Developed by Demagog Studio and published by Untold Tales, Golf Club: Wasteland is a post-apocalyptic golfing game where you arrive back at earth to play one last golfing game. Golfing is a genre that not many developers get into as we have seen plenty of golf simulators earlier and a few mini-golfing games. Golf Club: Wasteland on the other hand comes with an emotional story, a character that is full of remorse, and a radio station that is streaming from the planet Mars. This is our review of the PS4 version of Golf Club: Wasteland in which we try to get some hole-in-ones on a post-apocalyptic planet.
Golf Club: Wasteland follows the story of Charlie, a pilot who flew to Mars to settle after the planet Earth was termed inhospitable as it is heading towards a climate catastrophe. As people move and settle on Mars, the planet Earth is left empty and devastated and is now in a dilapidated condition. Charlie after trying to settle on Mars for years is homesick and also sad for leaving the planet behind so he arrives back on Mars to play one final game of golf. This is where you jump in the story and see what happens next.
The game offers you three modes to play and depending on how challenging you want the game to be, you can pick between Story, Challenge, and Iron Mode. The Story is the most casual mode and if you just want to experience the story in a relaxed mode, you should pick this mode. Challenge has a Par Value for each hole and if you miss this value, your game is over, and you have to restart the level. Iron Mode is the most unforgiving mode and if you make even one mistake, you must restart the level.
Right when the game starts, you are introduced to the core mechanics of the game and also the most interesting bit of the game, its soundtrack. While you are golfing on Earth, you are listening to Radio Nostalgia from Mars. This radio station plays a vital role in the game apart from keeping you entertained throughout the levels. You can treat each level as a mini-golf level since each level has various hazards and tricks that you must avoid or use in order to putt the ball. This is where you notice the second brilliant thing about the game, level design and beautiful visuals.
While the visuals are not very high or demanding, but they have a very soothing vibe despite this being a post-apocalyptic game. The level design is really good as well as you play the game between various locations such as destroyed museums, national monuments, and huge shopping malls that are about to fall down. Each level takes full use of the environment, and this makes it a really cool golfing game that is both relaxing to look at and challenging to play at the same time.
The story of the game is told in three ways, and it is linked with your game progression as well. Charlie keeps his diary in which you unlock entries every time you putt the ball. Depending on how well you play the game, the more entries you unlock in each level. These entries show you how the world was when Charlie was on Earth as well as about Charlie’s life on earth. The second aspect is the radio station. As you listen to Radio Nostalgia, you get to know about how Earth came to its demise and what led to everyone abandoning it and moving to Mars to settle.
Finally, you have the levels themselves. While they are very clear as they show you what is the current condition of the Earth, their titles, descriptions, and many factors in the level themselves tell you their story of how the apocalypse is affecting the planet and what happened to humans in those particular locations. You see activities from the past such as people leaving behind bags filled with their stuff near airports, shopping trolleys scattered around malls, historic sites ravaged by people, and wild animals moving around without any consequences.
For shooting, the game has a small visual indicator that gives you a rough idea of how powerful your shot will be and at what trajectory it will travel. Sadly, there is no UI, and you cannot tell right away what is the required Par figure for the hole in the current level. You can do so by pausing the game and if you lose the ball, you get a new one instantly. On higher difficulties, if you lose your Par target, you have to restart the level and you must do everything again.
While the gameplay is rather decent, I cannot really say that it is the most effective way of playing golf. While the scenery is beautiful and shooting into a hole in a giant hand suspended high in the air by cranes is really fun, the actual sport of golf is not really that accurately depicted in the game. Your shots are very rarely accurate and sometimes it just overshoots or sometimes it undershoots. This is because there is no actual way of judging how far your ball will actually land. You might get good with some practice with the system but if you are a casual player, you will mostly just move on to the next level without really bothering with mastering a hole.
Overall, Golf Club: Wasteland is a beautiful game with a unique concept of golfing. The gameplay is decent and how the story is presented is just amazing. Despite the not-so-good gameplay mechanics, I had a great time playing it and watching the different levels in the game. I also really liked the soundtrack of the game as Radio Nostalgia is brilliantly made and really keeps you glued to the game as it plays music, has dialogue, and even tells you about the history of the planet. It is one game that you should definitely experience for yourself.
Final Verdict:
Golf Club: Wasteland is a great low-stress golfing game with some great aesthetics. If you are looking for some challenge, the game can offer that as well however I loved playing it in the story mode as you can just sit back, listen to the radio and take your time with the holes. The scenery is beautiful, the gameplay is challenging enough to make it interesting, and the radio station is just really good to listen to. Just stay away from the ridiculous Iron Mode and you should be fine. If you are looking for hardcore golfing, this game is not for you. If you are looking for decent storytelling and play something with amazing artwork, you should definitely give this game a shot. On its core, this is an arcade golfing game with a major focus on storytelling and visuals.
Final Score: 8.0/10
