Prostroke Golf - World Tour 2007

Rating ESRB: Everyone Genre sports Publisher Oxygen Interactive External Links Official Prostroke Golf - World Tour 2007

Golf. There's just something about the sport that, to me, has always delivered a sense of serenity when playing. I of course refer to the actual sport, and not the digital sport which is typically a loud screaming fit about how the ball would never have sliced into the tree if you were physically hitting the ball yourself. Still, Prostroke Golf - World Tour 2007 has proven to be an enjoyable, if not inventive look into portable digital golfing.

Graphically, Prostroke offers nothing breathtaking. The sprites are basic and often pixilated on the screen. The character generation is generic, offering limited options which always result in a non-emotional golfer. Environmental effects are non-existent, at least graphically speaking. Thankfully, the intuitive game play is not hampered in the least by the lack of flashy graphics and animations.

Prostroke uses a numerical power bar that is controlled by using the left and right shoulder buttons for your golf swing. Using the right button starts your backswing. Once you have the desired power, hitting your left button sends the bar back to the 0% mark, which is surrounded by a green field. The idea is to hit the mark within the green field for accuracy in your shot. Need more power? Keep the right button hold down during the entire swing and the green field will shrink, making your accuracy harder to control but greatly increasing your power. It doesn't take long for you to get the feel for the swings, and you'll be quickly hitting 350 yard drives down the green.

Surprisingly, the control system for Prostroke provides one of the more realistic feeling golf swings I have experienced. While the animation sequence is poor, and it sounds more like you drove a ping pong ball down the field by mistake, the end result is an acceptable 180-320 yard swing. Most matches have a par of 5 which is readily believable and, after several attempts, achievable. And with 16 course to choose from, you'll get plenty of practice.

Within the main game play, Prostroke provides several modes from a quick 3 hole match to full time careers. Career mode revolves around a calendar system, where you play predetermined matches throughout the year to improve your overall stats in the game. Prostroke also supports four player mode via the PSP ad-hoc system. While a nice feature for a portable sports game, the inherit lag in standard mode is only accentuated when attempting to play with more than one system.

Hidden throughout the game are Special Events Matches and Renown qualifications, which typically require you to hit the ball a specific distance or number of strokes. Renown points are also accumulated through winning tournaments, and are used to improve your overall abilities as well as unlocking new events within the game.

Prostroke also contains a custom course creation utility that is quite simple to use, but falls short of being note worthy. While many options such as slope angles, obstacle designs, and terrain control are available, the limited capabilities of the graphics never provide that dream course you were hoping for.

In an attempt to offset a rather uninspired musical score, Prostroke sports a commentary from Sam Torrance, Ian Baker-Finch, and Alan Green. Don't know the names? Don't feel bad, neither did I. While their comments do give the game a sense of authenticity, the programming that decides when to play the commentary needs a bit more work. While I love hearing that Tiger Woods couldn't have made the shot any better, it is inappropriate when you have just hooked the ball 100 yards out of bounds.

Bottom line, Prostroke is an enjoyable entry into the portable gaming industry, but falls short of competing with the previously established Tiger Woods line of games. It's intuitive control system makes for an easy to use interface, but the lack luster graphics and inappropriate commentary keep the game from really shining. Better luck in 2008 Gusto.