With a long history of producing sports video games including many that were published under the EA Sports brand, independent developer HB Studios released its first solo golf effort in 2014. The unlicensed game (no real golfers, courses, or equipment) was recognized for its realism by fans of the sport but it lacked content and presented a punishing learning curve that made it feel inaccessible to many.
"The Golf Club 2" is successful in addressing the deficiencies of the first game while remaining realistic almost again to a fault.
The required skill level for success remains high, but additional tools have been provided to help teach the fundamentals and assist in improvement over time. The sequel also offers much more in terms of content, which makes its $40 price feel far more justified.
The expanded feature set of "The Golf Club 2" results in a clear upgrade over its predecessor. It launches with a full Career Mode.
While golfers themselves can't be upgraded in terms of attributes, nor can any equipment be acquired to offer any sort of advantages, everybody is on a completely even playing field. The hope is people instead will enjoy a level Clubhouse, an expanded Career Mode season length and a number of unlockables for customization purposes. That won't be as engaging as improving a character has been in other golf games, but it at least adds a sense of achievement over time.
"The Golf Club" is a very social video game with features built in to make for a seamless experience involving friends. One of the big new features is Online Societies, which allows for joining a group, competing together on leaderboards and contributing to the upgrading of the primary Society.
Beyond that, there are two ways to play alongside others. They can be invited to play at the same time or the "ghosts" of their previous rounds played can be fed in to take their place with both displaying their shots on screen. It's neat getting to see how others played, and it adds some pressure to try and keep up or out-do them. Unfortunately it seems to be broken once shots get to the green. You'll see the opponents' shots barely move or maybe even go backwards, never actually anywhere near the hole despite registering a score that suggests they made their putt.
The first "Golf Club" game made the mistake of launching without a proper tutorial and practice options. That has been rectified here, as there are four different tutorials and a driving range, chipping practice and putting practice.
The tutorials help teach not just the basics, but also some of the more advanced options that can be put into use. The practices are especially good for getting a handle on using the stick accurately and for judging the strength of shots. Unfortunately those practices won't necessarily translate well to the many difficult situations players will find themselves in on the actual courses, where more often than not improvement will have to come from learning through failure.
Both the original "Golf Club" and the sequel are relentlessly punishing. Make a small mistake, and you'll pay for it.
Be prepared to misjudge a lot of putts and struggle to chip onto the green to set up quality birdie opportunities. It does feel at times like you're left to guess a little too much, particularly with the putting and chipping, but I've made clear improvement in both areas since first playing.
"The Golf Club 2" is very hard — courses with faster greens and more hazards tend to feel especially unfair — but so is the sport of golf. In that regard, it feels like the game actually has gotten it right. There's naturally a sense that things should come easier, that the game should be more forgiving, but that's largely due to the more arcade-style slant other popular golf games have taken in the past to appeal to a wider demographic.
I found myself far too often literally shielding my eyes because I didn't want to see the tragedy happening on the screen. I've wanted to shut off the console in frustration or throw the controller at times. Yet, after those moments passed, I kept playing. It's a testament to how good the game is that those emotional reactions are able to be overcome.
The presentation for "The Golf Club 2" has improved only marginally. Visually, the game is just passable, suffering from some pop-in and framerate slowdown during transitions. Where the game really shines, though, is in the Course Creator, which carries over from the original but has received an expanded range of options.
The Course Creator is extremely robust, and the best part is those that have already been designed in the first game are carried over to the sequel. All the courses are shareable, across both consoles and PC, meaning there will never be a shortage of new courses to try and completely unique designs with which to experiment. Created courses also can be selected as events within the seasons of Career Mode.
While the game may often be agonizing to play, there's just something about "The Golf Club 2" that draws you back in with the hope that you'll perform better on the next hole or the next round. It offers a pure simulation experience with an addictive quality that is undeniable.
"The Golf Club 2" will resonate better with experienced and patient gamers due to its difficulty, but those who stick with the game will almost certainly feel rewarded for doing so.
The Golf Club 2 was reviewed on PlayStation 4 and is also available on Xbox One and PC for $40 (or discounted to $32 for those with Amazon Prime). A code for download was provided by the publisher for the purposes of review.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is co-founder of the sports gaming site HitThePass.com, hosts the "Press Row Podcast" and can be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.