My review after 8.8 hours of playing - not recommended

[Millertime]

I wrote this up as the Post Review option is there, but after trying to submit I learned that it won't let you before the game is "released". I've played nearly 9 hours at this point and I cannot recommend the game. Below is my review waiting to be published.

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This one is pretty close to a great golf game, unfortunately there are some severe issues that stop me from recommending it. For the review I'll only cover my negative points; anything not mentioned should be considered a positive. There is a lot to like here, and if/when these issues are resolved, it could be one of the greatest golf games yet made.

- Random hits of major input lag. I'm using an Xbox controller with wireless adapter, which I've used for years in dozens of games. I've never had input lag issues so I am very confident this is not on my side. Four or fives times a round the push up to complete a swing does not register. The swing bar just keeps going until it reaches the end, there is moment of nothing, and then the shot is made with a very slow timing note and the ball pushes WAY out to the right. There is nothing more frustrating than having a good round going and then an input is missed and you hit OB.

- Swing timing in general. I really do not understand why golf games cannot get the swing input timing right. For this game you need to pull the stick back very fast, wait for the bar to reach the right power, and then push forward very fast. Even when going as fast as possible I rarely get a fast timing result and frequently get slow timing. There is a golfer specific setting for preferred swing speed that affects the tempo, and I have it set to the slowest available. When I have this set to anything faster it gets worse, to the point where even quickly jamming the stick as quick as possible still results in a slow tempo penalty.

- Graphic glitches. Sometimes bands of player's hair disappears, showing a strip of bald scalp. There are flashes of white on the eyes and mouths sometimes when showing a player reaction, like the textures don't overlap and you're seeing through the gap. The logo that goes across the screen when cutting between shots sometimes has bars strobing.

- No practice range. This really blows my mind... I cannot remember when I last played a golf game that doesn't have a practice range. The closest you can get is to turn on mulligans and start a round, but you have to go through the pre and post shot routine every time. Honestly this is just an embarrassing miss.

- Unable to save rounds in progress. Another facepalm miss - you cannot exit a round in progress and continue later. You have to complete the round or abandon it. These are basic functions that are missing.

- No tutorial or instruction. This doesn't affect me so much as I've played dozens of golf games, but for someone that isn't familiar this game is going to be a quick refund. There is no instruction at all. There are challenges that start with things like "Drive into the fairway" but these aren't really explaining anything.

- Odd camera angles. There are two issues here, one is that when you are near objects such as cliff edges, spectator stands, trees, etc, the view can get pushed to a really awkward angle. The problem is that the swing meter is displayed in an arc behind the player, so it's entirely possible for you to not be able to see the swing meter when the camera angle is adjusted. The second and more severe issue is that sometimes even without the camera angle being affected, the swing meter is displayed against a light background such as clouds in the sky. The swing meter is white and cannot be changed, so sometimes even on tee shots you cannot distinguish all of the swing meter and know where 100% is at.

Overall there is a great golf game here waiting to be revealed. I'm not sure if the release was rushed or this is just EA saying "This is what we have" and not caring about severe problems. I hope this can be corrected quickly, as the course selection and appearances are great.

[Ossie]

and i thought that skipping 2k23 and wait for this instead was the move lol. thanks.

[nike23]

Originally posted by Millertime:

- Random hits of major input lag. I'm using an Xbox controller with wireless adapter, which I've used for years in dozens of games. I've never had input lag issues so I am very confident this is not on my side. Four or fives times a round the push up to complete a swing does not register. The swing bar just keeps going until it reaches the end, there is moment of nothing, and then the shot is made with a very slow timing note and the ball pushes WAY out to the right. There is nothing more frustrating than having a good round going and then an input is missed and you hit OB.

Im not having any input lag?

Originally posted by Millertime:

- Swing timing in general. I really do not understand why golf games cannot get the swing input timing right. For this game you need to pull the stick back very fast, wait for the bar to reach the right power, and then push forward very fast. Even when going as fast as possible I rarely get a fast timing result and frequently get slow timing. There is a golfer specific setting for preferred swing speed that affects the tempo, and I have it set to the slowest available. When I have this set to anything faster it gets worse, to the point where even quickly jamming the stick as quick as possible still results in a slow tempo penalty.

Whats so hard about understanding swing timing in relation to a golf swing...first 2k no sorry tempo does not make ball go left and right....nor should you be slamming your sticks forward and back as fast as possible. Thats not how tempo works...try this, put the swing animation to fluid, then set the timing to normal, now make a normal swing meaning do not pull the stick back in a slamming fast motion, just simple pull the stick back, then when you have the power you want, push the stick forward, do not jam the stick forward as fast as you can....thats not tempo. with that swing setup i range from 1% slow to 2% fast with perfects inbetween. So many recent golf games got this so wrong (looking at you 2k) that we have the swing style you mentioned engraved in everyones head...its wrong.

Originally posted by Millertime:

- Graphic glitches. Sometimes bands of player's hair disappears, showing a strip of bald scalp. There are flashes of white on the eyes and mouths sometimes when showing a player reaction, like the textures don't overlap and you're seeing through the gap. The logo that goes across the screen when cutting between shots sometimes has bars strobing.

Not seen that myself, know what your saying from it happening in other games but not seen it here...facial expressions are a little wonky sometimes, but thats frostbite...madden suffers from the same reactions.

Originally posted by Millertime:

- No practice range. This really blows my mind... I cannot remember when I last played a golf game that doesn't have a practice range. The closest you can get is to turn on mulligans and start a round, but you have to go through the pre and post shot routine every time. Honestly this is just an embarrassing miss.

Fair point tho not a game breaker.

Originally posted by Millertime:

- Unable to save rounds in progress. Another facepalm miss - you cannot exit a round in progress and continue later. You have to complete the round or abandon it. These are basic functions that are missing.

Fair point but lemme ask how many people really sit down to start a round of golf then get up 10 mins later to go do something else? Most normally know they are gonna spend 30 mins to play a round when they start the game.

Originally posted by Millertime:

- No tutorial or instruction. This doesn't affect me so much as I've played dozens of golf games, but for someone that isn't familiar this game is going to be a quick refund. There is no instruction at all. There are challenges that start with things like "Drive into the fairway" but these aren't really explaining anything.

Would be nice for new players or some one coming from 2k where the swing is jacked up so they could understand how to hit a ball a better way.

Originally posted by Millertime:

- Odd camera angles. There are two issues here, one is that when you are near objects such as cliff edges, spectator stands, trees, etc, the view can get pushed to a really awkward angle. The problem is that the swing meter is displayed in an arc behind the player, so it's entirely possible for you to not be able to see the swing meter when the camera angle is adjusted. The second and more severe issue is that sometimes even without the camera angle being affected, the swing meter is displayed against a light background such as clouds in the sky. The swing meter is white and cannot be changed, so sometimes even on tee shots you cannot distinguish all of the swing meter and know where 100% is at.

I dont use the swing meter but hate that camera angle because you cant see your swing path correctly lol, For the second point, turn it off and get the feel for it...much more rewarding and takes care of the issue you mentioned. To add to your camera concerns there should be lower cameras for address, it allows to see greens much much better.

Originally posted by Millertime:

Overall there is a great golf game here waiting to be revealed. I'm not sure if the release was rushed or this is just EA saying "This is what we have" and not caring about severe problems. I hope this can be corrected quickly, as the course selection and appearances are great.

I think it already is very fun and a pretty good game...probably best golf game out right now for sure. The swing is really good its not totally tempo driven and has tempo implemented correctly and you can shot shape using the sticks. Playing on simulation with power meter turned off and swing on hardest, i normally range anywhere from +5 to my best of -5 which to me (ive played every golf game since golden bear) seems about a sweet spot for a semi realistic yet challenging game.

[Ancalagon]

There's zero input lag. You're confusing yourself with the swing mechanics. It was designed this way and it purely intentional. EA swing system is far more natural and fluid. It is allot different than 2k's. I like it allot more than 2k's.

[Millertime]

On the input not registering - I mostly see this when hitting draw shots and my swing path is not down/up. I'm not sure if this is meant as a mechanic or is truly dropped inputs, but it happens pretty frequently.

On the tempo, it's not that I immediately started jamming the stick as fast as possible. I tried a smooth slow tempo and I got -5 slow penalty every time. I kept speeding up a little at a time and the only way I could get it to sometimes hit perfect tempo was to swing as fast as possible. I'll try another type of controller, because it's odd that others aren't seeing anything close to this.

[Millertime]

Here is an example of patches of hair textures disappearing

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2958263164

[Volker]

Only negative points in the review... what a great karma-:). So much positiv in it - graphics are very good and without grainy effects and glitches. Update your drivers and calibrate your settings and the game runs fine.

[Craigos]

8.8 hours? You sir, are a trooper! *Salute

[pizza7]

Originally posted by Millertime:

Here is an example of patches of hair textures disappearing

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2958263164

yes a bug obviously, i do not know of any game that has no bugs on release. it will get patched. some people never ever learn some basic facts about gaming.

[Craigos]

Originally posted by pizza7:

Originally posted by Millertime:

Here is an example of patches of hair textures disappearing

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2958263164

yes a bug obviously, i do not know of any game that has no bugs on release. it will get patched. some people never ever learn some basic facts about gaming.

Pizza7, You are right about this - post 2005. Before that all games had to release without the safety net of internet connected patches. Im not mad, just dissapointed that overall, gaming in 2023 is just paying customers are paid "beta" testers now. How did we become the QA dept for a cost to us? madness!!!!!

[pizza7]

Originally posted by Craigos:

Originally posted by pizza7:

yes a bug obviously, i do not know of any game that has no bugs on release. it will get patched. some people never ever learn some basic facts about gaming.

Pizza7, You are right about this - post 2005. Before that all games had to release without the safety net of internet connected patches. Im not mad, just dissapointed that overall, gaming in 2023 is just paying customers are paid "beta" testers now. How did we become the QA dept for a cost to us? madness!!!!!

one way to avoid this would be, dont buy too soon !!! watch proper reviews first etc and wait out a few patches, but yes, we are guilty too haha
it is not bad tho on the xbox i did buy it after seeing a few youtubes playing on console, and yes its fun there, a fun arcade golf game.

[Smi77y]

The input lag is what killed me. If it wasn't delayed/laggy feeling I'd be fine with the game but it feels unplayable. Even the menus feel delayed/laggy and I despise that. But Madden has also had laggy menus so I'm not surprised.

[pastuh]

All instructions is in challenges section :)
Just need enable tooltips in settings

[Hey Tubes!]

Originally posted by pastuh:

All instructions is in challenges section :)
Just need enable tooltips in settings

Wait, enabling tooltips provides text instructions and/or actual useful information in challenges?

[Dead Goat]

I am now almost certain that the laggy, stuttery swing timing is due to them requiring network access to their servers.

[mva5580]

I'm about ~6 hours into the trial and I mean....it's fine. Visually it's a step up from 2k23 but the overall package, I don't really see anything here compelling me to spend ~$70 when 2k23 has been on sale for close to $20 multiple times now. And even at the same price, I don't think I'd really give it any kind of big edge over the existing competitor.

I also at least to a point appreciate that 2k23 cared about the PC version whereas EA...not so much. Anyway, it's an ok game and all but again I don't think it's really done anything to stand out from 2k beyond a marginal visual/presentation advantage.