John Daly's ProStroke Golf Review
By -- Craig Hart
John Daly is an odd choice to have a game based on him but nevertheless it has come to light with "John Daly's ProStroke Golf". John Daly is tasked with taking down the giant that is Tiger Woods and is setting up to do so with his first outing. The basic golf mechanics are here but the lack of modes may leave this one from making it to the podium.
The most intriguing feature of John Daly's ProStroke Golf is the "ProStroke Controls". This control scheme puts the player in a first-person view while hitting the shot. Just as in actual golf, players will be staring straight down the shaft of the club with their eye on the ball. From here you can position the club, shift your weight, and line up your shot exactly how you want it. This control scheme works very well and gives players a more accurate feel for the game of golf.
Falling right in line with the new "ProStroke Controls" is the full integration with the Playstation Move controller. Unlike Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11's patch, this game was made for use with the Playstation Move in mind. Thankfully, the team did a great job at making the movements replicate accurately in game which easily makes John Daly's ProStroke Golf the best golf game available for the Playstation 3 when playing with Playstation Move.
The career mode, if you can call it that, consists of challenges and tournaments. There is no player creation mode or player progression. The challenges consisted of head-to-head battles pinning you against John Daly. In order to unlock a single tournament, players have to beat John Daly in the challenges to unlock the course for tournament play. This is extremely frustrating them you simply want to play a game of golf but are forced to play these challenges instead.
The game features a dozen golf courses with many needing to be unlocked through the challenges. The golf courses are robust but lack the polish that many have to come to expect from playing other golf games. The visuals are bland, flat and leave much to the imagination. Just the like the courses, the player models are equally as bland and it may be a blessing that your staring down the shaft of the club rather than the player model throughout much of your play.
The advertisements in the game are the most obnoxious I have ever seen. What makes the ads even worse is that they have yet to change since the game launched. Everyone should get ready to see "Predators" on blu-ray ads at every turn. The ads are not subtle either. They are on billboards at the tee, during replays, and on every menu screen in the game. I can understand that ads help provide money to the publishers but they still need to be tastefully done as to not pull you form the gaming experience. This is a prime example of how not to do in-game advertisements.
Overall, John Daly's ProStroke Golf is a good golf game but lacks in almost all other departments. The visuals are ugly, limited modes, and the worst in-game ads imaginable. But, the golf gameplay is solid and the ProStoke control scheme works well and provides a very accurate representation of playing golf. While it will not win any awards this time around I think that the second trip out will have all that it needs in place to take a run at Tiger.
Pros:
- New ProStroke controls work well and provide a great first-person view to golf games
- Playstation Move implementation is the best so far for golfing on the Playstation 3
- Online functionality works well
- Solid golf gameplay
Cons:
- Visuals are ugly. Both player models and courses
- Lack in overall modes (Quick Play, Challenges, and Tournaments)
- In-game advertisements are obnoxious
RATING: 6/10