‘Everybody’s Golf’ is good, clean fun for all

I’ve never been interested in golf, but “Everybody’s Golf” quickly evolved from an oddity in my video game library to an experience I can’t do without after a long, stressful day at work.

Simply put, “Everybody’s Golf” is a ton of fun, the kind that’s easy to pick up, yet layered with enough complexity that you can’t attach the “casual game” label to it. By that token, this PlayStation 4 exclusive earns its name, and will likely entertain you whether you’re a die-hard fan of the sport, or the type who can’t tell an eagle from a bogey.

Focus on fun

“Everybody’s Golf” doesn’t aim to be a hardcore golf simulation—that just wouldn’t appeal to everyone. Instead, it focuses on the most enjoyable aspects of the sport, and builds accessible mechanics around them. As such, anyone who knows their way around a PlayStation 4 controller can execute the simplest to the most advanced techniques with ease.

Swinging your club and striking the ball all boil down to the pressing three buttons in sequence as a meter quickly rises and falls. The first button press initiates the swing, the second dictates the power of the swing, and the third strikes the ball.

The third press partially determines the accuracy of your shot. Tap too early or too late, and your ball can veer way off course. Tap at the exact right moment, and it’s more likely to go where you want it to go.

I said “partially determines” because there are other factors that influence the outcome of every swing. For one thing, you’ll have to take into account the wind direction and speed. If a vast distance separates you from the hole, and there’s a strong wind blowing against you, you might benefit from hitting that ball extra hard so that it doesn’t fall short of its target. Other weather effects, such as rain, impact the accuracy of your shots, as well.

The terrain of the golf course should also be taken into consideration. If the ball lands on a slope, it can roll downwards and away from your desired mark–maybe even into a bush or worse, into water. Landing the ball in a sand-filled pit called a bunker will immediately put a halt to its forward momentum. It’s more difficult to hit a ball out of a bunker than off the turf, necessitating an extra powerful swing.

Every once in a while, a wall of trees will stand between you and the hole. Here, you’ll have several options, the safest being to work your way around the trees. This, however, could result in more swings and a less favorable score. You could, instead, create a shortcut by shooting the ball through a narrow gap between the trees. But by choosing this route, you risk smashing your ball into a tree trunk. Your precision will have to be perfect to pull off such an audacious stunt.

You could also just hit the ball so that it flies in a high arc over the trees.

This brings us to the techniques you can employ to exercise extra control over every shot. By tapping one of the directional buttons in time with the third button press, you can put a spin on the ball. This modifies the ball’s flight path so that it curves sideways (sidespin), travels closer to the ground and farther (topspin), or soars higher into the air (backspin). Each type of spin has specific strengths and weaknesses. For example, backspin helps when you want the ball to arc safely over trees, but as it spends more time in the air, it’s more likely to be affected by the wind. Topspin covers more distance than backspin, but it’s more likely to hit trees and other obstacles due to its low trajectory. You’ll unlock more powerful types of spins as you spend more time golfing.

Progress also gives you access to different types of balls and clubs. These too, have their specific uses. For instance, there’s a ball that ignores most of the negative effects of bunkers, and there’s another that resists wind force.

“Everybody’s Golf” has a progression system that raises your character’s stats and abilities with play. Character growth is specifically tied to your clubs, whose efficacy in turn is governed by four attributes: power, control, backspin, and back door. Depending on your play style, you can improve these attributes, so that your character can excel at powerful, long-range shots, peerless precision, or a combination of various strengths.

Thanks to its cartoony appearance, “Everybody’s Golf” might give you the impression of being a dumb, overly simple game. But this couldn’t be further from the truth; “Everybody’s Golf” has enough depth to warrant countless hours of play as you’re driven to master every skill and overcome every challenge.

Play your way

There’s a lot to do in “Everybody’s Golf.”

Tournament, the main single-player campaign, tasks you with winning competitions of varying formats. In an endearingly ridiculous twist on the actual sport, each competition involves numerous A.I.-controlled players golfing simultaneously. Imagine dozens of people running around a golf course, swinging clubs and striking balls with absolutely no qualms about injuring their fellow players, and you get the idea.

Winning competitions increases your rank; gain enough rank, and you’ll face a special opponent one-on-one. These are some of the most exciting matches you’ll experience, as your rivals boast play styles unlike ordinary players’.

Victory also earns you cosmetic goodies and coins, and the chance to add NPCs to the crowd waiting for you in the Home area. You can spend coins to “copy” any NPC, which adds their attire, voice, mannerisms, and even body type to your collectibles gallery.

With countless items to collect, you’ll always have the urge to keep playing. It helps that “Everybody’s Golf” has an exceptional customization system that allows you create up to 8 characters, all of whom you can edit any time in the Home area.

Also in the Home area, you can access mini-games such as fishing and cart racing. Though they lack the entertainment value of golfing, they’re great palette cleansers and diversions and from your main activities.

“Everybody’s Golf” also has excellent multiplayer modes.

Turf War pits two teams of ten against each other in a race to score as many holes as possible in a short period of time—a superb mode if you prefer your golf with extra helpings of adrenaline-pumping chaos.

Open Course lets you freely roam a large open area where you can approach any of the numerous teeing grounds to challenge other players. Competition isn’t in real time however; Open Course is all about attaining the highest score on the daily leaderboards.

The online modes offer more opportunities to win nifty prizes, hone your skills, and encounter new challenges; they’ll keep you interested in “Everybody’s Golf” long after you’ve completed the solo campaign.

Fun for all

At first glance, “Everybody’s Golf” might seem like it’s only geared towards the casual market. While it certainly has the accessibility of casual titles, it presents players with a surprising amount of depth, so much so that even fans of more “serious” games will find merit in its well-designed mechanics. Add to this a wealth of modes and mini-games, an addicting “collect them all” approach to in-game prizes, and a fantastic character creation tool, and “Everybody’s Golf” is an experience that anyone will enjoy.

Rating: 8.5/10

Platform: PlayStation 4

— BM, GMA News