House of Golf 2 Review (PS5) – With Great Power, Comes Little Replayability
Oh I do like a golf game. Ever since playing Tiger Woods 10 on the Xbox 360, I’ve always been drawn to these glorious little timewasters, seeing how quickly I can putt a ball into a hole just does it for me, you know? I can’t tell you why but it’s hugely satisfying. Particularly mini golf games, that thankfully never quite disappear in the playing of my gaming lexicon. As rare as it is nowadays, when me and my friends get together for a gaming night, there’s always a golf game in there somewhere. It’s always competitive and always fun. Will House of Golf 2 do enough to force itself into our gaming nights?
House of Golf 2 isn’t great. That’s the headliner. There’s a vibe of the underappreciated and fantastic Infinite Minigolf here that leads me to compare the two, particularly as the latter is one of those games my friends and I play on our game nights. The simplicity of IMG allows it to be easily understood as you play increasingly weird golf courses set in houses, spaceships and haunted houses. House of Golf 2 takes that idea and has you golfing in living rooms, bathrooms, kitchens and the like in a single house. Cus it’s a house of golf, you see.
The issue is it’s unfathomably frustrating. Each course naturally has a Par, part and parcel with every single golf game that allows you to try as hard as you can to get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible. Yeah, we all know how golf works but in House of Golf 2 the physics of the power and speed are a little overbearing, leading each game to end on a bit of luck rather than actual skill and as such, I didn’t really feel like I was in control of my shots.
One could argue it’s a ‘practice makes perfect’ kind of set up here but the more I kept shooting my shots of course and ended up out of bounds because I overpowered a shot that was only halfway up the power gauge the more I became disillusioned with the games mechanics.
Still, if you’re determined it will soon become easier once you understand the power gauge really is one hell of a bloody power gauge. Before each shot you’ll get an overview of each course, allowing you to sort of figure out where to go and what to avoid. There’s plenty of obstacles in later courses that will do your best to trip you up but thankfully the courses are designed well enough to ensure there are multiple ways of getting to the hole in quick succession. The ‘free cam’ is a great addition, letting you scan the entire course whilst you’re playing to get a sense of what’s ahead. If you can figure out a cool way of getting to the hole away from the more traditional methods the game will offer you extra points, which is nice.
I knew going into this review that I didn’t love House of Golf 2 but like the aforementioned course design, commending the game on these particular modes seems fair enough. I honestly don’t think this is a ‘pick up and play’ gold game. You’ve really got to get used to the power guage and its eccentricities before really feeling comfortable with the game and that will take a little while. When you think you’ve set up a lovely little shot to take the ball nicely into the green it will tear it off the course and you’re left with Par+ scores that you weren’t expecting.
There’s a ton of courses to explore and master, and if you’re so inclined to give the game the time it needs then I’ve no doubt you’ll have a cracking time. Games like this are always better with friends, but I’ll be recommending to my gamer mates to stick with Infinite Minigolf for the time being.
There’s a bit of a learning curve with House of Golf 2 which takes away some of the ‘pick up and play’ elements of other titles in the genre, but there’s some good course design and it’s fun to find the shortcuts hidden around them. There’s nothing here that will challenge the golf titans in gaming, but there’s plenty to discover if you’re willing to give it the time.
House of Golf 2 is available now on PS5 (review platform), Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Developer: Starlight Games
Publisher: Starlight Games
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
If you enjoyed this article or any more of our content, please consider our Patreon.
Make sure to follow Finger Guns on our social channels –Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, Spotify or Apple Podcasts – to keep up to date on our news, reviews and features.