worldgolftour.com vs. EA's Tiger Woods
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 On 03/11/2013 at 01:46 AM by Raised_on_Nintendo See More From This User » |
A couple of my buddies have been playing golf at wgt.com, home of the free World Golf Tour web browser game, and now I've been hooked on it the past few days.
Golf is one of those sneaky favorites of mine. It's one of those sports that's always translated well to video game adaptation. The first golf game I really got into was Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf for the Sega Genesis. Since then, it seems I've kept with the genre (Mario Golf, Hot Shotz Golf, various PC iterations) without really noticing.
The advent of Wii's motion controls blew the genre wide open. While most other sports struggle to yield an intuitive waggle replica, golf is a perfect fit. I've been playing Tiger Woods 2012 for the past year and, to me, it's the most realistic golf sim ever released on a gaming console. Not only that, its realistic swing mechanics put TW'12 in a class of its own above and beyond its sports niché. It's the pinnacle of what motion gaming should be, if everything was as naturally translatable as golf.
When I signed up at WGT and started playing I immediately went to work analyzing the interface and comparing it to Tiger Woods. What is WGT, exactly, and is it better than or comparable to Tiger Woods?
Gameplay
The first point I should make is that once you experience golf with motion controls and like it, there is no going back! That isn't to say that I don't like or recommend WGT, but it should be considered a different category of video golf.
The control mechanic of WGT is a slightly streamlined rehash of the classic triple-click meter manipulation variant:
Click to start the meter.
Click to stop the meter at the desired power level.
Click a third and final time to set the accuracy.
This method, dating back to at least the late 80's, is quite solid and practical, which is why it's since been copied by almost every single non-motion controlled golf game. WGT makes it even friendlier by morphing the first 2 clicks into a click-and-drag approach. Simply click the appropriate point on the screen, start dragging until the meter is where you want it to be, then release. Ultimately, the way it feels in practice is like a new one-click system, that one click being the ever-so-important accuracy modifier click.
This is where the line between motion controls and non is distinctly drawn. A stroke is not errant due to a poor swing, but an improperly timed click, which feels shallow and unjust. This is especially true for veterans like me who believe that returning to click golf controls is a devolution from a superior overall mechanic in motion controls. An entire round of great golf can be ruined by a few bad clicks, and that feels so 2005 to me.
At any rate, that's the last comparison I'll make between WGT and motions controls. I think the point is clear. Motion controls aside, the one-click method, which I believe to be an improvement over the 3-click, is the absolute crux of this game. No matter how efficient one may be at calculating distance, wind, slope, spin, etc. that final mouse click is the difference between birdies and bogies, and quite frankly, is repetitive when the going gets bleak. A few consecutive shanks during a close round had me singing for motion controls, cursing the clickinator.
Presentation / Feel
WGT 's presentation is commendable. It's the most polished non-polyganal click golf game I ever played, and what I call the "Google Street View" version of golf. I imagine similar technology was employed while capturing the images of the numerous playable real life courses they host. The downside to this is that everything is completely static. There's no animation other than your player, which is limited, and the ball. The wheat does not blow in the breeze. The clouds are locked forever in time. Nary the sweet melody of a barn swallow nor the soothing whisper of waves crest is heard. Rain? What's rain? I've yet to see any. Tiger Woods feels much more organic in this regard, and superior overall.
Despite the quiet, hallow staticness of the game, the ball physics are quite remarkable. The ball always reacts to various hazards and slopes as it should, which keeps pace with Tiger Woods.
The game seems very hard at first. Noobs start out with bottom tier equipment and no way to immediately upgrade for free. It took a few rounds of grappling with the lack of spin and meter control before I could land a par. In comparison, my buddy who'd already upgraded a few things had a distinct distance and control advantage over me, as he should. After a day of solid practice, though, I was able to compete, and eventually beat him a few times using only my starter gear. It's all about the clicks!
Community Functions
WGT's main selling point for me is its robust community feature set. You maintain your own account, avatar, freinds list, and can create tournaments, mutliplayer matches, and virtual country clubs for your friends to join. WGT also tracks every action you make, so its easy to track your friends progress and compare stats, or invite them to a round if they're online.
WGT also keeps it interesting by employing the obligatory level system that rewards stellar play - starting from Hack, to Amateur, all the way to Legend - and unlocks various trophies and superior equipment. Also tracked is every relevant golf stat you can think of, which adds another layer of competitor's ego to the argument over who's greatest.
Microtransaction / Credit Grinding
Given its free-to-play model, WGT employs its own in-game currency system to generate revenue. Enhancements to a golfer may only be made by purchasing better equipment via WGT credits. Do not expect to rack up free currency simply by playing golf for hours on end. I finally earned 50 free credits (50 cents) after reaching level 20, which was my first promotion, from Hack to Amateur. This method is not plausible, and would only net a few hundred credits after reaching the level cap, not enough to purchase anything impactful.
WGT's a fun game, and frugile players inevitably demand a way to upgrade their golfer and still play for free. This demand is met by the dark underbelly of WGT: free credits dangled like carrots on a stick by online marketing research companies.
On my fourth day of playing I decided I'd stick with WGT for a while, and devised a plan to upgrade my character without spending any money. In order to upgrade, I'd have to subject myself to WGT's vast list of free credit offerings.
I have to say that WGT does well in masking this end of business. I imagine they earn a worthy slice of revenue by pimping out free credits alone. While offers to earn free credits (fill out surveys and other mundane tasks) are subtly linked on almost every page, it's really not thrown in your face in a way that cheapens the experience. It doesn't come off as desperate, but controlled, and, quite frankly, extensive. I recommend creating a new email account for exclusive use in this regard, to help control any possible spam. I was able to rack up over 900 credits in about 2 hours time. My target is around 1300 for a virtual putter I'd like to purchase. There are scores of offers, but the amount that can be earned can be tapped out quickly in one day. It's not likely somene can earn much more than 1000 free credits in one day before the pickin's become slim and it makes more sense to wait a few days for new offers to appear.
Grinding out those surveys was a bit of a headache, and is like a very bad game within a very good one. There are ways for savvy web surfers to speed up the process, multitasking their way to faster credit accumulation. There's just really nothing enjoyable about it other than the free credits.
Honestly, WGT feels geared on the difficult side to compel demand for purchasing upgrades. There are upgrades for every variable and at every feasible price point. For example, the meter used to track your swing has no sign of measurement at all. It doesn't have 25%, 50%, 75% markers. It moves very fast (without upgrades) and must be judged with the naked eye. For a slight fee, however, one may purchase the ability to display those markers for a limited time. To counter that, I created my own by hand and taped it to my monitor. It works great, and has helped me tighten up my margin of error.
Another example. I'm at level 25 and still without an upgrade of any kind. To be fair, it took only 4 days, but even if I had enough currency, or broke down and decided to pay, my level is still too low to purchase anything of worthwhile boost. I need to reach level 45 before I can purchase clubs that meet my standard of improvement for meter speed and spin control.
Lastly, credits may also be earned by scoring well in one of WGT's dozens of public tournaments. There's a vast selection to choose from with both free and pay entry formats. Players looking for competition of a higher caliber against a larger audience may enter these and win credits for finishing in the upper ranks.
Overall
There's a lot more about WGT to explore than I'm able to mention here. It's not a perfect interface, but even when a game is interupted due to browser crash, the site remembers where you left off and you can continue from there. There are some other neat features like being able to save up to 10 replays (check out this nice putt) which can be accessed from your profile page.
Overall, I endorse WGT as a solid golf game. It requires a bit of grinding to upgrade for free, which tempts a player to make a purchase, but one could say it also helps the game's longevity and forces a player to improve early. Yes, the site has ads, but they never really spoil the experience of playing the game or surfing the community. There is one ad you are forced to watch before each round, but once you've started it's as legit as any other golf game.
The fact that my friends are playing it and that it serves such a broad potential user base (anyone with decent OS can play) gives it some legs, and the fanciful pontential of just how deep the experience may go once I've gotten some upgrades under my belt and can compete at a higher level has me intrigued enough to moonlight on its sexier sister, Tiger Woods, every now and then.
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