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2 Smileys - 1 Smiley Poor, 5 Smileys Excellent
Platforms: Mac OS, Windows 9x/NT (Microsoft)
History
Golf is one of those unique human activities that incite strong emotion in people -- both those that love it and those that hate it. George Carlin once called it a "...boring, elitist game..." and went on to characterize, in no uncertain terms, the type of people that play it. He suggested that it was a huge waste of real estate that could be better used as housing for the homeless. For myself, I remember having to learn the game in high school. As sports went, it was easier than some others (track, football, etc.) in that it was just a question of whacking a ball around in the grass. No physical contact required, no running until you wanted to throw up, no climbing a stupid rope up to the ceiling. A simple game. A simple game -- the same has been said of chess, and we all know what a lie that is! Like chess, golf requires technique, strategy, and practice, practice, practice. I gave up the real game a long time ago (what semester did that gym class end?), but golf sims have kept the game alive for me since then. Many years ago, I fell in love with a game for the Apple IIgs called "Zany Golf." It was the miniature golf game from Hell, and it was awesome. Since then, I've played "Gopher Golf" and "Jack Nicklaus 4." But always, there was this longing for Links, the grandaddy of all golf sims.
The Game
Links LS 2000 for the Macintosh has almost the same, obscure history as the real game of golf. For those unfamiliar with it, the game dates back almost 20 years, to the early computer days of the 80s. Since then, advances in graphics and multimedia have allowed sims to flourish, and Links is no exception. Links for the Mac has an even more convoluted history. Originally a Microsoft program, it has changed hands to MacSoft, with credit also being given to Green Dragon Creations for the translation of Links to the Mac. Yet during the game, it is a Microsoft logo plastered across the blimp that slides in and out of some scenes. And the About Box shows Microsoft as the creator of the game.
Gameplay The game is extremely detailed -- almost too much so for beginners or casual players. You can choose from 3 different swing options: Easy, Classic, Powerstroke, change your stance and grip, and rotate your golfer 360 degrees. In addition, there are the usual golf sim options to change clubs, aim your shot, etc. There are also six real world class courses that you can play on: St. Andrews Links (Old Course, Jubilee Course, and the New Course), Mauna Kea, Covered Bridge, and Hapuna. Once you've decided what famous course to play, you have a dozen different players to choose from, including Arnold Palmer and Fuzzy Zoeller. By choosing the "Quick Start" feature, beginners can skip much of the setup and jump directly into the game, as Arnold Palmer. From that point, game play is fairly straightforward and enjoyable.
Graphics and Audio
The graphics in Links are beautiful -- and much better than the demo! The demo was plagued by visible screen redraws and other problems, but the finished product has overcome most of these. And there are a ton of options available to you with the graphics. You may choose from multiple camera angles to view your shot. Also, change the sky to fit your mood. Customizable "skyscapes" allow you to create the perfect day for your perfect game of golf. Video quality is outstanding, and supports resolutions up to 1880x1440 at millions of colors. The audio has improved as much as the video, with commentary from CBS announcers and of course, the expected roar of the crowd is there too.
Extras
Included with the game are some movies that include travelogue-style promos for the Hawaiian resorts featured in the game (Mauna Kea and Hapuna), an interview with Fuzzy Zoeller, and information about the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and St. Andrews. The movies about St. Andrews and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club were very interesting and provided some history and information about those institutions. There are also some lessons on using Links (aiming, swinging, etc.) and other golfer animations than the standard 4 (Arnold Palmer, Fuzzy, Male 1 and Female 1). There is also a "System Information" option that will test your hard drive, CD, memory transfer rates, and your video mode speed. I usually keep my iMac set at maximum resolution, and noticed some jerkiness and pixelation of the animation, but not enough to give it a poor grade. The program also features display, sound, and other controls that left me feeling a bit shell shocked. It simply has too many options for my taste.
Problems The user interface is non-standard for a Mac application. By comparison, the folks at Accolade did a much better job with "Jack Nicklaus." Links has no Mac menu bar (you can get it back by moving the pointer to the top of the screen and holding it there, but it has nothing useful), takes full control of your screen, hides the control strip (a big no-no in my book) and moves the menus to the bottom of the screen in permanent "auto-hide" mode (can you say, "Windows task bar?"). A feature that Links has that seems to have gotten out of hand is the "cams." You can have forward and rear landing cams that show your ball's landing, a chat cam that lets you carry on chat during online play, a top view of the hole you are playing, and many others. If you choose too many of these options, you clutter your screen with extra windows and further slow down a game that moves slowly anyway. So much of the game data is on CD (there are 3) that even with a basic install that takes up 300+ MB of your hard drive, transitions between holes and even players can be tedious. Because of this, the game's network play options don't lend themselves to a quick online game. More about online play later. You can choose to install all of courses to speed up game play, but that will eat lots of hard drive space. The online help is pretty detailed, and seems to contain most everything that is in the manual, but there are some inconsistencies. For example, you can send short voice chat messages during network play, but the manual refers to a "Voice Chat button" but does not show a picture of the chat window with the various controls marked out so you can find it. Another chat option, "Chat Strings" allows you to assign frequent comments to key combinations to transmit them quickly. The problem with this is that the window assigns "Alt/1" through "Alt/0" to those key combos (when the Mac has no "Alt" key) and using the Option key didn't work (as it usually does in ported programs).
For some reason, the WAV files that tried to play after a shot were cut off when the post shot dialog box popped up. And those dialogs were slow in accepting a click on the "Continue" button -- frequently they needed to be clicked twice. Lastly, the program seemed to not recognize its own CD's. Playing the audio hole descriptions required me to find the Links data CD each time and was very annoying. Also, the multimedia option, to view the movies that are included, had problems recognizing the third CD unless it was already in the drive. Ejecting the second CD and replacing it with the third was not sufficient for the game to find the disk -- it kept telling me it was the wrong disk.
Online Play The brightest spot in all of this was the GameRanger software that was included with the program. GameRanger is a Mac-only game add-on that supports Internet play of many Mac games, including Quake, Rogue Spear, and others. GameRanger's interface reminds me a lot of the Mac Hotline client, with lists of online users, current games, and a large chat window. You can update lists of game servers and initiate games from GameRanger (you cannot initiate a GameRanger session from Links, however). I was able to initiate games with other Links owners via GameRanger, and once I learned the various chat options, was able to enjoy playing online. However, when I tried to use the voice chat option, Links froze my iMac and I had to restart. I looked this problem up in the online help, and it said my microphone was not selected in the Sound control panel (it was). GameRanger is a free download from the GameRanger web site, and includes plug-ins for most Mac games that support network play. I highly recommend that you stop by and download the software!
Overall MacSoft's technical support link jumps to the Infogrames support website and all that you find is a short list of FAQ's, including how to clean the CD if it's dirty. Given these options (none), I was unable to determine if the problems I experienced were due to the game or if the game was having compatibility problems with Mac OS 9.1. Both I and my opponent, who helped out by playing Links with me, are frequent "Jack Nicklaus" players. It was our general feeling that Links suffers from slow load times, is clunky, and has obvious bits of debris left from its Windows origins. If you are a hard-core golfer who likes tinkering with the rules, options, and your shots, Links will be a fairly good choice. However, if you are a casual golfer who likes getting into the game quickly and don't want 18 holes to take 2 hours to play, I recommend "Jack Nicklaus 4," which, oddly enough, is now owned by MacSoft also, though it is no longer listed on their site under "Products." Take a look at your local Mac store and see if you can find it in the cutouts. At last report, it cost $9.99 and included a course designer so you can make your own courses. You can also find a great many courses for Jack 4 at Accolade's ftp site. Links, on the other hand, requires you to buy new courses. After much anticipation, Links was not "all that." I don't want to knock MacSoft for this, as they are doing a great job of providing Mac games. But this is one game that could not shake off its Windows roots and stand by itself as a great Mac game. For me, Jack is still "da man!"
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Title
The
origin of golf is uncertain, but we do know that it has existed in some
form or another since Roman times. Scotland, however, has been the acknowledged
home of golf since the establishment of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club
in 1754. Links LS 2000 pays homage to this history when the game starts,
with a digital year counter that starts in the 16th century and zooms
up to 2000.
