What a Mess of a Game

I still have PGA 2000 and yes it was the first game to introduce a real time mouse swing.  However in my opinion the best golf game I have played and still do is Perfect Golf.  It's real time mouse swing is called RTSM and is in a class of it's own.  It is only the swing that mimics a real golf swing.  If the movement of your mouse is an inside out path it promotes a draw.  If the movement is outside in it promotes a fade.  Too much of either and you can end up with a hook or slice.  In addition the swing also has a tempo parameter.  The ideal tempo is a ratio of .25 when your downswing speed is compared to your back swing.  Ideally your downswing should be 4 times faster than your backswing.  The tempo means that you can have a fast swing like Nick Price or a slow swing like Ernie Els because as it is the ratio that counts.  A tempo that is too fast could be offset by your swing path or vice versa.  The possibilities are endless.

Recently, a friend of mine started using his controller to play PG and he swears it is head and shoulders above EA Sports and 2K23.  However I still play it using the mouse because the feel is phenomenal.

Perfect Golf is missing features like a career mode, tournaments,  galleries and a avatar creator but it has features that neither EA Sports or 2K23 have.  It's course architect program is vastly superior to the one in 2K23.  You can be creative using the PG course architect because you can create or import custom objects, textures and sounds.  For example custom flags, houses, tee markers and panoramas etc.  In 2K23 all the courses look the same because you're restricted to the canned objects and panos (themes) that come with the game.  I have played community created courses for PG that had animated trains, helicopters and those large fans by greens to keep them dry.  PG courses still look great considering the game dates back to 2015.  Trackman purchased PG and uses an updated version of their course architect program to create  courses for their simulator.  

On top of the game play, PG has features like replays where you can choose from 9 different camera angles.  Possible plugged lies in greenside bunkers,  A true 3D option where you can move around to any part of the course you want.  I played a course where I walked over and entered a church to have a look inside.  A practice mode that you can use on a course that allows you to drop the ball anywhere you want on that hole.  In PG the speed of greens is expressed as stimp rather than the generic, average, slow that EA and 2K23 use.  I could go on but as someone who has played the real game for 30+ years PG is still my favourite cyber golf game.

If the EA developers want to improve their game they should check out PG to get some ideas.  It is still available on Steam.