True Swing Golf - First Play

I am a golfer. Not an avid one; however, it’s by no choice of my own. There are the issues of time, resources, and access that get in the way of this New York City resident. So I look forward to golfing digitally to enjoy and make my connection to the sport. Over the past few years, the game I have enjoyed and played the most was Links on the Xbox. It was not without its flaws, but visually and experientially it made for a great play. It’s live and XSN connection really added to its package. Next to Links was Mario Golf: Advanced Tour on the GBA, which weaved in fun RPG conventions with well produced old-school gameplay mechanics. Though my appreciation and interest waned over time, Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the DS presented a unique swing control mechanism utilizing the stylus and touch screen which to me had promise. It was a result of DS’s unique control opportunities that I have been keeping an eye on True Swing Golf from Nintendo.

My initial reactions after about five hours of play are pretty mild. The swing control and interface works well and has promise but isn’t engaging me as much as I would like at this point. The 3D engine and visual production get the job done but so far don’t inspire. The sound … well I turned the music off quite quickly and the sound effects only mode provides a more neutral backdrop. There’s a pattern emerging here. One that says that after five hours of play, True Swing Golf is offering an unaffecting play experience.

When starting up I selected my handedness (right in my case) and my character from 8 different variations, four male and four female. My name was automatically taken from the name associated with my DS and was not something I could find to change. Once set up, I immediately went into quickplay mode to dive onto the links and to see how the game plays. There was an option to show you how to play and I decided to try it out. It was a very brief tutorial and one that only covered the basics of the swing and the interface. True Swing Golf is definitely leaning towards the simulation side of gaming so I was not at all surprised to have a slightly more involved control experience than, say, Mario Golf. The interface looks a bit intimidating at first since there are a lot of buttons and tools to work with on the touch screen; however I found them all to be pretty easy to figure out. Using the stylus I simply explored the offerings and was able to make sense of them pretty quickly which is a definite plus. Moving your target, changing clubs, and swinging are all pretty intuitive. I was able to hit a decent drive and approach shot fairly well. Then I got onto the green.

I had some trouble putting early on. First off, all of the greens are flat, showing no physical, 3D undulations like the rest of the hole does which I found to be a real bummer. Instead, the slopes of the green are displayed by animated arrows that show the direction of the slope in each of the squares of a grid that overlays it. At first, I found using these arrows to read the green to be a significant challenge. I didn’t understand the different views and camera controls at my disposal that could help me look over the green and to try and make sense of the different arrows to plan my put. After my first quickplay and initial frustration, I read through the manual. This is something I strongly suggest everyone do before playing True Swing Golf as there are button and gamepad controls in addition to touch screen controls that should be understood to get more enjoyment out of the play. Though I still wish the greens could be three dimensional, my frustration was gone after a quick read of the manual and a little practice.

In addition to the quickplay mode, there is a championship mode which starts you out as part of the rookie tour where you have a chance to play in a tournament against a collection of cpu-controlled players to win some cash. As you might expect, the cash is used in the pro shop where you can buy some clothes for you character and pick up some new golfing gear. The gear represents your power ups as each item helps to boost your stats. You can pick up a driver for extra power or extra spin provided you’ve proven yourself enough to take home the top prize money. I have completed the Rookie tour (four nine hole rounds) and the championship mode is kind of interesting so far. It seems like you only can play a round once, and whether you score well or not you will advance. The difference lies in how much money you will earn to use in the pro shop to progress your characters skills. I’m curious if you’ll be able to go back to replay certain events or not at a certain point or if I am missing a detail that allows me to do that now. I’ll be looking out for that in my next play ratings.

Though I many not be thoroughly engaged in the game yet, I have improved over time. The touch screen swing mechanic is nice as it requires the ability to draw straight lines through a relatively small target quickly in order to generate appropriate club head speed to hit a good shot. What you do is touch the club and draw it back to the desired power line and then as fast as possible draw back up to the ball targeting the center of the ball to the best of your ability. To see it in action, check out the official web page at www.trueswinggolf.com and watch the demo. One very cool feature that I am looking to improve at is hitting draw and fade shots (curve shots to the left and right for those non-golfer readers). You simply draw your line to the left and right of the club head to start and then quickly draw your diagonal line through the ball to hit it cleanly. As a golfer, I appreciate that even as I improved it is hard to draw a line consistently fast and straight enough to hit a perfect shot. Consistency in golf is hard, so I appreciate a control mechanic that has a challenge to it that makes sense. That being said, as a gamer I appreciate that even though I may not make a perfect shot, the majority of the shots end up playable. In other words, there’s a challenge but I have found it to be fair. One disappointment I have is that the back swing (when you click the club and draw it back) doesn’t seem to influence your shot at all. Though I need to experiment a bit more, it seems like I can take as much time as I want to set the club at the desired power line and angle (for curve shots). Once at the right point then it seems the only thing that matters is speed and accuracy of the down swing or directing the club through the center of the ball on the touch screen. I wish that swing effectiveness could include a smooth back swing and transition to the down swing and follow through the way it does in a real golf swing.

Despite not yet being hooked by the game, my love of golf and curiosity will drive me forward through my next play rating. I am looking forward to seeing if the game grows on me. I also expect to talk about the different courses and gear you can buy and their effect on the play experience.