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by Arcee on 12.28.11  Have you ever come across a game on the Android Market that kind of just calls out to you to purchase? I normally don’t play games on my smartphone; no real big reason as to why, I just don’t quite like playing handheld games; but earlier this month I happened upon a “freemium” game that has me quite hooked on it. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter at all, you may have seen numerous post and updates recently regarding Let’s Golf 3 HD from Gameloft. I have been playing the game consistently for a couple of weeks now and can’t quite seem to put the game down. There is something simply addicting about Let’s Gold 3 – it kind of reminds me of the old Hot Shots Golf series. The simple yet challenging gameplay, colorful characters and courses and the childlike whimsical nature of the game have that perfect blend that seems to call out to fan of that series in me and has me playing for hours on end. Thankfully I have my phone charger with me wherever I go…
If you are at all familiar with Hot Shots Golf, you already know what to expect from Let’s Golf 3. But for those of you who are not, here is the quick gist of it. It is a humorous and whimsical take on the game of golf full of caricatured characters, challenging and hilarious courses and full of color to accentuate the arcade nature of the game. There was just enough of a challenge so that players felt compelled to try and beat the game but was not so challenging that they would not want to finish. In some respects, it was an early “family” game in that every member of the family could easily pick up and play the game. With that being said, Let’s Golf 3 is very, very similar in many respects, taking many cues from what made Hot Shots popular, borrowing from that, and expanding a bit upon it - and I don’t blame the people at Gameloft one bit. Honestly, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Does that mean that Let’s Golf 3 is an outright clone of the Hot Shots series? Well, yes. They do, however, add in some features that were not present in some of those earlier games I played that really add to the addictive nature of this game. Normally I would ride a company for making clone games… but let’s be honest; pretty much every game out on the market right now is a clone of one game or another. That is not to excuse games for their lack of creativity or lack in new innovations, but I understand what the nature of the business is. Yes, I would have liked for Gameloft to use a more innovative approach to their Let’s Golf series, but for what it is and how fun it is, I don’t mind being just a bit relaxed in how I look at this game. It is that fun.
Adding to the fun are some unique additions to the gameplay that lend themselves to the replayability of Let’s Golf 3. One is something you notice as soon as you complete a hole – the star rating. You can earn from one to three stars on each hole for every course, currently at seven courses, depending on how well you do on each hole. Finish with par and you get one star; finishing one under par gets you two stars; and finishing with birdie or better grants you three stars, depending on what par is for that particular course. Failing to finish par of better grants you no stars and little by way of experience points. The challenge to get three stars on every hole is one that has had me captivated since I first started playing. Another addition is a mini game you will also find on each hole – treasure chest. Finding every treasure chest not only gives you a trophy, but also will help you reach a three star ranking. The mini game plays much like hacky sack with the golf ball and club with you trying to keep the ball in the air for as many commanded strikes as possible. Successfully finishing the mini game places your ball extremely close to the hole while failing to finish the mini game leaves you where you are down one stroke or, worse yet, out of bounds and losing a stroke. I just have one major complaint about Let’s Golf 3… and a minor one. First, the minor one; I have never been, nor will I ever be a fan of games with micro-transactions to get in game items. Sorry, but in my experience, by the time you get everything that you want from the game you end up spending up to double the price of a newly released game. In this case, since the game is free to play and download, you can spend extreme amounts getting everything you want from it. Tallying up everything I want in the game, I came up with a price tag of roughly $130 - for a mobile game. That is all well and good for the publisher, but not the consumer, at least in my eyes. The major complaint that I have is with the treasure chest mini game; sometimes the touch screen is unresponsive and leaves you at a severe disadvantage because your device didn’t register your touch and leaves your ball in some of the worse areas on the course. Aside from that, Let’s Golf 3 is a blast.
Unlike any other mobile game before it, Let’s Golf 3 HD has got my attention as badly as a major FPS release on the major consoles. It’s addicting, challenging and fun gameplay have my glued to my phone day and night when possible trying to reach perfection on the green. While some issues do take away a bit of the fun from the game, the overall experience is way worth the headache. Admittedly, I am not a huge mobile games fan, but Let’s Golf 3 HD is doing a lot to change my perception in that regards. Gameloft has a hit game on their hands and I can’t wait to see what else I can unlock in the game – even if it may cost me way more than the free download to initially get the game.
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