I purchased this game for two main reasons: I love bowling in real life and it was only $14 at EB. The box claims the following: "Just like Friday Night at the lanes! AMF Bowling 2004 incorporates an advanced graphics engine, an endless array of gameplay options, and fully accurate ball, pin, and lane physics." That sounds like an okay game right? Well in theory if the game delivered on any of these claims, I could see it being worth the money. However, it becomes apparent even from the title screen that the number of options and gameplay variety are anything but "endless" or "advanced". You can choose one of three modes; Open Bowling, Tournament or Practice. Open bowling lets you bowl alone, against the computer or with up to three friends. Tournament lets you bowl three qualifying games and then bowl against computer opponents in a tiered tournament setting. Practice is pretty good for practicing shots since the game allows you to pick which pins will be up or down and then you can repeat throws until you get a spare or strike so you'll know what line to use in one of the other modes. The different alleys you bowl at are devoid of any people or anything interesting really so it never seems "Just like Friday night at the lanes." Pin and ball physics are open to debate but as someone who had bowled a lot at a reasonably high level, I see a lot of shots that leave a spare combination that they shouldn't. An example is that a shot that hits very lightly in the 1-3 pocket leaves the 2-8-10 spare shot EVERY TIME. Not only is that pretty much impossible to pick up, but it doesn't happen very often in real life. Lane oil patterns vary slightly and will alter shots to the point of having to change your line a little bit, but once you know what line to use, its just a matter of repeating the exact same power, accuracy and spin each time with taps of the A button. After that the game is basically luck based, hoping that you don't miss any of those taps by a tenth of a second otherwise you'll be left with a second shot. Customization is relevant to a small degree as you can choose from male/female models with a few different face/hair/clothing combinations. Ball customization is a little disappointing and some attributes given to your ball are confusing even to me, and I work at a bowling pro shop! Overall the reason I say there is no point in playing the game is that there are no rewards for doing anything. Ever. Even if you win a tournament nothing really happens, you just go back to the title screen. If there was a career mode or anything resembling one that would greatly help a game such as this. But as it stands, I highly recommend going to an actual bowling center and bowling a few games instead of buying this game. You'll definitely have more fun.
Superb, not quite perfect but 100% solid bowling game that in replay terms is cheaper then bowling at megabowl is the GFA-Pro shot, but I'll give you the details of the speed that the pins got knocked over who stroke, wh... Read Full Review
AMF Bowling 2004 is the worst game in my opinon ever to be played! It lacks any kind of point and any kind of meaning. I bought this horrible ass game for $20 and I wish I would have never bought this piece of **** game ... Read Full Review
