And The Green Jacket Goes To.....
A Review of Jack Nicklaus 4
Rich Cunningham
One of the greatest golfers of all time is Jack Nicklaus. He has, over the past 30 years, defined, redefined, and reestablished what the game of golf is. I remember watching him when he won his first Master's green jacket. In the game of golf, his name is legendary, his honors uncountable. In the world of sports, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes of all time.
So why is he being mentioned in a software review column, you may ask. I would be asking the same question myself, if I weren't writing the column in question. The answer is very simple. The program under review is called Jack Nicklaus 4, a new golf game from the fine folks at Accolade, a computer gaming company with a reputation for solid, well-written products. As the number 4 indicates, this is the fourth installment in this series. In my opinion, it is a major improvement in the previous titles, and has been well worth the wait since the last one. There are several features that make it stand out from other golf games, in a very positive way.
The purpose and concept of the game is to play golf. To accomplish this, there are 5 courses included for realistic gameplay. These are Muirfield Village Golf Club, Cabo del Sol, Winding Springs, Country Club of the South, and Colleton River Plantation. The graphics are breathtaking, the scenery displays are so realistic that you almost want to duck when you hear "fore" called. There is also a course designer included at no cost, which gives the dyed-in-the-wool duffer a chance to design the playing field of their dreams, or nightmare, depending on their ability.
Game play is accomplished just like in a real game of golf. The course is selected, the players are chosen. Multiplayer play is standard in this version, via shared keyboard, serial port, modem, LAN or Internet. The clubs are chosen, the tee is selected, and the ball is placed, approached, and swung at. With a little luck, it is then hit, usually down the middle of the fairway. This is accomplished with the usual commentator comments, but as in real life, those can be ignored. The meter used to gauge when to swing, reverse and hit is the triple-click variety, which most consumers have shown a preference for. There is a separate indicator for the putting portion of the game, a feature I personally enjoy, and felt was long overdue. There are ten different scoring modes, including match play, stroke play, or a $1,000,000.00 skins game.
The golf course designer is one of the strong points of this program. It is easy to not only modify existing courses (such as previous Jack Nicklaus Signature ones), but also to create one from scratch. It may seem intimidating at first, but the manual has a well-written section on how to accomplish this. I would suggest redesigning a few courses at first, just to become familiar with the mechanics of the program. Then create that dream course with the Par 5, 4 water hole, 5 sand traps, and a green the size of a basket ball court waiting for an unsuspecting player.
Several of the nice features that set this game apart from the others are the use of the camera angles to view gameplay. There are an unlimited number of them, and all are moveable. One can switch automatically from the hitting of the ball to its landing point. The camera height is not fixed at ground level, but is selectable from 3 feet above the ground, to 150 feet in the air. Weather conditions include not only wind but also fog, and a wind direction indicator is included, to help compensate for it. One feature that appealed to me was the ability to have left handed play. For those of us who hit from the left, or both ways, this is a nice feature that helps to add realism to the game.
As a product, Jack Nicklaus 4 continues the tradition as one of the finest golf game available. It is a mature product that is fully, 100% Windows 95 compatible. The only way I think it can be improved on is to have Jack himself looking over your shoulder while you are teeing off, or holding the flag at the hole on the green. But since he is spending the majority of his time designing courses now, I don't suppose that will be happening. Feel safe in purchasing this game, it is one that I am sure you will enjoy.
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: |
Jack Nicklaus 4 |
| Company: |
Accolade
|
| Cost: |
$49.95 |
System Requirements:
IBM:
Minimum:
Pentium 90, 16MB RAM, 2X CD-ROM drive, Windows 95, sound card.
Recommended:
Pentium 100, 24MB RAM.
Macintosh: Not Available.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 3
Graphics 3
Sound 3
Interface 3
Replayability 4
Overall Score:
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