Ever since the Wii was released there has only been one golf game to beat and that is the one included in Wii Sports. So given this fact you would think that a developer such as Camelot, who made the original Everybody’s Golf way back when, would be able to knock the Wii Sports version of golf from it’s lofty perch, well this may not be the case.
We Love Golf follows the lead of Wii sports by making you use the Wii Remote in the style of a golf club, holding the B button will allow you to have a few practice swings without actually hitting the ball, while holding down A and swinging the remote will allow you to take your shot. The power and distance the ball goes is dependant on your timing, in quite a clever way the game actually tracks the motion of the remote as you swing it backwards, so once you start your swing the onscreen power gauge will begin to fill, this is then followed by a club head cursor, when this overlaps your Wii Remote cursor it will start to go down the gauge again, you must then match this by swinging your club in downward motion as if hitting the ball. Timing is everything here as you must try to match the downward motion of the club head cursor rather than just swinging down wildly.
The power of your shot will depend on how close you get to the target marker as you start your swing, obviously it is best to try not to go past this as otherwise you will miss your target, if anything it is best to try to aim just before the marker.
Although the above was quite complicated to explain, when put into action it is actually very simple to master. If you are feeling brave and once you have got into the swing of things (oh so funny) you can use draw or fade shots to help you avoid obstacles or to add curve, this is done with a simple twist of the Wii Remote, you can also add top spin or backspin using buttons 1 or 2, while most people will probably not make much use of these additions, the more budding golfers among you out there will welcome them. In Addition to the controls mentioned you also use the d-pad to line up your shot and the + – buttons change clubs.
Now that the controls are explained we can move onto the action. We Love Golf includes single and multiplayer modes. The single player matches take place over courses such as the Highland Leaf Country Club and the Skull Island short course, the names explain themselves really, the Highland course is fully of lush greens and rivers, while Skull Island is lurking with Pirate ships and the like. The course aren’t really too difficult to master if you are used to playing games such as Everybody’s Golf, as you progress you will unlock new characters and courses, but no matter how far you get, even in the higher difficultly levels you will probably still find yourself flying through each course without too much agro.
As well as the tournament mode, single player also includes some fun side games, such as Target Golf, were the aim is to land the ball on a target to score predetermined points, if you manage to get the total you win. Another fun game is the Near Pin Contest were the aim is get closer to the pin than your opponent in one shot. The side games included are all great to play and do add a bit more value to the overall package.
Multiplayer comes in two forms, either you can play at home with up to four friends or you can venture online thanks to the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. Online play is good fun although it does suffer from a lack of modes to play. Courses are selected at random when online and take place over nine holes. Happily when trying the game out online the experience was pretty much lag free, which is always a good sign.
As far as the presentation goes, We Love Golf takes a cartoon style approach, the graphics actually look fairly decent and as previously mention the courses are fairly detailed.
We Love Golf is a pretty decent game, it does seem to be quite easy though and doesn’t tend to ramp the difficulty up too much during play, however it is fun to play and fairly easy to get the hang of. So if you are after an innovative golf game for your Wii then you won’t be disappointed with this one.
