Seve Ballesteros Golf Master Review

Anannya Sen’s Review

Another in the long line of golf games that seem to be populating the market. This one isn??t bad, just isn??t great.

There seems to be a lot of golf games out there at the moment. This one has taken the name of my favourite all time player. Why? I have no idea, I just remember there was a specific reason I supported him as a kid. Maybe because his name is more unpronounceable than mine.

Graphics are average for a golf game. The course and the menus look adequate but the colour and depth to the graphics is a little lacklustre at times. The greens and holes don??t look vibrant and the animation when you hit the fairway or make it onto the green is the same on every shot (ie doesn??t change with the course). This is a little disappointing. The picture of Seve is ok in the title pic but if you play against him you get a view from the back so not much to tell him apart from you. The ball animation is not overly detailed either and when you are driving, hitting or putting there??s pretty much the same animation each time.

The sound is fairly poor as there are no real effects so to speak of. There is a tune when you start to play and there are some effects when you putt the ball but no wind or comments when you hit a good shot or nothing like that. Pretty poor in my opinion.

The controls are easy to pick up and simple but lack any real depth to them. Use the D or key pad to navigate menus and direct your shot. 1 & 3 will go up and down clubs and the main button or 5 will start your power bar. As has become the norm in all golf games it requires three presses, once to start, once to set your power and once as it comes back down again to set your accuracy. The problem with the power bar is that it??s not very responsive and when you have to set the accuracy for the third press, you can??t see where it actually stopped so you can??t really tell your accuracy until you??ve hit the ball. I don??t know if this is an attempt to be realistic, but for me it was a little annoying. There??s also no spin you can put on the ball so don??t expect those ??past the hole and backspin in?? type of shots.

The playability is a bit better as there are plenty of modes and options. You can play against friends, by yourself, in a tournament or against the main man, Senor Ballasteros himself. There??s only one course which is a shame and the putting green is a big let down. The angles can be viewed but actual putting really doesn??t seem to be an art form in any way. Even on the undulating greens, just aim at the hole and get the right amount of power and you should get it in every time. The courses are ok to play and Sevi really messes up some simple shots but overall there??s nothing about the game which gets you excited to keep playing.

The lastability is ok for the reasons mentioned above but this is a golf game which doesn??t live up to its rivals. Yes, there are a lot of modes, yes there are several features, yes it has the usual golf attributes but it lacks multiple courses as well as being able to put spin on the ball, which for me anyway, are two big features which make golf games interesting.