by:	May 25, 2004

Let’s get one thing out of the way right now. I love this game. Because it’s a golf game, the graphics and sound aren’t really on a par (ha ha) with the top games on the Xbox, but don’t let that stop you from playing it – how the game plays is what makes it fun, not how pretty it is. In spirit, Outlaw Golf is the golfing equivalent of a game like NBA Street, but the physics are more like a simulation. Outlaw Golf features a cast of wacky players, including a latin lover, a stripper, an Eminem wannabe, a biker chick, and more. Each golfer comes equipped with a matching caddie, who serves only one purpose – to take beatings. This feature plays into the game’s real “gimmick” – the Composure meter. Unlike many gimmicks, this one actually makes thegame better, and is a welcome addition to console golfing.

Graphics:
Outlaw Golf’s graphics are an unsurprising mix – the same mix one encounters in many sports games. The golfers are nice, but not photorealistic – they are nicely animated, and have clear shadows if they’re standing in the sun. The spectators are… functional. They are 3D, and solid – you can hit them with a well-placed shot – but they are not really detailed. The fairways, greens, and flight of the golf ball are all excellent. When you hit a shot at or near 100% strength, the ball leaves a trail in the air, the color of which depends on the type of club you used. If you’re using a wedge, you can even see the spiral in the ball’s path, and there are nice particle effects on all trails. If the camera passes the sun while tracking the ball, there is a nice lens flare effect.

There are a couple of related features in the game that really help out. First, whenever you’re aiming your shot, the ball’s trajectory through the air is shown. You still have to use your judgement to adjust the shot for wind and where it’ll roll once it hits the ground, but having the trajectory gives you a good starting point. Second, when you’re on the green, you can press the white button to get a grid that shows you the slope of the green. After aiming your putt, you can press X to see the path the ball would travel if you hit it where you’re aiming. This can be done up to three times per putt. Once you’ve played through the courses a few times, those three times should be plenty for you to find the right way to hit the ball so that it’ll go in, even on a long putt.

Sound:
The sound in Outlaw Golf is good. Swinging your club and hitting the ball make the expected sounds, with different clubs making different (appropriate) sounds on contact. All of the different characters have signature music, which you will mainly notice in the menu, and which is fitting to the characters. The parts of the sound that stand out to me are the shot-by-shot commentary and the descriptions of the holes. At each hole, one of the characters describes the hole in a funny way. For example, at one par 5, Scrummy O’Doul (who looks just like you'd expect, with that name) quips “This hole is so bloody long, I bet I could sing a song before we get to the end” and proceeds to do so, singing a rousing tune about his drinking prowess. Also, at the end of each hole, you can watch a quick “player reaction” that varies depending on your score. Steve Carell of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show provides the shot by shot commentary, and while the comments are generally very funny, some of them are repeated too often.

Gameplay:
This is where Outlaw Golf really shines. There are two main gameplay modes, Tour and Exhibition. Tour mode is strictly single-player, and in it you take the golfer of your choice through 30 tour events, which include stroke play, in which the lowest score wins; match play, in which the lowest score on each hole wins the hole, win the most holes to win the game; and skins play, in which the holes are worth different amounts based on par for the hole, and the lowest score on each hole wins the money for the hole, most money at the end wins. Winning tour events unlocks new golvers, new tour events, new clubs, and new golf balls. Tour mode also includes the Outlaw Range, where you can improve your chosen golfer’s stats. Each golfer plays through the tour and range events separately, so you can win each tour event 10 times if you so desire.

Exhibition mode can be played as a single player or with up to three friends, and the developers have thoughtfully included the option to use one controller for multiple players. If you’re using multiple controllers, however, you can press A while an opponent is shooting to “taunt” them, making their controller shake. In exhibition mode, you can play the same courses as you do in tour mode, but you have more play options. You can play a multiplayer round using the rules of match play, skins play, best ball, in which teams of two play through the holes and keep the best score from each hole, scramble, in which teams of two play, and each team uses its best shot after every stroke, and casino, where you play for a buck a shot, and the best score on each hole wins the pot. Also available in exhibition mode for either single or multiplayer are stroke play and a couple of new modes: my one and only, where you play with only one club of your choice and a putter, and time attack, in which score doesn’t matter – only how quickly you to finish the hole.