REVIEW: Golf Club: Wasteland on Xbox

Note: I updated "the bad" on my review, after playing the game some more, I realised I was a tad too harsh - 03/10/21

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

We are in a post-apocalyptic world. The elites have run away to Mars, and only return to Earth to play a round of golf. And you are one of those people, so what do you get if you mix a 2D golf game with a narrative driven adventure game? Well, you get Golf Club Wasteland.

You play across 35 holes, each one has its own little story and puzzle to complete to make the perfect shot.

As you play you will see some familiar landmarks, and some not so familiar ones, all crumbling in this post-apocalyptic world. While playing if you see a pipe, send the ball down it for a nice shortcut.

Now I did mention that this is more than just a golf game, it is a narrative driven adventure, so each hole does tell a story, this is done not just through the visual aspect of the hole, but also through diary entries that you unlock, comics that you will read after finishing the hole, but also through the radio station that plays in the background. Everything is nicely connected to tell you the story of what is going on, and what has happened in the past. I am not gonna talk too much about the plot, the story, as a lot of the enjoyment of the game is unlocking it all, and opening your mind to everything that has happened.

There are plenty of pop culture moments that are instantly recognisable, and some adult humour thrown in too.

And if you decide to play over again to get achievements, there are some nice tricky shots you need to pull off to get them. Adding a nice extra challenge.

The soundtrack is really good, and after completing the story you can even download the songs through a helpfully provided QR code! A very nice touch.

There are 3 modes of golf that you can play, think of them as Easy, Medium and Hard. Easy mode is all about the story, and is not concerned with how many shots you take, Medium gives you a Par score to try to beat, and Hard or Iron Mode is simply put, no room for error.

You will probably start playing the story mode, and when you have completed the game, you will want to then try to play it again but by beating the Par score for each level. I've yet to complete the Iron Mode yet.

The game is incredibly easy to pick up and play and has a nice learning curve, but there are harder levels that are followed by easier ones and then back to harder, so you do have some nice variance on the difficulty, the way you play the golf shots is also very simple, aim and press power. It takes a bit of getting used to, but soon enough you will be playing the perfect shot to progress through each level.

The Good

The visuals and story are great, everything is very well put together.

The Bad

I decided I was too harsh on "the bad" when I first wrote this review, so after playing the game some more I wanted to come back with an update. I previously said that the golfing aspect let this game down, I think I was wrong, the golfing aspect is perfectly fine, and it does fit in well within the narrative of the game.

Overall

A fun game that I enjoyed. Plenty to see and enjoy. With a satisfying ending too, and lots of fun achievements to get, when you play through again.

I score Golf Club: Wasteland a strong 8/10

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff