Dangerous Golf, review, PS4, Xbox One, PC: 'A frustrating chaos simulator'

£14.99 - Three Fields Entertainment

Despite its name, Dangerous Golf isn’t really a golf game. Yes, you’re whacking a ball at a hole with a flag in it, but the similarities end there. Instead of lush greens and sweeping vistas, the locales of the game are stately homes, public bathrooms, and industrial kitchens - all filled with delicate, breakable objects, precariously placed. Bounce the ball around the room, hit as much as you can, sink it in the hole, rinse and repeat. There’s no club selection or par to worry about here.

In essence, Dangerous Golf is a chaos simulator, with an arcade-like score attack game mode which demands you achieve a high score before heading to the next stage. Points are gained by breaking anything from priceless vases to cream cakes, with bonus points awarded for style or hitting certain objects.

Unfortunately, the controls are a problem. You have some degree of influence over the ball once it’s been unleashed, but trying to steer it towards the jar of pickles you’re aiming for is frustratingly difficult, and the lack of agency over the ball tarnishes game’s great concept. Smashing up urinals with a golf ball should be ridiculously fun (no, really), but too often it feels like anything that happens after you’ve taken your shot is more luck than judgement. It’s not unusual to spectacularly fail a level one moment, only to get the high score on your next shot, without much difference in your approach.

The load times are a touch slow for a game based on high scores. Fail, and you’ll want to get straight back in for a second try, but instead you’ll find yourself staring at yet another loading screen. We’ve been told a patch to reduce these is imminent, and will reevaluate later on.

Dangerous Golf should be an easy sell, but there’s a lot of issues here to work past. There are 100 levels, but with only four different locations, these get repetitive quickly. New power-ups offer some variety, but it’s not enough. Ultimately, it’s a great idea that needs a lot more polish.