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Golf Club: Wasteland

Golf Club: Wasteland

Demagog Studio · released Sep 3, 2021

Action PuzzlePCPlayStation 4Xbox OneNintendo SwitchiOS (iPhone/iPad)

Human life is wiped out. Earth is now a golf course for the ultra-rich. The rich fled to Mars but venture back to a desolate Earth for a round of golf. Each hole in the wasteland offers its own little story and possible puzzle to sink the perfect shot. Play through destroyed brutalist monuments, crumbling shopping malls, and abandoned museums as neon signs and poignant graffiti take swings at current events, Silicon Valley culture and humanity. Piece together the full story of how humanity fell through three distinct sources. Details from the lone golfer’s story, who's come back to Earth for one last game. The Radio Nostalgia From Mars broadcast that gives a glimpse into the lives of those who escaped. And the narration of a “secret spectator” watching from a distance...Be accompanied by a purposefully composed soundtrack as well as personal stories broadcasted on Radio Nostalgia From Mars. The station caters to citizens of Mars, nostalgic for Earth as they listen to music from the 2020s, and dial in to share their memories of the planet. A smooth-voiced radio DJ keeps the show flowing with updates and announcements hinting at a not-so-glamorous life on Mars. Three distinct modes mean every golfer can find something for their tastes. Casual players can focus just on the story and a relaxing scenic round of golf in Story Mode. Those looking for an extra challenge can beat each hole under par using skill and puzzle solving through Challenge Mode. While the total pros can try Iron Mode, where there’s almost zero room for error. Easy-to grasp controls and a minimalist UI underpin the whole game so anyone can easily pick up and play at their own pace.

69
VGC Score
·No trend datamedium confidence
79%
Press
67%
Player sentiment
67%
PS store
328
Ratings

Screenshots & trailers

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (Metacritic)7920
All-time Steam reviews0
Metacritic user ratings0
PlayStation store ratings67151
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)0
Calibration prior (typical game)7250

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 0 reviews sampled · 0 total reviews in window · weighted 0 up / 0 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (10)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 90
    trust 75Nov 16, 2021

    Impressively interesting title which takes you golfing in a dystopian wasteland called Earth. While golfing your way through abandoned cities and listening to a Martian radio station, you will discover what had really happened to our once great society. Golf Club Wasteland is using nonlinear storytelling to a great extent and it is a truly amazing experience.

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  • 60
    trust 66Sep 2, 2021

    Golf Club: Wasteland is a rather standard golf game bolstered by an experimental narrative approach. This iteration is, have no doubt, an improvement on the niche ideas therein, and for that, I applaud the developers. However, good as these ideas are, they suffer from feeling incompatible with each other. Everything is OK, with the distinct sting of feeling like they could have been great, given the right conditions.

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  • 72
    trust 61Sep 2, 2021

    Golf Club: Wasteland is a super stylish puzzle-golf game which works better as an interactive drama than a golf game. The shooting system is shallow and brings into the experience too much "trial and error", but the atmosphere, the radio sounds and Charley's meaningful story give a melanchonic and charming dimension to the game.

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  • 75
    trust 60Sep 3, 2021

    In the end, however, Golf Club Wasteland didn’t need to sell me on its main character for it to work. It tells more than a story about one person or one moment. Instead, its strength is in the world it creates, the microstories of each level, and the layers of social critique in each part of its radio broadcasts. The rich will watch the world burn and complain about the glare―best make sure that golf course is shady.

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  • 70
    trust 56Jan 19, 2022

    It could have been a relaxing game about playing golf on the ruins of our civilization, but its whole sporting aspect is subpar (due to poor physics, among others), sometimes frustrating, and makes it harder to appreciate the story. However, Golf Club: Wasteland definitely has its unique flavor and the in-game radio station is fantastic. [12/2021, p.67]

  • 85
    trust 55Sep 17, 2021

    There’s no shortage of story in this golf adventure around a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

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  • 85
    trust 52Sep 2, 2021

    A beautiful blend of whimsical golfing and sardonic commentary wrapped in a blanket of nostalgia and straight-up vibes. Golf Club: Wasteland is a brilliant narrative experience that can’t resist imbuing anything and everything with stories.

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  • 80
    trust 51Sep 2, 2021

    Golf Club: Wasteland can be seen as a kind of skillful outlet, a highly relaxing experience carried by a peculiar post-apocalyptic vibe and effective minimalist gameplay. In particular, we get an impeccable soundtrack, intelligently alternating between musics and precious testimonials for the scenario context. And if the adventure is short, it is given good replayability.

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  • 85
    trust 51Sep 13, 2021

    Golf Club: Wasteland is a good game but not because of the quality of its actual golfing experience. Putting balls into holes is serviceable. There are some well-designed levels but there are also some frustrating ones. Don’t feel any guilt if you play on Story mode and get as much of the narrative as you can, without bothering with hazards or limits. But the developers at Demagog understand how to create atmosphere and how to let the world tell a story. Radio Nostalgia is an impressive achievement, especially the songs. The team does need to find a game theme and a set of mechanics that allows them to flex their world-building muscles in more expansive ways than Golf Club: Wasteland can.

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  • 85
    trust 40Sep 3, 2021

    If you are in search of a good golf game, leave it be, but if you want a good story, you will find one of the most significant games of the year.

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