100ft Robot Golf PlayStation VR Review

Game:100ft Robot Golf
Publisher:No Goblin
Developer:
No Goblin
Genre:Sports
Players:1-4
Age Rating:12+
Other console/handheld formats:N/A
Related sites:100ft Robot Golf

A golf game with giant robots isn’t something that you see every day, and that’s the first and most obvious thing that sets 100ft Robot Golf apart from all the other golf games out there. With some of these gaming ideas, I do have to wonder who dreams up some of these things, but if they can entertain us with them, it doesn’t really matter, does it? And despite being a curious mixture, massive robots and golf actually go very well together in 100ft Robot Golf.

As you might expect from the premise, 100ft Robot Golf isn’t an overly complicated golf simulation. You do have to take the wind into consideration before taking your shot as well as where your ball might land when it comes to rest, and you can switch between different clubs (limited to driver, wedge, and putter here), but other than this, the game is a simplified version of golf.

As you take control of 100ft robots (there’s 13 of them in all in the game), the developer No Goblin have added in a few extras in their version of golf. If the ball comes to a rest in a dodgy position such as behind a skyscraper, then before you take your next shot you can simply go up to the building and destroy it with your club. With the building gone, you then have a clear view for your next play. This takes away having to pick at your brains as to how to approach the next shot, and also means that 100ft Robot Golf isn’t the kind of golf game that should be taken seriously. The ball physics aren’t entirely convincing either, but it really doesn’t matter in such a game.

One thing that I didn’t find particularly helpful is the on-screen information when the ball is on the green. It just doesn’t come across as particularly reliable information, and oddly isn’t as helpful as some proper golfing simulators are when you have a putter in your hands. With all of this said, putting is, while not impossible, definitely the most difficult part of the game.

It’s just a shame that the game doesn’t have a tutorial as such, and it really could have done with one. Like I mentioned earlier, the game is simple, but it still would have benefitted from having a mode to tell you how everything works, and this would have been preferable to leaving you to pick things up as you go along in the way that the game does. You may find the swing mechanics quite jarring for instance, with them differing depending on your chosen robot, although none are particularly complicated to pick up given a little time.

While traditional stroke play is available, 100ft Robot Golf’s Free for All mode, on the other hand, is all about speed and dirty play as opposed to offering you a relaxing round of golf. When played this way, rather than getting the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible, your objective is to sink the ball quicker than your opponents do. You are able to get into the way of opponents shots, which results in the ball bouncing off your armour, and you are also able to slow opponents down when they are taking shots if you are nearby. It’s a highly unusual game, and it makes things feel wholly unique and like no golf game I have ever played before.

There are four different courses, each of which has 9 holes, which means that there are 36 holes in all. There’s a course that takes place in a built up city area in downtown Hawaii, another that takes place in the Himalayas, one that is under the sea, and even a course on the Moon. The courses do have familiar golfing elements such as fairways, rough grass, bunkers, and water hazards, but the giant robots and the race to the end of each hole gives the game a distinct flavour.

Each round of golf is accompanied by a sarcastic commentary team, which spout often humorous and deadpan lines. It does get repetitive after awhile though, with lines repeating over and over again, and some of the dialogue doesn’t even reflect what is going on in the game. I don’t know how many times one of my shots was described as a good one when it really wasn’t, but it was a lot more than it should have been.

The game has a campaign mode, which has various stories that are loosely connected to one another. Being that the Japanese love their giant robots, the story in 100ft Robot Golf’s campaign mode is inspired by Japanese anime. Because of its ridiculous premise, the storyline is cheesy and has silly humour and over the top voice acting, which all works very well. The story is also told through anime-like sequences, which is also extremely fitting, and focuses on a number of different robot pilots. The pilots include everything from a used cars salesman to a group of five corgis.

The game also has a Hole of Fame mode, which is basically a challenge mode with online leaderboards. In this mode, there’s Speed Run and Strokerun, which has you getting through all 36 holes as fast as possible and getting through all holes in as few strokes as possible, respectively. There’s also Individual Hole Strokes, which has you getting through a single hole with as few strokes as possible, and individual speed run, which has you getting through an individual hole as quickly as possible. Hole of Fame definitely adds some longevity to the game, and will have plenty of players coming back for more.

Multiplayer allows you to play via split screen and online, although the online community seems so empty at the moment that I have been unable to find a single game. This is a shame, as 100ft Robot Golf is definitely a game that could be described as a fun and ridiculous multiplayer game.

If you have Sony’s shiny new headset in your possession, it’s also possible to play 100ft Robot Golf with the PlayStation VR. Having tested this method of play myself, I found the game to be very immersive in VR. The huge robots really do look like giants when viewed in VR, and when you look down you feel like you are standing on a tall building, which means that, while the game isn’t going to look as smooth in the headset as it does on your TV screen, playing the game this way does give additional depth to the visuals.

100ft Robot Golf offers a fun, colourful and casual game of golf, which is also very refreshing. While the game does have a number of issues holding it back from 100ft sized greatness, when playing in the Free for All mode the race to the end of each hole means that this is a golf game with a difference, and there’s also plenty of personality in the visuals, characters and commentary. If you want a serious golf game, then 100ft Robot Golf isn’t for you, but for everyone else, there’s plenty of ridiculous fun to be had with this one.



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