The original Outlaw Golf was received quite well with its blended mixture of serious golf on the greens and over the top stereotypical characters to add a little sexiness and humour to what many might consider a real boring sport. Those zany characters have returned for another outing on the long greens and the great outdoors for the next round of golfing mayhem.

gameplay:

Outlaw Golf provides players with a wealthy array of play options to spice up the old game of hitting a ball into a hole in the ground. Although I’m sure many purists will argue that the sport is in fact one of extreme high skills, co-ordination and endurance. Whilst many golf games follow a strict path, offering realistic play and a more serious nature. Outlaw golf 2 adds its own brand of golf to perhaps offer some appeal to those not normally interested. In this case it’s the wacky characters on offer which for some reason have enough personality of their own to make them stand out from your typical gaming characters.

We have Summer and her bi-sexual female caddie. Summer is, or at least acts like a stripper, pole dancing, porno queen type character and one that feels the need to reveal her assets as often as she can. Then we have Harley the beer swigging trailer park lovely whose attitude is definitely on the don’t mess with me tip. Ice Trey the satirical white rapper whose about as gangster as your grandma after she’s forgotten to take her pills. Killer Miller a tattooed, biker looking brute, who looks fresh out of jail and one that looks like he also doen’t take any rubbish from anyone. I could go on as there are plenty more crazy characters that come complete with a caddy (something new for the series). Either way each has enough lines that will make you laugh or cry and enough gestures to do the same.

So, what about the actual golf I hear you ask? Well the golf is pretty much the same as the previous game, which is a good thing. At the game’s start the club that you will use is selected automatically for you to provide the greatest distance you can possibly get. You do have the option to change clubs if you feel you know better but in my experience the computer does a great job of keeping things simple in this respect. The first thing you are going to want to do here is check to see where your ball is going to land or what you are aiming for at least. With a tap of a button, you are able to switch views to see where your shot is placed (although this does not take into account the wind factor). An arc will also be shown which is useful for seeing if your shot will be obstructed by trees and such. One final preparation can be made to hit the ball with left or right spin or top to bottom spin. I found that mastery of the bottom spin was crucial for when you are aiming for the green which surrounds the hole; here’s why. With a lot of bottom spin the ball will travel higher than normal, as the ball is chipped upwards. The resulting arc as it falls will therefore be much steeper (in theory) meaning that when the ball lands there is less inertia for it to travel forwards. I often found that without bottom spin, balls would land on the green at high speed then run right off the green into the undergrowth, not good!

So, you are about to tee off and what the game requires is that you pull the left thumb stick backwards, and then quickly move it forwards in the straightest line possible. This is to simulate the swing of the club. There is also a power meter which shows the strength of the shot which is not really needed when you tee off per se but becomes crucial when making more precise shots when you are nearer or on the green.

Let’s talk about the putting as this is quite in depth. Obviously as before the computer will chose the correct putter for the job, depending on what type of shot you are going for. First thing the player has to do is check the lie of the land as most holes aren’t on flat land. Then with a touch of a button players can see where the ball will travel. From this players can move a crosshair around the green and then see where the shot will travel. However players are only allowed to check the shot path 3 times so basically you have 3 attempts to get the crosshair placement correct. As mentioned earlier, the power meter (which is activated when you pull the thumb stick backwards) comes into play here. If you give a ball too much power or too little then you might actually miss the hole! There is a marker on your power bar that represents how hard you need to hit the shot. Sounds complex but actually is quite simple yet deep at the same time.

If you do mess up your shots or better still perform decent shots then your chosen characters composure will either rise or fall. For those of you that constantly make lousy shots will be able to get their composure back up to scratch with the use of a beating token. This token allows you to wander off to play a golfing mini game or as the name implies take your frustration out on your caddie. This is actually quite funny as you watch your character lay the smack down on the poor caddie who has done nothing to deserve the beating.

What Outlaw Golf adds to the game of golf is not just the crazy characters but also themed golf courses. If you play the tour mode then you will start off with some pretty standard looking courses, however once you progress through the tour you will start getting some of the crazier themed courses. Things like a haunted course, or a mosquito filled swamp even a course covered in snow. It is these what separate the game from other golf games and goes to show that the game doesn’t take itself too seriously; although the characters do a grand job of that anyway.

As far as play modes are concerned then there are plenty of options available from within quick play, exhibition, tour mode and Xbox Live to choose from. Enough at least to add some needed variety to simply hitting a ball in a hole. With quite a number of “unlockable” characters, costumes equipment via the main tour mode of the game which sees your chosen character battle through a number of opponents over a number of courses and using a number of play modes; makes Outlaw Golf 2 a pretty comprehensive package.

Graphics:

Graphics are of a pretty high standard as the courses do look very nice indeed as do the characters. The themed courses do look and work well within the context of the game and help create some atmosphere that you wouldn’t get with your standard looking courses. The characters themselves all look convincing and are quite detailed; in fact I have to say it the “Jiggle” that the female characters have is probably one of the most realistic I’ve seen in a game. Ahem! The animations are very convincing, as they are motion captured resulting in some comical expressions and sexy moves from the girls.

Sound:

This is one of Outlaw Golf’s biggest features and obviously compliments the graphics all the way. With a crazy announcer that often reveals too much about his own habits that one would like to hear or the female course announcer who gives you a description of the courses prior to playing them; there is a lot of speech. Let’s not forget the actual characters and their caddies who all have a lot to say if they are winning or losing. Most of the speech is comical or tongue in cheek, so if you have no sense of humour then this game might not appeal to you until you turn the sound off.

The in game music is actually quite impressive with a wide mixture of rock, rare groove, hip hop and general beats which might feel weird in a golf game but again places emphasis on the very different way the Outlaw games are presented. Custom soundtracks are also supported for those of you keen on playing your own tunes whilst you smack ball. Overall the sound is well voiced, well scripted and very lively indeed.

Longevity:

Outlaw Golf 2 features Xbox Live play this time, which was absent from the original but featured heavily in the Outlaw volleyball game. The added inclusion of this is welcome as you can play with up to 3 other players for an 18 hole game or whatever set up you have chosen from the game type options available. Whilst I have not played over Live the inclusion of this mode is obviously great news for Live players and one that will add that little more playtime to an already lengthy game. For those without live then the option for 4 way multiplayer is there for those who want a golfing extravaganza huddled around a single TV, no need for split screen play here.

Overall:

It’s hard to judge Outlaw Golf 2 as there is not much to dislike about the game or pick out faults. Perhaps if I were to complain then it would have to be during tour mode where the computer controlled players often produce amazing shots un-naturally. Also due to the length of the rounds and only being able to save half way through an 18 hole match, its often hard to bear witness to the computer character taking perhaps an underserved lead; leaving you no option but to start all over again. Some purist might also argue that the lack of seriousness to the game means that it misses out on all of those features that other golf games employ like creating custom characters, stats and winning true trophies.

Outlaw Golf 2 is a genuinely funny title although even this can start to grate after intensive play where more often than not you will be using the skip button. That said, when you strip away the comedy you are left with a pretty basic, yet decent golf game. I think players should rent this title first and if you are merely purchasing to get a look at Summer’s rear then although you might be fulfilled for a little while in the long run her ass might not look as appealing. Outlaw Golf 2 is a solid title and one that is perhaps better to play with mates or over Xbox Live if you are connected to the service.