Pros: Lots of features, simple but fun gameplay, character customization, great graphics
Cons: Skirts too close to being pay to win, just another golf game like most of the others
Winning Putt is a free to play golf MMO that has just gone into open beta. Developed on CryEngine by Webzen OnNet and published by Bandai Namco, we decided to check it out and see whether or not the game was a hole in one or stuck in the rough.
Starting off with golf bag in hand we were introduced into the game by the Academy trainer and taken through some optional tutorials to show us the ins and outs of how the rules of golf actually work and how the mechanics work for the game. There’s nothing overly complex or unique about the system; you hit Tab to bring up a bird’s eye view of where you are aiming to and can change your angle based on the lay of the course and the wind, choose your clubs and then take your shot.
Taking a shot consists of hitting spacebar or left mouse button to make your power gauge go up; hitting it again to stop it at “the sweet spot”, either the very end for a drive or pulling short if the shot requires a little less power. Once the arrow moves along the power gauge it then comes back down again and you have to stop it a second time in between an accuracy gauge where bang in the middle is a perfect shot and either side will pull it, hook it or slice it depending on how powerful you hit. That’s fundamentally the core of the game mechanics apart from putting where you change to your putter and can see the lay of the green with gridlines to see whether it runs up or downhill or slopes to the left or right, which you must rectify with your shot.
There’s nothing crazy unique about how the actual mechanics work, which is hardly surprising as they’re generally the same mechanics we’ve seen in golf games for the last twenty years (literally, it works the same as Actua Golf for the PlayStation 1 and Sega Saturn that was released in 1996). However, there are enough areas of the game that are different to keep us happy. Firstly there are quests, making it more in line with an MMO, they generally just reward you for doing things you would have ultimately done anyway (like “Reach Level 5”, or achievement like quests you don’t intend to do such as “Push/Pull your shot 5 times”), which gives you currency, items and XP.
Away from the course we got to walk around a huge square filled with players where they can chat in the open chat lobby, there’s NPCs scattered around the area that do everything from let your practice at the driving range, buy new general goods, buy apparel and cosmetics, take part in Friendly matches, Challenge matches and Guild matches, though some features are level locked.
The game does have a few dubious consumables which can improve players power, accuracy and that kind of thing to give them an advantage, most can be bought with normal gold currency but others require the premium platinum which is a lot harder to come by in game (but easy to buy with cash). We can definitely see that as Golf is literally a few people taking it in turns to make their way down the same course then every and any advantage is going to greatly stand someone out (though boosts usually still require some skill, if all skill is equal then the person with premium boosts has a direct advantage). We don’t like how that sits, it’s not the same as having a quick 8 v 8 in a shooter and someone having Golden Ammo, or a PVP Arena battle where the dude who bought the most gear kicks everyone else’s ass. Golf games are slow and steady, they last quite a while depending on how many holes you are competing in, which means by the end of a match anyone using boosts is potentially going to always win… unless you pay to stay competitive as well, which ultimately is pay to win (at a competitive level).
As well as this is the “Package Clubs” where you can spent the premium Platinum to buy the best “Chrono” gear at different levels, including different clubs or full sets, and when buying them you have a chance of them being White (Common), Green (Rare) or Blue (Legendary) style clubs; at around $60 a pop we dare say plenty of people will drop some cash on that to get a chance of getting a full set of Legendary clubs. Again, we just don’t like being able to buy gear that just blows most stuff out of the water (though we don’t know if it’s the BEST gear in the game).
Another thing we’re not overly fond of is the “features” that feel out of place for a Golf game, but are so common in other types (such as shooters or MMORPGs), specifically the Repairs mechanic where players need to spend gold to repair their clubs (that is a pointless money sink), and then the “Enchantment” to increase your gears stats. This along is just weird as the system being called Enchantment is like it’s some magical voodoo you’re putting on your clubs to bless them, which is so out of place.
The game looks pretty good and is a lot of fun from the time we’ve spent on it, though there are still some teething issues with the open beta and the developers were popping up announcements letting players know exactly what they were working on. Overall it’s a pretty solid game, though as mentioned we don’t have a lot of faith in the end game competitive scene due to the pay to win nature that is sure to follow. However, joining a guild, playing with friends then the casual-competitive divide might be a little smaller and not as big of a deal.
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