3D Urban Golf Review

Golf has the reputation of being a boring sport for stuffy old men with bad dress sense and too much time on their hands. Then again, there's no smoke without a fire. Doing away with the tartan socks and absurdly-colored vests, and replacing them with leather jackets and combat trousers, 3D Urban Golf is taking the sport back to where it belongs (well, not really): the streets.

Choosing between two young ruffians, players must take to one of 8 environments over 26 levels – from shipyards to ghetto streets – and attempt to achieve par or better. The first thing I noticed was that the aiming system felt underdeveloped. From the unhelpful bird's-eye-view, to the inability to control the ball while it's in flight, to the unexciting shot execution (a power gauge wouldn't go amiss), the whole thing just feels a bit unfinished.

The graphics are a little rough around the edges, especially in the menus and club selection screens, and the soundtrack doesn't fit the tone of the game (I was thinking more punk rock than soothing guitar). Saying that though, the levels themselves do look attractive, especially the idyllic desert island in particular with its detailed straw shacks and textured sand. It makes me wish this game was called Desert Island Golf. I want the credit for that by the way, if that's the name of the sequel.

If the controls and interface were to be tweaked, 3D Urban Golf would be a lot more playable and a lot more enjoyable as a whole. It's a cool concept for a game but unfortunately there are a few too many issues to make it a worth another round.