It has been nearly four months since the initial release of the Golf Club by HB studios, available on the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. If you were part of the early beta program, or just followed the early feedback given by the community, than you have a full understanding of the changes and improvements that the developers have implemented over the last few months, and the list is quite extensive. Just some of the more recent improvements involve frame rate optimization, multiplayer issues, course designer improvements, physics update, and much more. But even with all the recent updates, we feel there are some areas that still need to be tweaked and improved in order for the title to stay relevant over the coming months, especially once EA Sports’ PGA Golf title drops in the Spring of 2015. 

Multiplayer

In this day and age of online gaming, any golf game’s long term success is going to be predicated on the multiplayer aspect of the title. While the game does offer a decent tour and tournament set-up, it severely struggles in regards to turn-based online play. Before the most recent game update, there was a lag differential, in which caused your opponents shot to actually play out on the users screen typically 8-10 seconds after they hit. The update has improved upon that, but it still needs to be minimized if the this mode is to be consistently utilized by the Golf Club community online. In fairness to the developers, turn-based MP was not part of the initial vision they had set out to accomplish, but have shown a willingness to improve through patches and updates.

Swing Difficulty

This is another area that HB Studios has shown the willingness to try and improve upon, but in my opinion, still needs some major attention. In using a standard Xbox One controller, Xbox 360 controller (PC), and the PS4 Dual shock controller, we have easily been able to hit off the tee-box consistently down the middle. Obviously we are not suggesting a massive swing of the pendulum to the other side of being too sensitive, but there has to be a somewhat happy medium. As of now one of the most inconsistent aspects of any average golfers game, which is what the Golf Club is suppose to replicate, is being able to keep your drives in the fairway on your with your driver. It’s the equivalent in video game baseball of facing a pitcher who only throws fastballs down the middle. Sure, you still have to put a good swing on the ball, but it is much easier to do when you know the pitch is going to be fast and straight every single time.

Wind Adjustment(s)

While I personally have no issue with speed changes through the course of a online tournament, many others do. The game is set up to have a 24 hour wind cycle, which is great in theory, but not necessarily practical in the world of video game golf. The problem arises when some tournament members play in 12-15mph winds in the morning, and others only have 0-4 mph winds in the evening. While it is true that this is a realistic approach to the game in general, it doesn’t lend well to the overall fairness of video game golf. An easy fix would simply be giving the creator of the tournament the ability to set the wind speed for the duration of the tournament, so all users play under the same condition. 

Stat Tracking 

As an avid golfer in real life and of the digital variety, I am and always have been consumed with my own stats, and the ones that I watch on a weekly basis on the PGA tour. While the Golf Club does offer a variety of stats, it’s at the most simplistic of levels. Whether it be in single player mode, or online tournament and tour mode, the developers hopefully will update the game with better stat tracking throughout the whole game. Not only are stats fun to look at and compare, they happen to be a great source of knowledge when it comes to where your individual game may be lacking, and needs improvement.

Career mode 

If I am being completely transparent about the Golf Club, I couldn’t care less about a career mode. That being said, there is a large contingency of fans that do, and want nothing more than for HB Studious to implement a fully fleshed out career mode, similar to the one you saw in EA’s Tiger Woods series. Obviously the game is not suppose to mimic a PGA season, but that is not necessarily what developers have to provide its fan base. They simply are asking for a single player mode that would allow them to play against other AI opponents on a weekly basis. It seems that if the developers can create a solid infrastructure for career mode, and let the users input their choices of user generated and official courses, it would give the game a single player component that is severely lacking in its current state. If career mode is truly going to be created (as has been suggested by the developers) I would highly suggest that the game stay away from attribute upgrades, and let the game continue in its current difficulty status. Implementing power–up and attribute upgrades can become a slippery slope, and one the developers never intended to have in this title.

Don't Ruin the Game's Charm

Although I mention quite a few items that I feel would take the Golf Club to the next level, I am no way trying to take away from what the developers have created with this wonderful title. There have been few developers in recent memory that been open to feedback from its fan base, and tried to shape a game to what the community wanted, as much as the good folks over at HB Studios have.

HB Studios has offered users a unique and authentic golfing option that darted onto the radar of video game golfers everywhere, and the community should celebrate the approach they have taken during the pre and post release of this title. HB Studios has also promised (and so far delivered) to constantly update the game (free in most cases) and keep the title current and fresh. In a time where it feels like gaming studios seem to think that they know more of what the community wants, instead of the community itself, HB Studios has embraced its fan base in way that I only wish other studios would.