The Total Pro Golf games (TPG) are unlike most text based sports simulations in that you aren’t managing a team. In fact you can make the case that the real joy of playing a text sim is assuming the role of general manager and wheeling a dealing to get the team you want on the field. In many of these types of simulations, the actual games are an afterthought –it’s behind the scenes where the action is. The opposite is true in TPG; here it’s the action on the course that is the main focal point. There are no free agents to sign or blockbuster trades to make…it’s your golfer against the world as you climb the ladder from the small tours to the big time.
This focus on the individual player is both a blessing and a curse. In many ways the game plays like a sports-themed role-playing game in that the goal is to shape and craft your avatar – assigning weekly tasks and playing in weekend competitions to hone their skill. TPG was designed for the long haul so if you jump in with both feet you are going to get extremely familiar with your golfer to the point that you know what he or she is capable of doing on the course – but getting to this level takes a lot of time. This is not a game that will immediately grab you; you have to stick with it to reveal what it’s all about. Once you get to the point where your golfer can compete at a high level without firing an 80 (which happens an awful lot when you first start playing in the minor league tours) the game becomes surprisingly compelling.
That’s not to say that there are no numbers to worry about or basic manger duties to deal with. There are actually quite a few balls to juggle from worrying about sponsorships, managing your weekly endurance (too much practice can kill a man, after all) – you can even pick the type of clubs and balls to use. Your bankroll, particularly when you first start out playing on the low end tour, is a huge concern because you need to make money otherwise the game ends and you go back to washing dishes at the Waffle House. You have weekly expenses to worry about: your coach and caddie don’t work for free hot dogs at the clubhouse, after all. So there are things to concern yourself with off the course, but admittedly it’s not as fun as making a great trade or drafting a sleeper in the third round. That’s not the game’s fault; behind the scenes on the PGA tour is what it is.
Your golfer is rated in several categories from the basics like power and putting to also in more nebulous areas like mental and consistency. A lot goes into the make-up of your player and you can easily access what his numbers are at anytime during the game. The potential ratings, however, are hidden (unless you want to play the cheese ball way and change this option). Not knowing how good your player can be in a certain area makes for a much better and intensely more interesting experience. After you play several years, you might reach the conclusion that your golfer just can’t putt worth a damn and no amount of practice is going to change that. It’s a deflating feeling to realize that you have hit the proverbial wall.
On the course, the game hits and misses and again most of it isn’t the fault of the game or the design but rather the subject matter. Do you enjoy watching the second round of the Hartford Open? Would you enjoy watching the second round of the Hartford Open if the TV coverage only showed the guys that were going to fail to make the cut? When you're sitting on the 7th tee on Saturday at +10 over Par…turn out the lights, the party is over. Thankfully, the game has a sim to the end feature; it’s like a mercy killing. When the round blows up in your face, you need a quick exit strategy.
The gameplay itself has a few interesting new tweaks. One of which is the tri-click swing method which for a text sim is an interesting design decision. It’s basically like a standard golf game meter and is surprisingly fun to use. It’s a bit less sim minded so if you want to play your rounds solely on the ratings of your player, your judgment for club length and wind determination, then you should stick with the old format of choosing a swing type, aiming, and letting it rip. The game does a fantastic job of incorporating wind, lie, and other basic factors (like say...pressure) into each swing. You need to be able to judge how much club to use given the conditions which is nowhere near as easy as it sounds.
There are still some hiccups – the ball still plugs into the ground without any roll. This isn’t a huge deal but it would add some drama to see the ball roll closer and closer to a bunker or the water hazard and you have no idea when it’s finally going to stop. As is, once it lands, it’s done. It’s still tricky to get a feel when you are behind a tree as to how high it is and what you need to do to get out. Your caddie is rarely any help here, either. In fact, the caddie system needs a bit of work as the advice is way too generic and repetitive.
Still, playing the game is fast and fun; you can get through 18 holes in about 15-20 minutes. Just like last year, TPG 2 is the ideal lunch break at work game. You can play for 30 minutes and get a lot done.
