Links 2001 and Links Championship have a new physics model that gets even closer to reality. The ball seems to consistently react the way you would expect, and most importantly, it traverses the green surface as it should.
Links Championship comes with 13 courses, more than enough for most gamers. Most of these courses are modelled off real courses, and the course of most interest to Aussies would most likely be the Royal Melbourne Golf Club – yes, an Australian course! However, you’d be hard pressed to determine the made up courses, for they all share an incredible attention to detail.
Graphically, the game is very impressive. The terrain is modelled realistically, the textures are most natural, and with the lighting model in place, the shadowing adds the final touches to the way the course appears, particularly at the short end in the bunkers and around the green.
As an added bonus, the game allows you full use of your graphics card’s capabilities. Seeing Links Championship running in 1600x1200 at 32-bit colour is sure to overload a golf gamer’s senses.
The animation on the golfers is also very crisp and natural. There are a large number of player models, both professional and amateur, male and female available to choose from. So if you want to play as Sergio Garcia or Annika Sorenstam, go right ahead.
There really is very little to complain about with Links Championship. The background sound effects and player’s voices meld seamlessly with the environment and bring an added element to the immersion factor.
Of course, golf games aren’t complete without course designers, and Links Championship comes with the world famous Arnold Palmer Course Designer. Arnold leant his name to this editor quite a while ago now, and every version proves even more why this top class golfer should continue to do so.
Filled with options, the Course Designer allows you to make the course of your dreams. Featuring multiple views, an expandable library of objects, the ability to click-and-drag the various components and more, the editor will be a dream for those nuts who want to make a course suit their needs.
Of course, because the Course Designer IS there, there are hundreds of user-made courses online ready for you to download and instantly expand your course library. Links Championship has links to the Links Country Club website, a launching pad for the many sites devoted to the Links series, and the huge number of additional courses.
Links Championship also integrates into MSN/Windows Messenger, thus bringing a tighter integration with the online gaming experience. You can chat to your buddies online, and initiate Links from within the Messenger interface – never easier.
The recently announced Links 2003 won’t be out until towards the end of this year, so if you’re craving a golf simulation that takes advantage of the latest graphics technologies, has a good selection of courses AND has a course designer, head out to your local game store and get Links Championship now.
