Let’s face it, the last few games in the EA/PGA Tour franchise were rather disparaging. The popularity and brilliance of Tiger Woods 2010, coincidentally a game in which HB Studios had more than a hand in, was never re-discovered by EA and subsequently they lost the PGA Tour License. “We’ll take that” said HB Studios, buoyed with excitement – who must’ve thought it was Christmas!
And so it came to be that the 3rd instalment of The Golf Club became “The Golf Club 2019 featuring the PGA Tour”, which is a mouthful, but that whole PGA thing sure adds extra gravitas.
It also adds extra cost too, apparently, as a low-key release into the Xbox store this week saw the game set at a £45 price-point. That’s a considerable increase over the release price of The Golf Club 2 – but fear not….in TGC 2019 you do get some extra bang for your buck (or in my case, punch for my pound).
Let’s come out swinging – literally, because the swing mechanic in the game should get top billing. It is sublime, so much improved on previous TGC games. It not only feels more natural, it’s a lot more consistent – particularly with chipping, which was problematic in the past.
Every shot (putting aside) gives you critical feedback on tempo, power and accuracy – even when you deviate slightly away from the “perfect swing arc” it’s detectable, both visually and tangibly, affecting precision. A wild swing inevitably suffers wild consequences, but because the feedback you get is discernible you can actually tell where you went wrong….which was not always the case in the previous two games.
Putting does have a swing arc too, of sorts, but on the green it’s more about the “feel” of a put, it’s where newcomers will probably have the most difficulty acclimatising to different green speeds, slopes and curves. As in The Golf Club 2 (TGC2), there’s plenty of opportunity to step away from the course and go do some training on different types of shots.
Next on the list of things that are a whole lot better are the Character Customisation tools – now if you want to spend an hour on which frown lines suit you best or applying details of how weathered your face really is (and I did), you’re more than welcome to play around with a lots of extra options.
But where to take your wrinkly & forlorn faced guy (or gal) next? Why not to the PGA Tour Career, where you start at Q-School and work your way through to the PGA Tour? Careers (or seasons) aren’t a new addition, but adding that shiny PGA Tour brand name, sponsorship based objectives, rivalries and sporadic insight from Luke Elvy will keep you a lot more interested this time around.
Sadly here, you don’t play against real PGA Tour players – possibly a result of restrictions on licensing and brands (you can edit them however, if you wish). There’s also not many official courses or events that you would expect to see in a typical PGA season, and the whole presentation of the PGA Tour Career isn’t as professional as EA’s past efforts.
Rather than flinging themselves into the PGA Tour aspect, HB Studios seem to be playing safe with this mode and easing themselves in….hence the "Featuring PGA Tour" part of the title. Kinda like "Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharell, I guess. Pharell is definitely there, he's just in the background looking cool.
Away from the PGA Tour, you can challenge others online in a smattering of game modes. Online Match Making does need a little tidying and expanding, expect a patch or two in this area as it’s not quite there yet.
Societies make a solid return with a couple of minor improvements – mainly admin based allowing a bit more control of your club, but there’s a few graphical tweaks that you may also notice.
Speaking of tweaks – there are some extras out on the course too. Not mind-blowing advancements by any means, but simple and welcome additions like a ball trail when rolling into a bunker or divot marks around the fairway. Though I’m reliably informed that the Xbox One X version does make the game look more visually stunning.
Course Designer is still a much-loved part of the game and without this functionality or the designers in the Community pouring their imagination into the feature, then course options in this game would be very limited. Here HB Studios have managed to introduce a few preferences to streamline the entire process, which is very helpful.
A couple of criticisms to end with then, although I don’t want to leave you with sour tastes….
Firstly on ball physics – spin, or lack of, seems to be the new “Modus Operandi”. If you’re coming in from TGC2, you’ll notice straight away how difficult it is to apply back-spin to your shots – even when using wedges. This results in a lot of approach shots running through the green. A lot depends on course conditions, naturally, but consistently you’ll find that balls will just keep on rolling and you’ll need to adjust your game accordingly.
Perhaps the spin in previous games was too OP, perhaps the shot trajectories in this game are defaulted to be a little too low. Whatever the reason, it’s going to take some time to figure out.
Secondly, lies in heavy roughs and bunkers don’t seem to be punishing enough. You can still recover a little too well from these errant positions – again, this is in contrast to TGC2, which made sure you knew when you were in the rough!
The Good:
- Swing Mechanic feels super smooth & offers precise feedback
- Massively improved Customer Characterisation options
- PGA Tour influence breathes fresh life into Career / Season mode
- Course Designer & Societies continue to be stand-out features
The Bad:
- Online Match-Play, Spin Physics & lies in rough terrain need some work
- Society glitches are rife, mainly concerning leaderboards, stats, tournament set-ups and game freezes. Patches are required to fix.