Game and Player Setup
Ok, so after loading up, the first screen you come to gives you all the different game options. All the usual choices are here, network play, internet play, game configuration etc etc but the two you'll spend the most time in are the simulation and, more importantly, the career modes.In a simulation game you can pick up to four players for a round on any of the courses in the game, choose which type of play (there's loads of variations) and who controls the players. For example, you could pitch yourself against Colin Montgomerie, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods. Or team up with Tiger for a match play over 36 holes. If that doesn't grab your fancy, how about a two player scramble? Or maybe you could go for Stableford, and try scoring in high winds? What you should see by now is that this area of the game is completely customisable from which course, who plays, who controls the players and what the weather is like right down to how the game is scored. It's the 'what if?' part of the game, and it's an absolute stonker.
Where you'll be spending the vast majority of your time though is in the career mode and this is where the game excels itself. In this mode you can tune your player to the finest detail, and if that sounds not only daunting, but boring, hear me out, ok?
To start off, you can customise how your player looks using a set of easy to use sliders to change your players nose, eye and jaw shape, their hair colour and even their body shape. So if you see yourself as an Arnold Schwarzenegger type you can make your player look like him. And yes, it is perfectly possible to build a large chested Lara Croft look-a-like and dress her in a pair of beige shorts and a black figure-hugging vest. Team HEXUS knows, Team HEXUS tried…
Once you've built your in-game persona you can then kit them out with clubs and balls as you see fit. The detail here is amazing, though never overwhelming, with all the major makes and club types available. You can even fit different shafts to your clubs once you've figured out what type of swing you have. As you progress through the game you unlock more equipment and accessories for your player such as better balls or woods. For the vain amongst you, Tag Heuer wrist watches, necklaces and earrings become available later on for the essential 'bling' factor. And for the tough guys who think golf is a bit wussy, why not tattoo your player with a good old British Bulldog, or go Hell's Angel's stylee and get a spider on the back of your calf?