makes me pine for some famous characters, a la Mario Golf. Wait, what? They have that? Surely you jest?! I jest not, We Love Golf features the costumes of some of your favorite Capcom characters, in order to cover up those generic men and women the game featured. Among these characters are the previously mentioned Chun-Li, Ken, Ryu, Morrigan (of Darkstalkers “fame”), Jill Valentine, and even Apollo Justice. While these costumes are great, I can’t help but wish for better characters. Where is Mega Man? How about Phoenix Wright? Honestly, the fact that Pearl Fey made it in and not Mega Man is a tragedy.
Onto the courses, which are just as generic as the characters. It is just like with adventure games, where you have the ice level, the lava level, the forest level, the desert level, and on it goes. That is basically what this game offers, with its standard ultra green golf course, the beach level, the garden course, and even a pirate course. When I was finishing up the game’s last course, I couldn’t help but think how much better off this game would have been if it was just a straight-up Capcom golfer. How cool would golfing through Dr. Wily’s lab have been? Don’t even answer, just sit there awed by the concept of that. It would have given the game more personality, something which it desperately needed.
While everything does look extremely generic, the graphics are bright and colorful, akin to Mario Golf. All of the animations look fine, but still, everything about the graphics lacks personality. You won’t see a more forgettable cast of golfers and courses in many other games, at least, I hope not.
Sorry Apollo, but you are no Phoenix Wright. Not even on the golf course.
Sound
I’ll take you through the whole audio experience, from the moment you pop in the disc. The first thing you hear is the high pitched scream of “WE LOVE GOLF!” Instantly, my ears have a horrible reaction to this new sound. I think to myself, “Surely, the worst is over now.” Well, the worst was in fact, not over, and was only moments away. After I scrolled through the menus, which featured very calming upbeat music, I made my way to the tournament mode. Finally, it is time to play! But what is this…
Every mode you play in features an insufferable voiced Wii remote that tells you how to play the game. At first I thought this was just some tutorial feature, to get me adjusted, but no, it wasn’t. This remote kept talking even when I was 10 strokes ahead of the competition. The thing simply never shuts up. Couple that with the fact that the voice sounds like something you’d hear from a fisher’s price toy and you have something that is truly dreadful. Never before has a voice made me want to break my TV screen, but this little talking remote introduced me to new levels of rage.
The music in the game is always very upbeat, and it doesn’t sound that bad. However, We Love Golf features a number of really bad instances of voice acting, the likes of which have probably never been seen in a video game before.
Lasting Appeal
Even though the single player mode’s charm will wear out quick, the multiplayer could keep you playing this game for a while. Thanks to the Wi-fi mode, you can continue to play the game even if all of your friends hate golf games.
Fun Factor
Motion controls make a game that would be forgettable with button controls a fun experience. It is easy to play the courses over and over, as trying to top your previous best can become addicting. This is easily the most fun you will have golfing on the Wii, far ahead of Wii Golf and possibly better than the upcoming Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the Wii.
The 411
Camelot has been well known for putting out decent golf experiences, and this one is no exception. This is the first game on the Wii to utilize the motion controls without feeling completely awkward.
What the game lacks in personality it makes up for in the gameplay department, which…really isn’t that all that matters? I would much rather play a fun golf game with dull graphics than a boring golf game with high-definition graphics.
In the end, We Love Golf will be the experience that fans of Mario Golf have been waiting to see on the Wii. Fans of Tiger Woods simulation style of golfing, however, should keep waiting, as this game is anything but realistic.
Graphics
6.0
The animations are smooth, but the courses are generic and the characters are forgettable, at best.
Gameplay
8.0
Fun, easy to learn motion controls make this game shine in this department. However, it can be too easy in single player.
Sound
5.5
While the music is fine, the voice acting makes, especially from the Wii remote, makes this a game where you will want the volume way low, perhaps even muted.
Lasting Appeal
7.0
Single player gets old quick but the multiplayer will give this game life, especially with the Wi-Fi functionality.
Fun Factor
8.0
The game is very fun, especially in the multiplayer, where the game could actually be challenging.
