Links 2004 Review

Chip and change

So, as the developer of the world's longest running golf series, how do you respond to the peasants climbing over one another to get hold of EA's more comfortable alternative? That's easy, right? You just borrow the analogue swing idea - after all, EA's pinched enough from Links over the years - and give us a choice between click-click-swing and tug-thrust-wheee, then release it all on a console. You get both sets of fans interested and, because you're not colossally stupid, you also make it the only golf game to support multiplayer over broadband on a console. Hey presto, you've just beaten EA. If it sounds like a good idea that's because, well, it is. Or rather it would have been.

But in fact despite having finely tuned its three-click system for longer than most of us have had computers (or adult teeth), the development team behind Links 2004 has apparently now given up and cut it out completely, instead preferring to surrender to EA's mass market know-how and deliver an analogue swing system - and in fact overall control scheme - that borrows heavily without giving anything back. And despite borrowing heavily, it clearly hasn't been paying close enough attention, because I'd still rather be playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004.

To be fair to Links though, a lot of what I'd rather be doing is down to EA's all-consuming obsession with presentation. Links 2004 has a Career mode with a simple character customisation screen (with a few new ball colours, club shafts and other items to unlock, some of which improve statistics), a series of tournaments, mini-championships and challenges (mostly to do with landing a series of balls in specific spots or completing Par 3 courses in a certain number of swings), a separate Challenge mode (with even more of these sorts of tasks), online play, a basic exhibition-style single round option and nine courses in total. A decent complement, no question, and it'll take you some time to put paid to every last hole and take your rather arbitrary world ranking up to No.1 (side note: what happened to Gotham 2-style world rankings over Xbox Live?), but then you come to consider Tiger's offering...

Wooden

Master Woods' 2004 outing has all that plus an expansive shop full of desirable items (with 'desirable' the operative word here), about three times the number of individual stats to upgrade, god knows how many more courses (including Tiger's ridiculous Dream 18 and various other fictional locations), real golfers and 'character' golfers (Links has neither) and one of the most engaging, balanced and consistently rewarding gameplay mechanics in any sports game.

It also has trophy balls and real-time challenges that sync up in-game competitions to fit real-life (and a few fictional) events, and let's not forget that it's incredibly easy on the eye and one of the few sports games we've ever encountered which has passable, in fact, sod that, genuinely decent commentary. We never turned it off. Compare and contrast with Links 2004 and it's a bit depressing - Links has virtually no incentives or bonuses other than overall victory, all-round awful audio (including classic cut-and-paste commentary that grates your very eardrums after a while and simply must be turned off, coupled with infuriatingly non-stop clapping from spectators and one of the most badly-judged soundtracks ever) and less of a sense of fun. It's a serious person's golf game masquerading as a dumbed down console competitor for Tiger Woods. What a sorry state of affairs.

On a single-player level at least, then, Tiger Woods definitely has the edge. Stuck on my own with a thirst for golf, I would pick Tiger first. But as I've moaned time and time again since I got my glove round Tiger Woods 2004, EA's decision to favour PS2 Online over Xbox Live - and, in the case of the golfing series, America over Europe - means that I simply can't pick up a pad and headset and play a few rounds with my old flatmate, or anybody else for that matter. If Tiger had debuted with Xbox Live support (and a custom soundtrack option, actually), this would be a much shorter review, mainly focusing on interesting alternatives for your £40 (remote control Mario Kart toys, for example, or obscure real ales).

Live golf is the key

However, with the advent of Xbox Live, Links 2004 takes on greater significance. Although in terms of content it falls someway short of its main rival, the option to pick up a pad and lock shafts with a huge range of real people is a real selling point (and, as with most Xbox Live titles, there are a surprisingly large number of people playing it already). All the usual options are there - Optimatch, Quick Match, Download Content (none yet), etc - and the developer has even included a few multiplayer-specific game modes to complement the obvious stroke play, match play and skins options. These fast golf options don't leave you at the mercy of the other player's time-wasting, allowing you to tee off in tandem and compare scorecards instead.

Thoughtfully, the developer has also placed a sort of shot clock on the standard modes, so you'll never find yourself blanked by a losing opponent who wants you to quit the match so you look bad and the result won't stand. It's also extremely smooth (which seems to be a pre-requisite for Xbox Live titles) even with a handful of players on the same server. That said though, I did suffer a couple of hard locks when hooked into somebody else's game, so it was hardly a hole-in-one experience. More like a birdie. From the bunker.

Then again I did say it was mostly Tiger's depth of content and presentation that excited me. Sadly, the rest of the reason I prefer Tiger is that it feels smoother and more precise to play. Which is amazing given the fluffiness of some of the putting in Tiger, and the camera's apparent refusal to balance the game by giving everyone the same view of the ball in flight...