PGA Championship Golf 2000
Score: 95% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Sierra Sports Developer: Headgate Studios Media: CD/2 Players: 1 - 8 Genre: Sports
Graphics & Sound: I have played many PC golf games in the past, but Sierra Sports' PGA Championship Golf 2000 definitely takes the cake! The graphics are extremely well rendered in this title. In fact, the player animation is what makes it stand out from the rest. You even have the option of having your created players change outfits each day! HA! In a lot of golf games, the music and sound fx get annoying and repetitive. Not in this one, however. Yeah, the announcers will repeat themselves, but there are an unbelievable number of responses that they throw at you, making for a realistic TV-style presentation. Ambient sounds (birds, wind, water, etc.) are also very crisp and clear as you make your way through the course.
Gameplay: WOW! I have never, ever seen the number of options in any other golf title as there are in PGA Championship Golf 2000! Seriously. If you golf in real life with some buddies and play mini-games, you can't go wrong here. While looking through the list, it is hard to notice anything not there. You can play anything from straight match play golf to fourball to scrambles. And, if that's not enough for you, you can even play mini-games to heat up the competition! The in game experience in itself is a wonder. Fast load times and true to life physics give PGA Championship Golf 2000 a great feel. You can also choose between the standard 3-click swing meter or Sierra's TrueSwing 3 technology, where you use the mouse's ball to thrust your golfer into motion. This is very tricky, however, and it will take a TON of practice to master. I prefer the 3-click method, and even that is hard to master. Of course, golf is fun to play by yourself as you try to improve your game, but wouldn't it be fun to knock down a few birdies against some buds? Well, you soon can. Invite 'em over (single computer or multiple computers via IPX/LAN) or hit the links via the Internet, it's up to you. If you choose the latter, connect to
Difficulty: This is up to you and your clubs. The first thing you have to do is master the swing. I recommend hitting the driving range with different clubs. The hardest part I have come across is the chipping and putting...making this a true simulation. As far as I can tell, green speeds are affected by what type of grass is planted, so you will have to get a feel for each course as you play. There are no gimmies in PGA Championship Golf 2000. Practice makes perfect. Drive for show, and put for dough. Noonan. (Just had to throw that one in there a la Caddy Shack.) Deserving a section by itself, the Course Architect will not be easy at first. Experimentation is the key to designing a successful course. The interface of this program may seem overwhelming, but I assure you that it as simple as it can be made. I actually wish there had been a few more terrain manipulation tools, but everything that is essential is included. Everything is point and click compatible, and everything from terrain to trees to houses can be manipulated to your satisfaction.
Game Mechanics: As with any past golf games, PGA Championship Golf 2000 has a simple interface and anyone should be able to jump right in and play. Using the mouse, you can swing at the ball with either the standard 3-click method or Sierra's TrueSwing 3 technology (similar to spinning the ball on the famous Golden Tee arcade golf game, only using your mouse). You will be able to customize nearly everything in PGA Championship Golf 2000 to get you on the road to being a PGA Tour Pro. The absolute only downfall to this game is that there are no real-life professionals to choose from. In the Course Architect, the relatively simple interface will have you creating your own designs with some practice. Be warned, however. I have had the Architect crash on me several times, which made my files corrupt. I believe the problem was that you need optimize the terrain frequently, which essentially will dither less frequently seen graphics, making the file size smaller. And don't forget to save your progress often, and with multiple file names! I can't say this enough. Had I not saved to multiple files, I would have had to start from scratch after the crashes. Because of these crashes, I was not able to give PGA Championship Golf 2000 a perfect score... but on the merit of the golf game itself, I would definitely recommend this game to anyone that likes to play golf on a rainy day!
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
Minimum System Requirements: 166 (PII 233); 32MB (64MB) RAM; 4x (8x) CD ROM; 150MB (200MB) free Hard Drive space; Mouse; SVGA 800x600 (1024x768) @32K colors video resolution; Windows compatible Sound Card with Wave capability; Internet or LAN connection for remote multi-player games (can play on one computer also)   Test System: Pentium II 400MHz CPU; Windows 98 (upgrade version); 128MB 100MHz SDRAM; Quantum's Raven 16MB 3D-Accellerator AGP Video Card; Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card; DirectX 7.0a; using Hewlett Packard CD-Writer Plus 9100 (reads 32x, writes 8x, rewrites 4x) as main CD-ROM; 1 gameport; 2 USB ports; Saitek's P2000 Tilt Pad (*USB*/gameport connection); 500kbs Cable Modem
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