ProStroke PSP detailed, dated

October 13th, 2006, 16:51 Posted By: wraggster

News from Eurogamer

Gusto Games' ProStroke Golf: World Tour 2007, released last month, was an impressive first attempt at kicking Tiger Woods into a bunker - but despite enjoying the PS2 version a lot, we did wonder how it would translate to the PSP with its single analogue stick.

So, with the game due out on Sony's handheld on 10th November, publisher Oxygen has gone ahead and told us, and basically the solution is this: don't rely on having analogue sticks. Makes sense. Instead, the game handles club swing and shifting weight through the shot by using the shoulder buttons.

As with the home console versions, players will use the circle button and analogue to line up the shot marker in the distance, which also advises you on what percentage of the shot it's necessary to use to reach that point. But when players engage the actual swing part of the equation, things change.

Still looking down at the ball between the feet, players perform the backswing by holding the right shoulder button, with a shot meter then filling up toward 100 percent. At the optimum point - the maximum, or however much of the shot is needed to reach the marker - the player then releases the right shoulder button and clamps down the left, which handles the downswing. The idea is then to release the left shoulder button as close to the zero percent mark as possible.

As with the other versions, going too far either side of the zero percent mark removes some of the accuracy from the shot, so precision is important - and particularly so if you want to go a little bit further than the normal shot distance, because shifting weight continues to play a role. In order to maximise distance, instead of releasing the right shoulder button at the top of the swing, you can hold it for a little while as you start holding the left shoulder button. This moves the body through the shot with the ball, adding distance, but the cost is the need to make sure you release the left shoulder button within a smaller window. In other words, you can go further, but your ambition exacerbates the penalties for failure.

Not content with all that of course, the game also allows you to change foot position while in the swing view to guarantee fade or draw. Other options for tweaking your swing include opening and closing the club-head using the analogue nub, pushing up or down on the analogue to opt for chip-and-run and pitch shots, and moving the ball around in your stance with the d-pad to allow for punch and flop shots.

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