For Links Rookies
By Keith Procter
Merely playing and winning isn’t enough for the video
sports game enthusiasts I know. They want to dominate as
soon as they pull the game out of the box.
While golf is a
game known for its quiet geniality, it’s a lot easier to be
genial when playing Links 2004 on Xbox Live
if you’ve just thoroughly whipped your rivals.
If you’ve played Links extensively (on the PC or
Xbox) or you don’t intend to play the game on Xbox
Live, then you should read no further. This
article is for people who have no more than a casual knowledge
of Links 2004, or video golf in general, AND want to
play the game at a high level on Xbox Live.
I’m going to lay out a path that will put you in a position
to compete on Xbox Live quickly. I’m not
promising an easy trail to greatness. There will be moments
when you will struggle, but if you follow my suggestions and
apply yourself (pronounced practice), you will be crushing
drives and draining putts with the best of them in short
order.
OK, newbies: Pay attention!
We’ll start with the game’s opening menu. You’ll notice
there are seven choices, including three modes of game play:
Single Round, Career, and Challenges.
Single Round games
can be played by one to four human players. You can use a
player you create. or one based on a star of professional golf
(like Sergio Garcia, Annika Sorenstam, and Mike Weir). Career
mode allows you to create a player profile and then build up
your player’s skills as you advance through the game. This
profile is one you will use when competing on Xbox Live. The
Challenges test your skills in specialized areas and give you
the means of earning additional money that can be used to
increase your skill points.
You are free to wander around the game on your own and
forge your own route to success. But if you are the least bit
impatient and want to be competitive NOW, here are my top four
suggestions for quickly getting a handle on Links
2004:
• Start off with one of the highly-skilled
player profiles that shipped with the game and play several
rounds of Stroke Play in Single Game mode.
This will give you a feel for how the game can be played
when the player profile has an abundance of skill points. You
should play the game at the Beginner level, where you will
have all of the swing aids the game allows (the most helpful
of these is the line on the swing meter that tells you how
hard to swing the club).
• Make liberal use of the Mulligans while
learning the game.
Mulligans are do-overs which allow you to avoid the
consequences of poorly hit shots. Advanced players never use
them, but they are helpful for beginners because they will
keep you from getting frustrated and losing interest in the
game. I believe in using Mulligans liberally when starting
out, or if you are practicing certain new techniques.
• Experiment with the different player levels
(Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced), then select one to
perfect in Career mode.
I suggest trying all three levels to see which one suits
your temperament and goals. Then pick one profile and stick
with it. Why? Because when you play on Xbox Live, you have to
play with a user-created profile. If you create and train a
Beginner player profile, you will have to start from scratch
when you move to an Intermediate or Advanced player profile.
None of the attribute points earned as a Beginner carry over
to the higher levels. I tried all three and made a Goldilocks
choice – Intermediate (Beginner became too easy after I played
for awhile, and Advanced, which doesn’t let you use the Swing
Meter at all, was too hard for me).
• Make sure you know how it feels to hit the
ball straight.
When you become more familiar with the game, you will want
to hit shots that move left-to-right or right-to-left when
appropriate (to go around an obstacle or fight the wind). When
you are starting out, you will hit shots that draw (move to
the left) and fade (sail to the right) unintentionally. To hit
the ball straight, you must move the left thumbstick in a
straight line. If your motion is offline, your shot will go
offline. A lot of times I watch the movement of my thumb, not
the screen, to ensure I’m not making a swing that sends the
ball off my target. You need to develop a feel for the
straight shot before you can perfect the advanced swings that
produce spin.
The things I’ve suggested are based on my own experiences,
which may not apply to you. It’s your call whether to
use them or not. But if you don’t, you just may spend as
much time hitting from the trees and the sandpits as I did
when I was a beginner!