Golf Club: Wasteland is a game unlike any other I have played before. It’s a game about a golf course amidst a post apocalyptic Earth. It’s unique theme and setting has intrigued me so I had to play it to see what it’s all about.
Golf Club: Wasteland is a golf game with puzzle elements. Unlike your typical golf game, Golf Club: Wasteland takes it a notch further by adding a post apocalyptic theme, a kickass soundtrack and hours of frustrating fun under the radiated sun.
The game offers you a tutorial at the very beginning before it presents you with the game modes. Controls in this game are very simple to remember but hard to master. There’s basically just two things that you need to learn, being able to aim with the left stick and then using the cross button to swing your golf club. It’s probably the simplest golf game to play but at the same time it’s not.
Having only that one button to control the force of the swing for the golf club can be frustrating at times. You can’t really get that right amount of force as the indicator doesn’t really provide you any sort of indication of how much the force is. The only one you can be sure of is when you go full force.
Why do I say that it’s not as easy as it looks? It’s the environment that makes this a challenging game. In a typical golf game the landscape is mostly lush greens. The hazards are typically sand pits and the surrounding water. Here the hazards are squirrels, giraffes, a mutant snake dragon thing, and pools of acid stuff.
The courses are also very unique from each other. With 35 courses to go through, there’s a lot of game to be played and to complete. The game starts off with some easy courses and then some of them provides you with puzzles that you can solve. Some of the obstacles are just ridiculous that it can get very frustrating to complete. Even your golfer feels the pain as he sighs in exasperation.
Some courses can look very daunting but if you just really observe your surroundings, you will know that there’s an easy route to the hole. I really like the puzzle elements because at least it’s just not you trying to determine the correct angle or the force of the swing. It actually forces you to think on what’s the best route to take.
The visuals in this game are just very beautiful. It’s so beautiful that you can’t help but just stop and stare at it for awhile forgetting about the goal in mind. You can even make any screenshot of this game as a wallpaper, it’s that beautiful.
What is a beautifully made visuals without a kick ass soundtrack right? Well Golf Club: Wasteland gives you just that. All throughout the game, a radio is being broadcasted while you play. It’s like your very own Spotify blasting awesome music that has nostalgic vibes.
The game calls it Radio Nostalgia From Mars. The radio station plays several music that has this classic feel to it. From time to time, they would also play audio logs from people who are now living in Mars. Oh that’s right, I forgot to mention that the people from Earth fled to avoid an apocalypse but only the rich people. They left the poor people to die on Earth while the luxurious ones is living it large in Mars. And because there’s really not much to do on Mars, they decided to make Earth into their very own golf course.
I would say that the Radio Station is the star of this game. It just adds a lot to the game in terms of getting you in the zone. It really complements the overall theme and beautiful art design. The many stories that you can uncover just by listening makes this game more alive and offers a look into the background and history of the world.
As I mentioned earlier, the game has three modes: Story Mode, Challenge Mode, and Iron Mode. The Story Mode lets you play the golf course while following the story of the golfer and the boy that was observing him from the distance. This mode is like the casual mode of the game because you are not forced to meet a goal and you can skip a course if you don’t think you can complete it.
Challenge Mode is the mode for those experienced players who can tell the difference between an obtuse angle and an acute angle. The challenge mode sets a maximum number of strikes that you can do to complete the course. Fail to finish the course in the amount of strikes provided and you will have to start over. You can only proceed to the next course if you complete the current course in the set amount of strikes.
The final mode, Iron Mode, can only be unlocked if you completed the Challenge Mode. In Iron Mode, losing your golf ball to the various hazards will send you straight back to Level 1. As the description in the mode says, no mistakes are allowed.
Completing any of the modes will unlock two digital freebies. A visual novel titled Charlie’s Oddysey which is the golfer’s story from when he went to Mars and golfing on Earth. And the digital soundtrack that showcases songs from Radio Nostalgia from Mars that you can download.
The game allow you to switch between Story Mode and Challenge Mode. It also has auto-save that allows you to get back into the game and pick up where you left off.
Overall, Golf Club: Wasteland is a relaxing yet challenging game of golf. It’s a game that will test your physics knowledge as well as critical thinking. It’s a game that lets you be swept away by its visuals and be lost in its music. It’s a game for all those players out there looking for a unique golfing experience.