Links Golf is back (Links E6)

[scagwi]

We have a return, of sorts, of the Links golf game

It's now called Links E6 and appears to be a three click only game with no virtual golfer.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1620750/Links_E6/

[pietasterp]

Re: Links Golf is back (Links E6)

Whaaaa???? This seems so out of nowhere! Thanks for the heads-up, scagwi!

I'm a longtime "Links" fan, so I'm definitely intrigued. I'm fine with 3-click only, but I have to be honest, the lack of a virtual golfer is a huge let-down for me. The digitized rhythmic swings of the characters in the Links games have always been a highlight for me, and a big part of the look/feel of the game.

Anyway, I'm still interested in giving this a look. If they're going for a stealth launch, they definitely accomplished that feat...

ADDENDUM: it looks like the game is designed to be more of a 'platform' so it can be used with golf simulators and launch monitors, etc. Hence, no virtual golfer.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Links Golf is back (Links E6)

I downloaded the free version of this last night from Steam and gave it a go. I played maybe 5 holes and had my fill of it. For starters, I'm not much of a 3-click swing interface fan, and this Links E6's is among the toughest to manage I've tried. It's hyper-fast on its downswing in both starting velocity and acceleration. I had mulligans enabled and it's a good thing I did because it took me four swings before I managed the last click such that I could produce a drive of greater than 35 yards!?

The 3-click swing moves almost as fast in the short game. It quickly began to feel more like a reflex test than a proportionally scaled model of a golf swing. It makes the scoring a lot tougher, but I think it does so at the cost of feeling sort of contrived.

I don't like watching swing meters when I'm playing a golf game. I think the absence of a golfer animation to focus on leaves me without the 'hook' I need to draw me into the environment. I can see where this would work with a launch monitor and it's pretty clear that's what they're targeting with this design, as the game defaults to 10 foot gimmies!

One thing that really surprised me was the sort of throwback graphics style. The graphics have a grainy, bitmapped appearance on my PC. It's an organic look with a retro style. It may well have been their intent. Then again it could be my average gaming PC scaling it back to look like this in order to run at a target frame rate. I couldn't find any user adjustable graphics settings to experiment with. I could live with the graphics if I had a motion control swing interface and an golfer animation to use as a gauge rather than a swing meter.

I'll be interested to see how this is received by launch monitor owners. I may give it another go later after I hear some other ideas on how to get along with the 3-click interface, but it definitely didn't ring any bells in my test drive last night.

[scagwi]

Re: Links Golf is back (Links E6)

I honestly think this seems like a low effort, mostly dated looking, total nothing burger....at least for normal non simulator users.

[pietasterp]

Re: Links Golf is back (Links E6)

Appreciate you sharing your thoughts, OnlookerDelay. That's great that you went to the trouble of downloading it and giving it a run-through; really taking one for the team there!

I doubt I will look into this any further at this point. Although if I ever actually get crazy enough to put a net and projector in my place, I would definitely give this another look....

[scagwi]

Re: Links Golf is back (Links E6)

Appreciate you sharing your thoughts, OnlookerDelay. That's great that you went to the trouble of downloading it and giving it a run-through; really taking one for the team there!

I doubt I will look into this any further at this point. Although if I ever actually get crazy enough to put a net and projector in my place, I would definitely give this another look....

Yeah, I agree
This really seems like just a good budget/free option for real simulator users.

If you're not into 3C, this is awful ... and even if you are into 3C, it sounds like people are saying it's the worst 3C they've ever even dreamt of.

[pietasterp]

Re: Links Golf is back (Links E6)

I quite enjoy 3-click and this still sounds like a mess....