Developer: Demagog Studio
Publisher: Untold Tales
ReleaseDate: 3rd September 2021
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch & Steam
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
▫️ Code provided by the publisher ▫️
NOTE: This title is now called Golf Club Nostalgia.
Gold Club Wasteland is at its core a beautiful 2D crazy golf game. Set in a future where the rich fled to Mars, but now travel back for the odd spot of golf in the ruins of the old world. You play through baron wasteland, desolate shopping malls, ravaged apartment buildings and more in this quirky, yet surprisingly heartfelt journey.
Upon starting up the game you will be met with a splash screen suggesting that you play with headphones on. I would highly recommend you take this advice. While you play through the 35 levels on offer, you will be treated to a radio station that both treat the player to some great beats and powerful songs, while splicing in nostalgia for what life used to be like back on earth by way of callers sharing memories and stories.
It is this radio station that fleshes out the world and builds a picture of what got you to this point, along with a bit of text between levels. Once you complete the game, you also unlock a 55-page graphic novel that fills in the gaps and really drives the story home. I don’t want to give anything away, but I was genuinely surprised and delighted to get such a meaningful narrative.
Gameplay is simple, but putting it into practice in some of the harder holes will take some patience and problem-solving. You set your angle and power with the right stick and press X to execute your shot. The radius and power only locks in when you press X, so a steady thumb is required. There are buttons to activate, hazards to avoid and shortcuts hidden throughout many of the well designed levels. Certain surfaces also decrease the power of your next shot, so ball placement is worth keeping in mind.
There are a few annoyances that can hopefully be ironed out post-launch. Some shots require expert precision and so a dedicated button to quickly restart a level would be handy. Instead, you currently have to press pause, which then runs a five second animation to bring up the menu before you can select restart. At first this seems fine, but if you have to restart 5-10 times in quick succession you will soon become frustrated.
Likewise, the only way to see how many shots you have hit in any given level is by accessing the same pause menu, and identifying what par is on a level requires you to go yet another menu deeper. I like that the game has a minimalist UI, but again perhaps the touch screen could be used to display a few vital stats for a couple of seconds.
The trophy list is both fun and varied, but you will need some skill to get the platinum. In story mode you need to get par on at least 29 of the 35 levels, which in all honesty is doable as they are generous with the scoring. There is also a challenge mode that requires par on each hole to progress, which again may seem difficult at first but I think once a few guides are out showing you the best route to the hole it won’t be too difficult. However, the gold trophy called Iron Will, requires you to complete a round with no mistakes – and that may be a step too far for some. Outside of these cornerstone trophies, the rest is made up of story and misc trophies like hitting the ball through a basketball hoop. None of which will take you too long.
I’d like to give another shout out to the accessibility options. Demagog Studio have created a wonderful narrative here and to let everyone experience it a skip option becomes available on each level after a certain amount of shots, allowing everyone to experience the story regardless of skill level. I would love to see more games add this feature.
Golf Club Wasteland is a beautiful and thoughtful puzzle game, masquerading as a crazy golf title. It is available at launch for less than £10 with some storefronts even offering 20% or more off. Despite some missing quality of life features, this is one of the most memorable Indie games of 2021.
-Craig 🧐
