Everybody's Golf

Everybody's Golf is a catchy golf game with a real challenge and has a good feel to it, but some points let it down like the repetitive solo mode, and the useless Golf Island open world.

Everybody’s Golf sticks firmly to the fairway, though it swings a little too wildly too often and dumps itself in the bunker at times too. The grind is real, and though it's enjoyable enough, it's also a game that's quickly going to become hostile to newbies, and that's a problem when so much of the experience relies on the online play.

Everybody's Golf takes a fresh start by going online and enhancing its progress system. The Turf War mode is a fun way to change your approach by going so much faster than usual, and this time you have to actually use your stuff to make it better. Wherever it is your first time going for a put or not, it is the most fun you can get with a golfing game. However, its limited number of courses and its clumsy design might miss the boat...

This franchise's attempt to step out from its own shadow is only half successful, and not because it dared to do so in the first place, but because it didn't dare enough. It also lacks a singular vision, and instead feels like a collection of parts pieced together.

Everybody’s Golf reaches the green at eagle pace and then proceeds to ever-so slightly duff the green. Don’t get us wrong, this is still an extremely enjoyable arcade golf game with some brilliantly original ideas, but there are some bizarre design errors which seem to weirdly imbalance the game. Pair that with an unreasonable progression system and you’re left with a title that needlessly undoes a lot of its own hard work. At the end of the day, you’re still going to extract hundreds of hours of top-notch entertainment from this title – but save for a few silly oversights it could have been essential, and that’s a damn shame.

Everybody’s Golf is a decent update for the series that retains the fantastic fun and gameplay found in earlier versions, but the hours of grinding required to unlock the full experience won’t be for everyone.

Everybody’s Golf looks good and has the same fun, breezy feel as previous versions, combined with intriguing online modes and a surprising amount of depth. The new open-world, online focus creates a new energy in what has always been a conservative series. On the downside, it’s very grindy in its early hours, locking off a lot of the fun stuff until you’ve put a good ten hours into the game. Hardcore fans may not worry – it gets better the more time you put in – but it’s weird that this most accessible of golf games is less of a crowd-pleaser than it deserves to be. [Initial Score = 70]

Everybody's Golf is a solid arcade title that seems to do everything right in recreating the sport itself, and providing a carefree and welcoming atmosphere. But unfortunately, some jarring design decisions make this an overly restrictive and tedious experience that few casual players will want to slog through.

In some ways Everybody’s Golf has been well worth the wait. This is still the same gentle and appealing brand of arcade golf that fans have come to know and love, and it’s easy to get caught up in the sheer fun of it all. However, once you venture online you’ll discover that the game is currently deeply unbalanced, with micro-transactions and mobile-esque grinding sapping any sense of competition from proceedings, while asking players to reach for their wallets in order to gain an advantage. In a game that’s supposed to be all about the golfing fun, Sony have categorically found a way to put you firmly in the rough.

Everybody's Golf is limited in scope, but makes up for it with pure charm.