Golf. It’s boring, it’s frustrating, it’s old people sports. There are no two ways about that. The median viewing age for golf on TV is in the mid-60s as late as 2016. Since Tiger Woods fell out of relevancy in the golf game, it’s been a hard sell for golf video games, despite EA releasing a really good PGA Tour title a few years back. While the previous Golf Club titles nailed a lot of what the old EA Sports titles did, TGC2019 needs a bit of work, in my opinion.
Game Name: The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA Tour
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed,) Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Publisher(s): 2K Games
Developer(s): HB Studios Multimedia, LTD.
Release Date: August 28, 2018
Price: $49.99
As a sports gamer, I typically say the same thing about sports games: they’re all the same. The Golf Club 2019 is no different. Hit the links, tee off and get the best under-par score that you can on each course to clear the PGA Tour events. That would be cool, if the gameplay was on point. TGC2019 just doesn’t nail it, and a lot of its problems is the lack of smoothness when it comes to swinging the clubs. It feels way too fast, twitch shooter fast, and that’s not good by any stretch of the imagination. I found myself hitting into the rough or bunkers way too often. When an older game, such as Neo Turf Masters or EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour can get the intricacies of golf correct, with all the little idiosyncrasies, such as wind direction and backspin affecting how far the ball goes, you know you have a bit of a problem on your hands. The game just isn’t any fun. Why can’t my shot be accurate, despite me doing everything right?
The career mode is even more garbage. It’s a solo affair through and through. You play through select tournaments and qualifiers in the PGA tour, teeing off last every time, no matter if you’re in first place or not. It would be great, if not for the lack of rivalries or challenges in this mode. Couple that with the poor physics that the game employs, it becomes an exercise in massive futility when it comes to advancing through the tournament. I’ve been tempted to toss my controller across the room on multiple occasions playing this title. That’s not good.
There are some positives to it, though. The creation suite is something that you could find in games like WWE 2K, just confined to golf gear for the clothing options. You can adjust everything about your course, as well as your body as a whole. Being able to customize personal features such as wrinkles and beauty marks are nice. The sheer detail that went into the creation suites are phenomenal and speaks to how much HB Studios put into the game…the wrong part of the game. This goes back to my previous point and even extends a bit into the next one, the graphics and atmosphere.
The atmosphere of the game is almost on point. The game looks beautiful. The courses are faithful reproductions of what you would see during a real-life tournament. The wind somewhat blows, the trees rustle when the ball flies through it, the water ripples nicely, but I’d be remiss to say that is what makes a good game. Despite all of that, everything else feels dead. The crowd is about as dead as a doornail. The commentary is terrible…more so than NBA Live 19 commentary, and that commentary SUCKS. Coupled with the fact that the game just doesn’t get gameplay correct, it just hurts to move from playing a complete game such as Rory McIlroy PGA Tour or the original Golf Club to this mediocre shit show of a game. It feels like a DLC disguised as a full game, and that just pisses me off more.
I’ve been unable to test multiplayer due to the lack of players on the Steam version of the game.
Review Disclosure Statement: The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA Tour was provided to us by 2K Games for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please go review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.
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Summary
If not for the sheer beauty that is the creation suite, I almost guarantee you that I couldn’t recommend you stay away from The Golf Club 2019 fast enough. The physics are way off, and for those who have played golf titles in the past, this is a travesty of epic proportions. I hope the next title sees some fixes, including the inclusion of real-life PGA golfers. The Golf Club 2019 is purely an exercise in mediocrity wrapped up in a nice bow. Yeah, this game is disappointing.
