Links (XBox) - Too Easy?

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:29 am

Hey guys.....I know I am late on this bandwagon, but I just tried Links last night for the 1st time. I tried some single player and it seems like the game will be very easy once I get chipping and putting down. I only played on the middle difficulty, so I am hoping the highest difficulty is going to present a good challenge. It was almost impossible to miss a fairway or hit a bad approach shot. I haven't tried online play yet, so I hope that's the saving grace. I just wasn't overly impressed so far. I thought that it was VERY similiar to Tiger Woods for the PS2. I think that TW for the PC is much more challenging of a game, but we'll see as I play more.

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:48 am

Play on advanced. I never took a single swing, other than the tutorials, on any level other than advanced.

Play with some harder pin positions, and a bit of wind. Or play with it wet. Sunny, easy, no-wind and yes.. the game is relatively easy.

And, as you get further along in the career, it does get pretty hard to beat people.

And yes, like a lot of games, playing online is a total blast. My copy of Links is lent out right now. I'll get it back and we can play sometime soon.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed May 12, 2004 12:08 pm

JamesE is spot-on, as usual. There's a HUGE difference between Advanced and the other skill levels. Don't waste your time with any skill level lower than Advanced.

Take care,
PK

vinny-b · Post by **vinny-b** » Wed May 12, 2004 12:27 pm

i do not follow golf.

but this game looks fun.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed May 12, 2004 12:38 pm

Sure Jamie, I would love to play u online sometime. let me know....

I will try tonite on advanced level and see if that's better. I just wish it
wasn't so darn easy to hit the ball straight! The mouse swing in TW2004
is unmatched in that respect. I wish the game came with a "sensitivity" setting for the analog stick swing. Kind of like the "steering" sensitivity in driving games.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Wed May 12, 2004 12:38 pm

pk500 wrote:JamesE is spot-on, as usual. There's a HUGE difference between Advanced and the other skill levels. Don't waste your time with any skill level lower than Advanced.

Take care,
PK

If you are experienced at Golf games, even the Advanced difficulty becomes too easy at some point. Scores in the high 40's and low 50's are now commonplace from what I am seeing on the leaderboards and forums. This is very typical of Golf games in general...once you master the interface, it is difficult to maintain a sustained challenge online or offline....

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Wed May 12, 2004 12:55 pm

Ahh yes.. the scores in the 40s and 50s. Those MUST be with players with dozens of skill points. Another key to enjoying Links to the fullest is to keep at least one of your players with low skill points. I think anything more than 20 and the game gets too easy. Of course, for the career mode you might want to keep maxing skill points to get through it.

I personally usually play my rounds, even online, with a player who has 7-14 skill points. You will not shoot in the 40s or even likely the 50s with this type of player.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed May 12, 2004 1:31 pm

Good call, James. I have a seven-point player that I used for James' fun "Skills7" DSP tournaments, and I also have a player with 24 points or so that I've built in the Career mode.

When I feel the game's challenge is minimal with the 24-point player, I use the seven-point player on Championship tees, tough greens and plenty of wind. The challenge returns immediately.

Take care,
PK

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Wed May 12, 2004 1:45 pm

I'm looking forward to checking out Links now that I have an XBox, but I'm still having alot of fun in the PGA Tour mode in TW04 (PS2) by leaving my created golfer's attributes at 10% and turning OFF the caddy tips. Through about 40 events my best round ever was a 61 at Scottsdale. My average score is 70.5, good for 30th place on the tour. Sometimes just making the cut is a challenge (I've missed quite a few). Currently after two rounds at a tourney at Bay Hill I'm tied for first at -8. Can't wait to play round three tonight.

J_Cauthen · Post by **J_Cauthen** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:32 pm

James and PK's points about reducing the skill points of your player is valid. I have a 23 point player that yields a satisfying challenge for me in Advanced level. I can play with a 7 point player, but I'm subject to having some gross shanks and toes with him... I'm talking two fairways over type shanks!

I scratch my head when I hear these guys complain about how easy the game is, and they're playing with 70+ skill point players!? As unskilled as I am at this game, I would rule most of these courses with 70 skill points. It' sickens me to see these cats carry tee shots 320+ yards routinely, and then complain because the game is too easy! My 23 point guy averages about 275 off the tee and I wouldn't want any more than that for most of the courses.

I think most mortals could tailor a player that would give them a challenge in the Advanced level, but they may not be happy with the distance and trajectories of the shots they'll be playing. I'm perfectly content with it from that aspect. I just think it needs some overhauling in the chipping and putting areas, but what console golf game doesn't?

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Wed May 12, 2004 11:19 pm

John,

I don't know how many points my character is but all I have touched is the power "bar" so he can hit it about PGA tour distance. Right now it's about 290 and I think that's good enough. The rest of my stats are at 0 or 1 or whatever the lowest setting is.

I still find I can shoot pretty low even with that type of player.

J_Cauthen · Post by **J_Cauthen** » Thu May 13, 2004 2:22 am

JRod wrote:John,

I don't know how many points my character is but all I have touched is the power "bar" so he can hit it about PGA tour distance. Right now it's about 290 and I think that's good enough. The rest of my stats are at 0 or 1 or whatever the lowest setting is.

I still find I can shoot pretty low even with that type of player.

I'd say you're a cut above the average gamer then. I couldn't break 80 with skill points like that. I have a problem keeping my thumbstick on track with the angle that my thumb operates it from. I usually have one or two purely muffed shots per round because of it... even with 23+ skill points (and I concentrate mine in control for this reason).

Now, I can avoid the muffed shots by holding the gamepad in a manner where my thumb is parallel with the y axis. When I do this I feel awkward having to maintain this posture... it's not the relaxing experience I want out of the gaming experience, therefore I just kick back and use the old 45 degree thumb angle approach, knowing I'm going to hack a few shots in the process.