Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

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  • imported_Administrator
    All Star
    • Jul 2002
    • 7137

    #1

    Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

    I rarely make threads ripping on other sites reviews, because they are one persons opinion but the Links review at IGN just baffles my mind and their scoring system leaves me scratching my head.

    They give the game a 7.5 which is not a bad score but when you compare it to the other two golf games Tiger Woods (Xbox) and for grins Mario Golf (GCN) it leaves me scratching my head. It scored lower the Mario Golf TT which got an 8.0? I played Mario Golf TT and it is no Links. Not only that Mario which has less courses and no online play got the exact same score as Links for lasting appeal? TW 2004 got a point higher which I can't completely argue with because of the amount of options, modes and courses. Of course there are a few of us who will never see that lasting appeal as we tire of hitting every shot on the fairway and hit 18 GIR even with a low rated player. Of course Links will have downloadable courses and unlike the TW version of Xbox has online play.

    Now each review was done by different reviewers but for cripes sake if you are going to have a rating system show some consistency.

    For example you have graphics

    Links

    7.0 Graphics
    A consistent 30 fps framerate, crisp textures, but the overall look, animations, lighting, art, could have been better.





    TW 2004

    8.0 Graphics
    Tiger still looks great and runs at 60 frames per second without much slowdown. True life courses are strikingly similar in the game. No major improvements, however. Still no 16:9 support.




    Mario Golf TT

    8.0 Graphics
    Pretty. Varied locales, detailed character models, fluid animation, and extras like reflective water and individually bladed grass. Sometimes jerky camera and framerate.





    -------------


    So many things he misses in the review it is not even funny. I guess Links excellent ball physics do not factor into the equation as he completely leaves that part out. Hopefully Fran will go back to reviewing Gamecube games.

    Memo to Microsoft if you want IGN to give you a higher score next year either add more BLING-BLING or change the game to having popular Xbox characters.

    How about...

    Links 2005: The Covenant Club... using all the characters from Halo...



    My favorite quotes from the review...

    </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
    You choose your base player (if you choose one of the few pros, you have limited options), change shirt colors, shoes and skin tone, but it doesn't do much to make the "custom golfer" feel like you. You can change things like ball logos to give them more style, but it's inadequate for all the custom player modes were seeing in today's videogames. The lack of something like a Pro Shop to spend your cash in is also underwhelming.



    <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

    It is a friggin golf game not Barbies Doll House. Once again I would like to thank EA for spoiling the easily amused with excess bling-bling. For a first year titles I have no major complaints other then leaving out the ability to model your player like Top Spin offered (simply an example of a first year title with that option).


    </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
    So, while three settings of difficulty are appreciated, there just isn't enough flexibility to make advanced feel truly different than beginner.

    <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

    Holy cow he must be a god with the analog stick. The difference is night and day from beginner to advanced. Does not even mention the fact that when you bump up the levels things change, for example the terrain/lie has more affect on the ball the harder the level, smaller assistance on the greens, etc. This guy must have barely touched the advanced mode or if he did he took forever to bump up his attributes to get it to the point. Would love to play this guy with freshly setup characters and no mulligans with wind on advanced. Let's see him hit every fairway then.


    </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
    Putting tends to be stiff. The developers seem to have crafted the power meter and tied the physics right into it. Whether you're on Beginner or Advanced, putting is always rigid.

    <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

    Stiff and Rigid? Or you just suck at putting in a game where a tiny bit of skill is involved as the full swing affects the putt, including the pace of which you move it, unlike the console version of TW.

    </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
    It delivers an average amount of courses for play. There are nine professional courses, a modest number, but many of them won't be interesting to the audience Links 2004 tries to cater to.

    <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

    Average compare to what? That is more courses then any Hot shots game ever delivered. Also 8 of those are REAL Courses with only one fantasy course. Plus we have the downloadable ones coming down the road.

    If I recall correctly the first TW on the PS2 had a whopping 3 courses and the sequel had 6 or so (too lazy top look the second one up so correct me if I am wrong).


    </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />


    I was counting on getting my simulation golf fix from Links, but what we have instead is just a solid, but average first entry into the more forgiving world of arcadey golf gaming.

    --

    But its style, complete with Matrix-style bullet-time effects on good shots, puts it in a different realm than Links originally set out to explore. Which is going to be sad for any Links fan to see.

    <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">


    Make up your mind Fran do you want the Bling-Bling or have them stick strictly to the old postcard look of the Links games. This was a console golf game review right? Are you penalizing the game for catering to what they feel a console gamer wants? I guess we are playing different games because other then the Matrix style effects it's physics feel pretty "sim" to me, especially for their first attempt in a fully 3D enviorment and their first console game.

    </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
    Texturing quality is a step above the competition (Tiger Woods) and so is player modelling, but the overall visual package is made somewhat run-of-the-mill due to the art execution.

    <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

    A step above? If so then it was a step taken by a Sasquatch. I guess the last part of the sentence was your way of conveying how TW was deserving of a higher score in this department? Appreciate you not spending too much time boring us with a valid explanation.



    Bah enough ranting from me... I am working on a comparison review of both games (Xbox versions of both) and hopefully will have it by next week. Don't take all the TW bashing the wrong way, it does serve a purpose for the console gaming community. Just had to use some of it's flaws when showing how distorted the Links review was.

    TW 2004 on the PC is still the best of the batch, as the mouse swing gives far greater ability to simulate a golf swing and is especially well done on the touch shots like putting and chipping. Links though has found a way to make the analog swing work far better then what we have seen from EA's camp in the console market.
  • RustedWalleye
    Pro
    • Jul 2002
    • 824

    #2
    Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links



    Couldnt agree more Brent. After reading the review I agree with your points. The other thing also Links excells at is the much better implemented online play.

    Advanced mode takes true skill to master, which Tiger Woods only represented on the PC. I was very happy with Tiger Woods this year, but once I played Links on Advanced mode Tiger Woods was removed from my collection. Links did more to bringing me into the true golf experience more so then Tiger Woods did, and Tiger Woods did a good job this year, unfortunately was too easy, even on the harder modes.

    Comment

    • RustedWalleye
      Pro
      • Jul 2002
      • 824

      #3
      Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links



      Couldnt agree more Brent. After reading the review I agree with your points. The other thing also Links excells at is the much better implemented online play.

      Advanced mode takes true skill to master, which Tiger Woods only represented on the PC. I was very happy with Tiger Woods this year, but once I played Links on Advanced mode Tiger Woods was removed from my collection. Links did more to bringing me into the true golf experience more so then Tiger Woods did, and Tiger Woods did a good job this year, unfortunately was too easy, even on the harder modes.

      Comment

      • RustedWalleye
        Pro
        • Jul 2002
        • 824

        #4
        Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links



        Couldnt agree more Brent. After reading the review I agree with your points. The other thing also Links excells at is the much better implemented online play.

        Advanced mode takes true skill to master, which Tiger Woods only represented on the PC. I was very happy with Tiger Woods this year, but once I played Links on Advanced mode Tiger Woods was removed from my collection. Links did more to bringing me into the true golf experience more so then Tiger Woods did, and Tiger Woods did a good job this year, unfortunately was too easy, even on the harder modes.

        Comment

        • BuccaneerFan
          Rookie
          • Oct 2002
          • 73

          #5
          Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

          Great post. I totally agree. Reviewers can be morons. But the Gamespy review of Links takes the cake. The assclown from Gamespy that reviewed Links gave it a low score and criticized it because you CAN'T put spin on the ball after it is in flight like you can in Tiger Woods. LMAO, I guess Madden would get a better score too if we could move the football after the QB throws it, like in the old Atari 2600 game.

          </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
          "Both games use an analog-stick swing. But while Tiger 2004 has an arcade-style button-tapping method of adding power to your swing and spin to your shots, Links 2004 has a traditional meter with an "overpower" zone, and you apply spin before the shot with the right analog stick. Tiger 2004's ingenious scheme keeps you involved in the shot after the swing, while Links 2004 turns you into a spectator; it's a small and a huge difference at the same time."

          <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

          Comment

          • BuccaneerFan
            Rookie
            • Oct 2002
            • 73

            #6
            Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

            Great post. I totally agree. Reviewers can be morons. But the Gamespy review of Links takes the cake. The assclown from Gamespy that reviewed Links gave it a low score and criticized it because you CAN'T put spin on the ball after it is in flight like you can in Tiger Woods. LMAO, I guess Madden would get a better score too if we could move the football after the QB throws it, like in the old Atari 2600 game.

            </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
            "Both games use an analog-stick swing. But while Tiger 2004 has an arcade-style button-tapping method of adding power to your swing and spin to your shots, Links 2004 has a traditional meter with an "overpower" zone, and you apply spin before the shot with the right analog stick. Tiger 2004's ingenious scheme keeps you involved in the shot after the swing, while Links 2004 turns you into a spectator; it's a small and a huge difference at the same time."

            <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

            Comment

            • BuccaneerFan
              Rookie
              • Oct 2002
              • 73

              #7
              Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

              Great post. I totally agree. Reviewers can be morons. But the Gamespy review of Links takes the cake. The assclown from Gamespy that reviewed Links gave it a low score and criticized it because you CAN'T put spin on the ball after it is in flight like you can in Tiger Woods. LMAO, I guess Madden would get a better score too if we could move the football after the QB throws it, like in the old Atari 2600 game.

              </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
              "Both games use an analog-stick swing. But while Tiger 2004 has an arcade-style button-tapping method of adding power to your swing and spin to your shots, Links 2004 has a traditional meter with an "overpower" zone, and you apply spin before the shot with the right analog stick. Tiger 2004's ingenious scheme keeps you involved in the shot after the swing, while Links 2004 turns you into a spectator; it's a small and a huge difference at the same time."

              <hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

              Comment

              • rmacteague
                Rookie
                • Nov 2002
                • 210

                #8
                Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

                First off Fran is from the Nintendo camp on that site so I don't know why he is reviewing games, of course it was going to get a lower score than mario golf with him reviewing it.

                I don't even pay attention to IGN or Gamespot anymore, especially for sports game. They clearly have no clue what makes a great game with their ratings of: Links, Inside Drive, etc...

                Comment

                • rmacteague
                  Rookie
                  • Nov 2002
                  • 210

                  #9
                  Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

                  First off Fran is from the Nintendo camp on that site so I don't know why he is reviewing games, of course it was going to get a lower score than mario golf with him reviewing it.

                  I don't even pay attention to IGN or Gamespot anymore, especially for sports game. They clearly have no clue what makes a great game with their ratings of: Links, Inside Drive, etc...

                  Comment

                  • rmacteague
                    Rookie
                    • Nov 2002
                    • 210

                    #10
                    Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

                    First off Fran is from the Nintendo camp on that site so I don't know why he is reviewing games, of course it was going to get a lower score than mario golf with him reviewing it.

                    I don't even pay attention to IGN or Gamespot anymore, especially for sports game. They clearly have no clue what makes a great game with their ratings of: Links, Inside Drive, etc...

                    Comment

                    • JRod
                      MVP
                      • Jul 2002
                      • 3266

                      #11
                      Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

                      BD...

                      I think you need to award yourself anti-asshat for the week. The line about the barbie doll house was classic...funny stuff man!!!

                      Good post BD!

                      Comment

                      • JRod
                        MVP
                        • Jul 2002
                        • 3266

                        #12
                        Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

                        BD...

                        I think you need to award yourself anti-asshat for the week. The line about the barbie doll house was classic...funny stuff man!!!

                        Good post BD!

                        Comment

                        • JRod
                          MVP
                          • Jul 2002
                          • 3266

                          #13
                          Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

                          BD...

                          I think you need to award yourself anti-asshat for the week. The line about the barbie doll house was classic...funny stuff man!!!

                          Good post BD!

                          Comment

                          • airbarrett
                            G**d S**s*n F*ll*s
                            • Sep 2003
                            • 2967

                            #14
                            Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

                            yeah but to the dude who wrote the crap... if you are a big golf fan which game are you going to pick to play real golf simulation... mario or tiger woods?
                            Go Heels!

                            Proud member of the OS Rams Club.

                            2005 National Champions

                            Comment

                            • airbarrett
                              G**d S**s*n F*ll*s
                              • Sep 2003
                              • 2967

                              #15
                              Re: Just shoot me now for actually reading the IGN review of Links

                              yeah but to the dude who wrote the crap... if you are a big golf fan which game are you going to pick to play real golf simulation... mario or tiger woods?
                              Go Heels!

                              Proud member of the OS Rams Club.

                              2005 National Champions

                              Comment

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