The Hot Shots Golf franchise has been around for a while, dating back to the PS1. We’ve seen iterations on the PS2 and PSP, but now Clap Hanz brings the casual golf experience to the PS3. With prettier graphics, online play, and a brand new swing system, Out of Bounds pushes the franchise to new heights. Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds for the PS3:
Presentation and Graphics: Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds sure is pretty. Characters are very highly detailed with fantastic animations. Each of the more than fifteen characters in the game has their own unique swing styles, approaches, celebrations, and sad moments. The courses are all laid out well with great detail and lighting. However, you will see a few jaggies here and there on the courses. Not the end of the world, but you’ll notice it. Menus in Out of Bounds are laid out very well as are the online lobbies, which I’ll talk about shortly. 8.5 of 10
Sound and Music: Not much has changed on the sound front in the Hot Shots Golf series for a while, but that isn’t a bad thing either. You get some cheesy elevator music in the menus and between holes, with some nice wind and nature sound effects while on the course. Striking the ball sounds good, albeit over the top. You’ll notice a different sound depending on how well you make contact, which is a nice touch. Each character and caddy has their own key phrases, which you’ll probably hear over and over if you use the same character and caddy throughout your play of the game. 8 of 10
Gameplay: Hot Shots Golf has always been about bringing the game to the casual market. It’s better suited by it’s title everywhere else in world, Everybody’s Golf. It’s really meant to bring everyone into the game. And in this respect, Out of Bounds shines. While utilizing a great engine to simulate a golf experience, the player is surrounded by beautiful worlds and characters you can love.
A lot of changes have been made in Out of Bounds from previous Hot Shots titles. The biggest of which is the new Advanced Shot mode. In previous games (and Traditional mode in Out of Bounds), you use a three click system for your shots. The first click starts the meter going, the second click sets the power, and the third click sets the accuracy. You spend a lot of time looking at the shot meter on the bottom of the screen and not what’s really going on. With the Advanced Shot mode, you still use a three click system, but power and accuracy are set by your swing. To set power, you hit the X button at the desired location in your swing. The club will light up yellow at 50% power and red at 100% power. A ghost image of your club is also shown at the 100% mark so you know where to gauge your swing. To set your accuracy, you need to time your X button press with the reducing circle that shrinks over the ball. The closer you get to the ball, the more accurate your shot. It may seem a bit daunting, but it’s actually very easy and fluid. After a couple swings with the new Advanced mechanics, I won’t be going back to Traditional. You really feel more involved in the game as your watch your character make the swing. Once you master the swing, you’ll be able to further enhance your shots but putting spin on the ball with the d-pad before your swing. Holding up will give top spin, holding down will give back spin, etc. It’s a more realistic way to add spin as opposed to Tiger Woods, if you can imagine that. In Tiger Woods, spin is applied after the shot, something that is impossible in real life.
The standard Hot Shots game modes are available in single player: Challenge, Stroke Play, Match Play, and Training. The heart and soul is Challenge mode, where you proceed through various levels of tournaments and matches against the CPU to unlock characters, courses, clubs, balls, outfits, caddies, etc. The amount of items you can unlock in the game is astounding. You can also semi level up your characters. Each time you play with a certain character, your loyalty for that character increases. Higher loyalty levels give you more power boosts, extra shot shaping tactics, etc. This has been a staple of Hot Shots games and Out of Bounds is no different. 9.5 of 10
Multiplayer: For the first time in the franchise, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds features online play. Your standard offline stoke and match play options still exist, but the heart and sole of multiplayer in Out of Bounds is online. Supporting up to 8 player rounds and 50 player tournaments, there’s plenty of options for you to choose from. You’ll initially create an avatar for yourself that you use to walk around one of the many online lobbies, each of which has it’s own theme. Your avatar can be customized with their head, hair, clothing, and accessories, with more of each category being unlockable through playing single player. Once in the lobby, you can walk around and use text chat to talk with other players as well as join or create game rooms. Tournaments are available, usually starting every 15 minutes. You can join well ahead of time if you know you want to play at a later date, which is a nice touch. The lack of voice chat, however, is disappointing. I’m not sure if it was left out to keep with golf etiquette as to prevent people from yelling “Noonan”; but I think it would have been a nice addition, especially for the lobbies and between holes. In 8 player matches online, you play your own round as ghosts of other players and their progress is displayed on the hole. This greatly speeds up play and helps what otherwise could become a slow online experience. In the multitude of online games played, I experienced no lag whatsoever. 9 of 10
Lasting Appeal: With the long single player Challenge Mode, online tournaments, 8 player online action, and the plethora of unlockables in the game, there’s enough here to keep you coming back for more for a very long time. However, with only six courses out of the box, you may end up wanting some new downloadable locations pretty soon. 8.5 of 10
Final Word: Clap Hanz did a fantastic job bringing the beloved Hot Shots Golf series to the PS3. With great graphics, very solid and fun gameplay, and a lot of multiplayer abound, you’ll definitely want to pick this game up.
Overall: 8.75 of 10
