Preview by Jon Donnis
I was asked to join the Beta playtest of Turbo Golf Racing on PC and give my thoughts. Although the game is still in Beta testing, it is very polished.
Now I am sure you have heard of Rocket League, the game where you basically play football with cars and a giant ball. Well Turbo Golf Racing is that but with golf. The comparisons are inevitable, and Turbo Golf Racing has a lot to live up to if it wants to be spoken about in the same breath as that other game. (which I wont mention again).
For people new to the genre, take the quiet, thoughtful, slow game of golf, add a massive ball, and Turbo Powered cars and you have something very interesting and a lot of fun.
Single player mode plays very much like you would expect. Drive as fast as you can at the ball, to hit it to go as far as you can in the direction of the hole. But unlike in golf where each shot takes time to set up, aim etc, here once you have teed off you can chase after the ball, hit it again while it is still moving, all in a mad cap race to sink the ball as quickly as possible.
Time is the issue here, not how many times you hit the ball. Your car has the ability to jump and then dash, slide, drift, boost etc you can control the rotation of your car in the air, you can even glide if you want. When hitting the ball, how you position your car matters, if you hit it while you jump you can get more lift on the ball and so on. As you approach the ball, you will see a directional arrow telling you roughly where the ball will go, which will help you aim the next hit, there are sand pits to avoid, rough grass, and so on.
Your car has a turbo too, which you use in bursts to get more speed, you can collect turbo upgrades to fill your meter, as well as driving on certain areas will recharge your turbo. Watch out also for floating circular boost points, fire your ball through them and it will fly high and fast towards the hole.
Finish the level in a set amount of time to get up to 3 stars, gaining stars unlocks more levels.
The single player mode is fun, and a great way to get to grips with the controls and the courses, but the fun really starts in multiplayer mode.
Up to 8 players can play online at once, each player has their own ball, and you all need to get your ball in the hole the fastest, you are given points depending on your time. Now although you can't hit other people's balls, or ram other players, you can collect rockets and fire them at the enemy. But you will probably be concentrating on your own ball to spend much time doing that, you will most likely pick up a rocket and fire it blindly as you try not to lose your ball.
The courses available so far are all decent, if a bit samey. You will get a zoomed in map of the course as well as a flyover before each race, but a full map would make things easier, so you know where to go, some of the courses are quite long, and although you won't get lost, figuring out where the hole is, can be confusing on a first playthrough. Of course, a relaxing drive around the course to familiarise yourself first is probably worth doing. There are also secret routes to look out for which will help you massively in both single player and multiplayer modes.
You will be able to upgrade our car as you go along, collect in game currency by winning trophies. Each upgrade will improve your car allowing you to hit the ball further, fly fast, and so on. Lots of car customisation available, to give your car its own unique look.
The Good
The game looks and feels very polished, I found no bugs during my time playing. It looks like the game will be regularly updated, with new courses and options. So, there is a long future to this game, as opposed to a limited one.
The Bad
I'd like some better animations when you fly off the track, maybe the car gets destroyed when it hits something etc. Otherwise, the game already feels really good.
Overall
At this point the game is already pretty damned decent, and I have high hopes that it can and will only get better as more content is released for it.
I look forward to the full release, and future updates, when the game is finished, I will give it a score. For now, if you can, try to get on the Beta playtest, you won't be disappointed.
Wishlist it on Steam at
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