Everybody’s Golf VR on the original PSVR made it clear that VR golf is way more fun than real golf, but it was just a touch too serious. I want to hit golf balls at a hole, not worry about the wind. I mean the natural world is safely on the other side of the wall. I am in VR to not worry about all that faff.
Fortunately Walkabout Mini Golf is here on PSVR2 to bring you the chaos of mini golf, frustration and all.
So easy to control
I chose the word control here very specifically. The game is so damn simple, only utilizing one controller. You use the joystick to move around, either warping, walking, or flying, and as you only have to worry about one club, you just swing it. That easy. Well that easy to control.
The most annoying thing about mini golf is hitting the ball way harder than you thought, or not hard enough, or so that it circles the cup and comes out the other side further away than when you started. That latter one was far too real an experience for me.
The other thing that makes the game super easy to play is the putter extends automatically. So if you are tall, short, standing, or crouching, the club just extends or shrinks making it super easy to play.
One minor annoyance is that if you are lining up your shot and turn your head to look at the hole, sometimes when your head goes back the club goes a bit haywire. This is because the cameras in the unit lose sight of the controller, so a hardware limitation, not a game one.
Heaps of insane maps
In the base game you get eight courses. Each has 18 holes and puts you in different places like a pirate wreck, to a relaxing garden. In the DLC you can ramp up the chaos to movie settings like being in the submarine in 20000 Leagues Under the Sea. Every map comes with a difficult version where it may add new obstacles or remove things that helped your ball stay on the green.
What is truly amazing is how creative the holes can be. You can be shooting the ball into pipes, over rocks, down stairs, etc. The DLC takes it to another level, but in the base game there is heaps of variety to enjoy.
On top of this, every hole has a hidden golf ball to find which will give you a new design to use for your ball. And then there is a treasure hunt on each map where you can unlock some new golf clubs. It’s the simple things, but man I found myself spending more time looking for the lost balls than I want to admit.
Simple graphics with advanced physics
The game has a very simple blocky art style. It’s fine, and certainly gives the game some stylistic charm. What this probably helps a lot with is the game’s physics. A course for instance may have rocks for a perimeter around the green. These odd shapes mean a ball bounce can bounce back at weird angles, or in some very annoying cases, hit too hard may ramp off the rock and straight past the stairs into the river.
More fun with friends
As a single player game, Walkabout Mini Golf justifies its place comfortably. As a multiplayer game it excels. I played a few games with some friends and that might be the most fun I have had in a multiplayer game in a long time. Each player has their turns, and when you aren’t playing you can move around the map to watch, or look for lost golf balls.
It is funny as hell watching your friends avatar heads float around with a floating golf club as you play, and the hunt for lost balls was heaps more fun as a group. The little things that make the game so much more than it could have been.
With the exception of the lack of a lobby, meaning we had to keep rejoining games, it was a damn seamless experience. If your friends own the DLC then you can jump right in and play with them which is cool as hell. You can’t nab any of the lost balls if you don’t own the DLC, but in every other way it’s fully functional.
The golf game you need
With the exception of the art style being hit and miss at times, I really don’t have any complaints about Walkabout Mini Golf. The holes are fun, the gameplay is easy, and with friends it is next level excellent.
There aren't many games like this I would recommend this hard. It's just pure fun, solo or in a group!
