While there have never been fewer sports video games than there are today within the last two years independent developers have started doing creative things within the space. The massive studios under the banner of EA Sports and 2K Sports have swallowed up licenses and seen their simulation franchises squeeze out any potential competition in a marketplace that can't really support more than one game per sport.
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At the same time "arcade-style" offerings — less serious titles that are easier to learn, can take risks and focus most heavily on fun factor — went nearly extinct over the last decade. The success most notably of 2015's Rocket League provides optimism that a resurgence is around the corner, as independent developers begin to put their own spin on sports that are wildly different than anything attempted in the past and have no need for costly (or unavailable) licensing.
The latest in that realm comes from the original creators of the Burnout racing series who have branched off into their own independent studio. The first effort out of Three Fields Entertainment essentially borrows the popular "Crash Mode" from that series and replaces cars with a golf ball as the element of destruction.
Dangerous Golf is entertaining in short bursts, but similar in the way a mobile game will generally only hold a person's interest for a few minutes at a time while the desire to return to it dissipates quickly. At a price of $20 that's just not going to be enough.
There are essentially three phases that make up Dangerous Golf: Teeing Off, Smashbreaker, and Putting. Various scenarios are presented within the four different locales and players are assigned with creating the most chaos as possible to rack up the greatest money's worth of damage.
Unfortunately there's little instruction to the user at the outset. There is no tutorial or suggestion of strategies to employ, or explanation of the different variants on the holes. Only the most basics are laid out in a section of the menus. There are even features added over the course of the game that are never really explained, unless you happen to catch a description on the loading screen. That it's not a complicated game doesn't mean it can get away with just throwing the players in and having them learn on the fly through trial and error.
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Probably the most disappointing aspect of Dangerous Golf relates to hitting off the tee. The creativity being sought after from the initial hit is sorely missing. That's due in part to the ball basically just being "launched" rather than there being skill and strategy involved — there's no way to adjust to shoot higher or lower or determine the power — but also due to the Smashbreaker phase.
With Smashbreaker the ball ignites and for a period of time and can be controlled by manipulating the two controller sticks. This is when the majority of damage is inflicted. However, because a certain number of items have to be broken by the tee-shot in order for the Smashbreaker to be activated, the options off the tee are usually very limited.
The expectation to approach each hole and experiment with unique ways to start the chain of destruction was largely absent stifling that creativity, unlike Burnout's Crash Mode where much of the fun was in finding the best way to start a crazy chain of events. It's not nearly as engaging when it's realized that the best option is probably the default one given to you, or just a slight adjustment off of that.
Following the Smashbreaker period the hole will appear and the putt has to be made or half the credit for damage will be lost. This does create some element of strategy in making sure the ball will settle in an area that the putt is makeable from and because the score will rise based off "trick shots" in making those putts (such as bouncing it off multiple walls) which adds some risk to the attempts. However the game is very generous with its success rates, and often it's possible to just hit the ball randomly and it'll ricochet wildly around the area and somehow find it's way in the hole.
The biggest core problem with Dangerous Golf however has to do with the camera, which proves detrimental far too often to achieving the goal at hand. It follows the ball closely and all too often in confined spaces the only thing that can be seen is the ball, so any sense of where it's to be directed or what it's headed for is completely lost to the player. There are even times when the hole can't be located or it's unclear what if any obstructions are in the way. Besides how that affects playing, you're also missing out on the satisfaction of seeing the payoff. There's no option to adjust that camera or change to a different type of camera.
It's also necessary to note that the PC version requires a controller. Inexplicably there is no keyboard/mouse support, though it appears to have been made a priority for the development team to patch into the game. Loading times are on the slow side and discouragingly required between every restart.
What does work for Dangerous Golf is the variety that is mixed into each hole of which there are 100 (though they take place within a far fewer number of settings). There are different goals that can be achieved to receive bonuses and a handful of variants like timed rounds or others that have specific directives to achieve. An effort has clearly been made to try and create enough unique challenges to keep the game from getting tired too quickly. The graphics and physics are impressive, although there are framerate issues at times.
The main hook to playing the game's campaign is to succeed enough to open up more holes, while attempting to top your own high scores and rise the leaderboards. Also included is multiplayer with online (competitive) and couch (co-op and competitive) options. Unfortunately online matches have proven difficult to find in the early days of release.
While Dangerous Golf offers up some fun and an addictive nature, the base concept isn't strong enough to sustain either for an extended period of time. It's something that can function in a diversionary sense as a side-mode in a larger game but crumbles in trying to hold up as a game of its own.
Dangerous Golf is available digitally for $20 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. A code was provided by the publisher for the PC version and the PS4 version was purchased in order to provide a complete review.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, has co-founded the sports gaming site HitThePass.com, hosts the Press Row Podcast, and be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre .