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Omar L. Gallaga writes about technology culture for the Austin American-Statesman. He's worked for more than nine years at the Austin American-Statesman and edited Technopolis, the newspaper's personal tech section, and ¡ahora sí!, Austin's Spanish-language newspaper. He's been a writer and performer with Austin's award-winning Latino Comedy Project and is a contributing writer for Television Without Pity, MSNBC.com's books section and The Almost Late Show with Bobby Bones. He writes a comic strip, "Space Monkeys!" with his brother, Pablo, and lives in New Braunfels with his wife and three technologically savvy cats.

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The entry titled "Digital review: 'Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds'."

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Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2008 > April > 30 > Entry

Digital review: ‘Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds’

By Omar Gallaga | Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 11:15 AM

At first glance, the PlayStation 3 game “Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds” looks like an overly cartoonish representation of video game golf. You wouldn’t be surprised to see Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog appear in golf pants.

But the cutesy touches — anime-style Bobbleheaded characters and chirpy voice acting — are just window dressing for a challenging and satisfying golf simulation. Taking advantage of the PlayStation 3’s beefy hardware, the game offers gorgeously rendered courses, smooth game play and good online play options.

Even if you’re not a golf fan, there’s still plenty to like. The game’s graphics are impressive, and the controls have been improved over previous “Hot Shots” games to make them even more intuitive. Starting with the single-player Challenge Mode, the game progresses at an easy pace, opening up new options and opponents gradually. A few hours in, the tournaments increase in difficulty, and you’ll need to balance out your character’s strengths with new equipment and power-ups.

Those skills all come into play in multiplayer and online modes. Matches I played online were tough but friendly. Opponents offered encouragement via text messages, but they were also regularly scoring birdies and eagles. You start off in a game lobby, walking around different rooms and striking up conversations with other players with an even more cartoony avatar of yourself. From here, you can find games. One nice touch is that holes are played concurrently. You don’t have to wait around for each opponent to take their turn. Instead, you see ghostly, nearly transparent images of other players tackling the same hole as you play. That structure speeds things up considerably — you can get through a quick nine holes in about 15 minutes.

The most recent “Tiger Woods PGA Tour” games have disappointed some players and critics. For those with a PS3, “Hot Shots” is a surprisingly good alternative. It has enough depth to satisfy golf enthusiasts and casual players alike.

“Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds”
$60, PlayStation 3
Rated E for Everyone