Real World Golf

Along with the humble joystick or gamepad, there are a number of specialised game controllers that are meant to simulate real-world controls, such as steering wheels for driving games or light guns for shooters.

When a new type of controller works, it’s usually because it’s either incredibly realistic or because it provides an element of arcade novelty to an otherwise straightforward game.

Real World Golf (RWG) comes with one of the more unusual controllers we’ve handled. It’s not quite up there with Sega’s virtual fishing rod, but RWG’s mini golf club and motion-capture accessory is still a pretty silly prospect. And it’s fairly convoluted too.

A large black box sits on the floor directly in front of your PC screen and, once you don the special golfing gloves provided, you must attach your hands to the unit via the spring-loaded cables that poke out of the box’s surface.

A further foot button device needs to be attached to the main unit and the whole caboodle is then plugged into a USB port.

The complicated setup’s saving grace is that Windows seems happy to recognise the device and install it automatically.

Once you get out on the Links, you can’t help feeling that the game itself is a bit of an anticlimax.

It’s a long way from the polished graphics and well-honed gameplay that players of more recent golf games will be used to. The courses and player models are also relatively limited.

The mechanics of physically taking a swing are certainly rewarding but, as a single-player experience, Real World Golf does feel faintly ludicrous.

The game becomes a lot more fun in multiplayer mode with a bunch of mates and a fridge full of beer, but be prepared to get in a bit of a tangle when it comes to handing over the controls to the next player.

System requirements
800MHz processor
128MB of Ram
32MB video card
Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP

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