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FirstCuts: Hot Shots Golf: OT 2 Review

Jun 11, 2008, 7:00 PM UTC

â†µUp until last week, I’d never even held -- let alone owned and frequently used -- a PlayStation Portable. So when undertaking the task of reviewing Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2, I had to borrow one from a co-worker.â†µ

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â†µâ†µNow keeping in mind I’d never touched a PSP before playing this title, I found it all extremely easy to pick up, and thoroughly enjoyed it, even the bizarre quirks I still don’t understand. I don’t always feel this way, but I was even a little bit sad to give back the PSP. â†µ

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â†µThe first time you pick up the game and start playing, it isn't unlike any other golf game you've probably played. Click the X Button to start the swing power bar, click again to stop it. You've been through this drill before. You can take on a little extra power -- you'll have an allotted amount of power swings for each round. But that's really it. Yes, you can club up and down, or change the direction of your shot according to the wind, but it's all pretty basic. But it felt right, and I had no complaints about the basic control set for this title. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe fun comes as you continue to play the game and unlock more ability with power, control, spin, impact and sidespin. The unlockables on this game go on for days, and really that was the part that made me sad to put the game down. I’d logged a few days playing, but didn’t feel like I’d even scratched the surface of what was available to be unlocked. It really felt like this game could be the ultimate time-killer.â†µ

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â†µâ†µThe game gives you more than 320 (according to the box -- don’t think I even got close on this one) character customization options, and hardly any of them are unlocked straight out of the box. While I’ve bemoaned unlockable content in other reviews, these unlockables are peripheral items, not actual gameplay, so to me it adds rather than subtracts from the fun. In addition, you’ve got 12 players and 12 courses in total.â†µ

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â†µâ†µVisually, the game is bright, colorful and really appealing. If I’ve got one quarrel with the visuals, it’s that the camera isn’t super intuitive. It does the basics very well, but one thing I love about my all-time favorite bar game, Golden Tee, is being able to tap a fly-by button that actually shows you the path of the fairway. I always found it sort of difficult to navigate dogleg fairways with the camera to find the best place to hit. Very minor nitpick, but it was one of the few things that bugged me.â†µ

â†µâ†µOnline play consists of tournaments including up to 16 players or going the ad hoc route to play with up to play eight-player match play or one-on-one.â†µ

â†µâ†µIf you’re playing by yourself, you’ll be able to not only play typical single-player mode, but you’ll also be able to engage in challenges, like hitting to flags worth varying point totals. And the best part is that seemingly everything you do is in the pursuit of unlocking yet another player, costume option or course.â†µ

â†µâ†µI’m not going as far to say that I’ll be rushing out and purchasing a PlayStation Portable just to get Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2, but I’ll say that if you’ve got the console and enjoy golf games that are a little less buttoned up than the Tiger Woods franchise, you’ve got a must-have choice. Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 is available in stores now for the PSP for $29.99.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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