Battle Golf Online review
:: GOOFY GOLFPrice: Free
Version: 1.1
App Reviewed on: iPad Air 2
Graphics/Sound Rating:
User Interface Rating:
Gameplay Rating:
Replay Value Rating:
Overall Rating:
Colin Lane has made a name for himself as the guy who makes off-beat sports games. In this year alone, he's been responsible for Golf Zero, Touchdowners, and now Battle Golf Online. Where Golf Zero was this fantastic and intense single-player golf platformer and Touchdowners was a quirky-but-middling multiplayer football game, Battle Golf Online feels kind of like a hybrid of the two. It's a golf game with online multiplayer that's ultra light, hectic, and super fun.
Round 1, GOLF
When I say that Battle Golf Online is a multiplayer golf game, you might imagine players taking turns teeing off and trying to make par across a series of holes. This is exactly what you might expect from a normal golf game, but Battle Golf Online is anything but normal.
Instead, two players face each other on opposite sides of the screen like a fighting game. After a brief countdown, a hole emerges from a moat between the two players, and both must then try to hit a ball into said hole before their opponent does. When a player makes the hole, they score a point, the hole sinks into the water and a new hole appears for players to fight over. This repeats until one of the two players has made five holes.
It's all in the details
Competing to score five holes first may make Battle Golf Online sound like its matches are long and involved, but every match moves at a blazing pace and is over in a minute or so. Playing also couldn't be simpler, as the game uses one-touch control method where players tap once to determine their ball's trajectory and again to determine its power and shoot.
With such a simple control scheme, it might seem like the fastest shooter could easily win every game, but again, you'd be mistaken. Battle Golf Online has a surprising amount of depth to it, due in most part to its intricate hole setups, but also due to a handful of small details about the game that give it more layers than meets the eye. Some greens may appear as a simple flat field, while others may be housed in lighthouses, ride on the back of sea monsters, or simply have a tricky angle to them. Beyond this, players can also directly affect each other with well-placed shots. You can daze your opponent by hitting them in the head with your ball, you can deflect their balls with your own, and you can even push balls that have already settled on the green, though all of these things are much easier said than done.
Tough shots
Battle Golf Online delivers some goofy golf fun that's so easy to jump right into that you may catch yourself pushing to play “just one more” match multiple times. This isn't always the case though, as there are some unfortunate speed bumps that can take you out of the experience from time to time.
The first of these bumps comes in the form of ads, which pop up occasionally between rounds if you refuse to spend any money on Battle Golf Online. Even if you pay to get rid of ads though, some games may take a while to start, with no apparent options for players to duck out due to a bad connections or whatever else may be causing problems. Thankfully, if you're playing without an internet connection, there is also a Time Attack mode, but it's not quite as fun as the multiplayer component and can quickly feel tiresome.
The bottom line
Battle Golf Online isn't a terribly deep experience, but its arcade action is lightning quick and has just enough layers to it to feel satisfying every time you play. Do yourself a favor and pick this up for some delightfully quirky and frenetic fun.