I do not own this on gog, but enjoyed it so much i thought id drop few words. In short casual 2d puzzle-golf game. The gameplay itself is rather simplistic - just the classic hit angle + power, but the maps were interesting enough and told a story on their own along with the radioshow that works as game music. Not very complicated story, but kept me interested till the end.
Its not very long game and i doubt many people want to replay it too much, but for the few hours of entertainment i got out of it, i was very happy with.
Rather mediocre golf, a very beautiful everything else. If you just want golf - then just skip this one, there are lot's of better golfing games. But if you want more... Then grab it! The visuals, the music, the radio show, they all create a very distinct atmosphere, which is rather melancholic but very captivating at the same time.
After first couple levels golf club swings become a meditative, background activity, which is just an excuse to enjoy the art and listen to the radio show.
That's something you definitely should try for yourself.
My Video Review can be found here:
https://youtu.be/Vy6KTkhk1ZU
Is Golf Club Wastelands the game experience that one shouldn’t miss or is it just a waste of time? Here are the game pros - three storylines with at least two worth to follow, inventive level design, variable environments, perfect dystopian atmosphere, beautiful graphics, great music, narration and fully dubbed people’s stories broadcasted by The Radio Nostalgia From Mars. And here are the game downsides - not very interesting story of the main hero that needs to be unlocked, unpredictable power of strokes that changes by some non-linear curve, absence of skills or other RPG elements that could be developed, no information about the pars and no score or online leaderboard where one could compare his result with others.
Pros:
- three storylines
- level design
- variety of environment
- dystopian atmosphere
- graphics
- music
- The Radio Nostalgia from Mars
Cons:
- storyline of the main hero is not so interesting
- unpredictable power of strokes
- no skills or other RPG elements
- absence of online leaderboard
- no explicit information about pars
- absence of local multiplayer
This game could be much better with the predictable controls, some RPG elements, some score system with online leaderboard and also the presence of some form of a local multiplayer as a separate game mode. I have still enjoyed this game but ironically more because of the game atmosphere and radio broadcast than the golf itself. I am therefore giving this game Thumbs Up and VideoGaming Father’s Index 6+ out of 10 - still recommended but with some bigger discount.
In short, as others eluded, it's a casual golf game with a snippy storyline delivered over brief talking tracks, songs, and visual settings -- think NPR-style radio snippets
From a gameplay standpoint, for me it was a pretty discouraging experience, resulting mostly from a power stroke control that seems to be aligned on the logarithmic (non-linear) scale. It made it fantastically frustrating to deliver consistent well-aimed strokes. Never had this kind of a problem with Worms or Scorched Earth (two games that share similar power/angle mechanics).
It'd be great if the dev could add an option to configure the power stroke to be more linear.
Then there's the soundtrack. I really wanted to love it. It's clear some effort went into it, but sadly for me it just didn't click. Then again, maybe the intent was to create a sense of boredom to go with the wasteland atmosphere? Not sure. Anyway, it's not that the soundtrack is "bad", it's just that after 5-6 minutes of listening to the same monotonous beat I get the urge for something more stimulating.
It'd be great if the dev could add the option to include my own songs that would interlace with the radio stream.
Finally, the story, and more widely, the experience stemming from the setting and the methods the game use to share its societal critique. I get that others found it engaging and captivating, but for me it just felt uninspiring and tiresome. Same as with to the soundtrack, not "bad" as such, just boring. In the end, after a few days that I found myself in need of a more invigorating simulation every time I close the game, I decided to just stop playing.
So yeah, overall, not a game I'd recommend. But on the other hand, from a technical standpoint the game rocks! The vector graphics scale beautifully to 4k, I encountered no bugs, and the whole experience flew super smooth on a pretty average specs PC.
Thanks GOG for its hugely generous refund policy!
At first I was really underwhelmed with the game, but then I understood the point: It's more an audio-visual adventure rather than a game.
The setting is extremely stylish, small animations are brilliant and the radio, oh the radio! Unfortunately, it's not a 5 / 5: The actual game is really thin and some holes feel more filler than anything else.
Still, the biggest downside is that it had potential to be so much more. On the other hand, it might not have fit the story that well.
Oh well, I'd say 3.5 stars out of 5...which rounds to 4.
Also, if you're a Tesla-fan then you might want to skip this as it comes with plenty of serious critique of the tech-lord mentality.
