I have been meaning to blog about this for literally months. I get countless hits from Google with people searching for MMO Sports Games (I have a couple posts on the subject). I still feel strongly that eventually someone is going to figure out a viable MMO Sports Game. I think golf is probably going to be the game that succeeds in this genre. Shot-Online came close, but the cartoony golf game never grabbed me. Enter World Golf Tour.
I actually first read about WGT in Fortune Magazine, of all places. The article raves about how realistic it felt and how it is the future of online sports gaming. With that kind of praise, I had to check it out.
It’s a pretty solid little golf game. As far as I can tell, there’s only a 9-hole demo at PGA Charity site, but the company behind WGT seems to have raised a decent amount of funding, and has a backing from TaylorMade Golf (my personal club of choice).
Graphically, WGT is beautiful. The mouse controls almost feel natural. The Tiger Woods swing stick is still my favorite but WGT’s controls aren’t bad. It’s hard to gauge all aspects of the game, due to the fact that right now, you can only play a closest-to-the-pin challenge. Hopefully that will change soon in future beta tests.
I am intrigued so far. It will be interesting to see how good WGT turns out to be. With things like friends lists, teams and other options, WGT could give Shot-Online a run for its MMOGolf money.
London says
Looks great, they seem to be going the other way than the Tiger Woods series. EA seems to focus more on peripherals rather than the basic quality of the environment.
I’ll definitely check this one out, thanks for the review.
Zack Hiwiller says
Are those still photos with a 3D rendered dude overlayed?
Tony says
@London – When you have all the gear that EA does, that’s definitely going to be a focus of the gameplay. They’re both fun.
@Zack – I think so. I’ve seen pics where they’re flying over courses with a helicopter, capturing images.
Golf Tour says
Game is horrible. Are you kidding me? This game is not even a 10th as good as Tiger Woods online.
Tony says
I’m a little confused, Golf Tour. You say this game is horrible, but in your review (that you linked in your comment name) you praise the game rather highly. I see no mention of Tiger Woods Online in your review or in any other Squidoo post you have.
TWO looks to be a fine game, but it’s not free-to-play like WGT is and not completely browser based.