With tomorrow’s PlayStation Store update, God of War‘s star bad ass Kratos will put away his Blades of Chaos and pick up the Clubs of Chaos to join the playable character roster in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, SCEA’s Chris Hinojosa-Miranda revealed on the PlayStation blog today. The God of War and Clap Hanz teams worked diligently to fit Kratos into the game, too, so expect authentic voice overs and animations, just in a more lighthearted manner. No pricing for the download has been provided, but judging from past DLC it’s safe to assume $0.99 will be the cost of admission.

Hopefully this paves the way for more Sony characters to show up in Hot Shots. I’d love to putt around the links with the likes of Sackboy, Nariko, Ratchet, Clank and even Nathan Drake. Come on Sony, make it happen!

Kratos to Swing the Clubs of Chaos in Hot Shots Golf [PlayStation.Blog]

Watch out fellow Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds addicts, come tomorrow you’ll have two new female golfers to putt around with, for a minor fee of course. Sony has announced that with this Thursday’s PlayStation Store update, add-on golfers Gloria and Alex will be made available as downloadable content for 99 cents apiece. Gloria falls under the Expert skill level, while Alex is in the Intermediate rank.

New characters are great and all, but come on Sony, bring on some new courses already!

New Hot Shots Golf Characters [PlayStation.Blog]

Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds just received a free update today. If you’ve logged into the game’s online mode at all today, you’ll have noticed the 15-20 minute patch that automatically starts up and proceeds to update the game to version 08042401. What the update adds to the game, though, I’m still sorta uncertain on. When in the game, the notes say that new head-to-head online Stroke and Match format modes have been added, but I didn’t see any listings for such modes in the menus (unless I’m just not looking in the right place). Quoting SCEA Associate Producer Chris Hinojosa-Miranda from PlayStation.Blog, the update also introduces the ability to goof around on the course while waiting your turn:

So what’s in the new menu item you ask? First of all, this new Online feature will let you roam about the course as you see fit, taunt other golfers while you wait your turn, and be magically transported back to your spot once it’s your turn – – and of course, this new feature will also take advantage of all the HSG rules you’ve come to love and expect.

Oh, and soccer balls have been placed in some of the lobbies too, which are fun to kick around for a whole 30 seconds, if that. So yeah, I’m not quite getting any excitement from this update. Most of this stuff is so basic I don’t see why it wasn’t included to begin with. But oh well, the game is already a blast, so it’s not like any of this matters. Hopefully the upcoming DLC that’s planned will be a little more interesting.

New, free Hot Shots Golf features available now [PlayStation.Blog]

Out of Bounds has everything you’ve come to expect from a Hot Shots Golf title. It’s got the lovably wacky characters, exotic courses, rewarding progression of unlockable content and easy to learn, hard to master gameplay. But building off of this series-standard formula are three new elements that make this the best Hot Shots Golf game yet, in my humble opinion.

First is the all-new Advanced Shot swing system. While not radically different from the traditional three-click swing gauge the series has always used (and is still available as an option for beginners and purists), the new system allows for greater shot-making precision and has a smooth, streamlined feel to it that is simply a joy to use. It’s still a three-click mechanic, but instead of setting swing power on a horizontal meter at the bottom of the screen you now simply watch your character’s backswing and set your shot based on how short or full you let the club go back, then on the downswing a circular impact zone closes in around the ball and the smaller the circle is when you click, the crisper and more accurate the shot will be. I know, it probably doesn’t sound all that riveting in print, but in execution it truly is a remarkable, evolutionary improvement to a swing mechanic that’s been around for decades. For me, all other swing mechanics that’ve been introduced over the years pale in comparison. I’d say that’s quite an accomplishment.

The next piece of the puzzle that falls so masterfully into place is the online play. Sure, golf games have had online well before now, but I can’t think of any that have had an online component as balanced and quick-paced as this. After creating a little Mii-like character avatar from the various unlockable accessory items you’ve collected, you head into the lobby area of choice (generally the one with the most players if you intend on finding a match) where you can run and jump around a 3D lobby environment chatting and meeting up with other players before heading to the tee box, sorta like a virtual clubhouse.

From there, you can hook up with others for friendly eight-player rounds, or you can put your skills to the test in real-time, 50-player tournaments. Having 50 players involved you’d think tournaments would drag on, but thankfully each player proceeds through the course on their own with a timer dictating how long each player has to complete each hole. Once you finish a hole, you’re brought to a leaderboard menu where you can post quick comments while waiting for all players to finish and move to the next hole. If you don’t complete a hole within the time limit, though, you’re automatically retired from the tournament for slowing down the pace of play. One thing I’ve always hated about playing sports games online is how long it almost always takes to finish a game, but with this system that problem is no more. I don’t think I’ve played a tournament yet that’s lasted more than around 30 minutes, gotta love that!

And last but not least, the final ingredient that pushes the game over the top are the eye-popping graphics. You may not expect it from a simple golf game, but Out of Bounds is one of the most visually appealing games to grace the PS3 yet, no joke. Thanks to the power of the PS3, the game’s cast of quirky characters is meticulously detailed and animated, which makes their distinct personalities shine brighter than ever before. The powerful hardware has also enabled Clap Hanz to design larger, more stunning course locales with some of the prettiest lighting, weather and foliage effects around. Larger chunks of the courses can be rendered at one time as well, so from each tee you can play off to fairways from other adjacent holes and potentially find shortcuts. So the better technology does more than just add visual flair, it brings an extra element of risk-vs-reward strategy to the gameplay as well, and that’s a lot of what golf as a sport is about.

The course designs are amazing, but sadly there just aren’t very many of them to play on, which is really my lone complaint with this game. In total, there are only six courses (plus a training course), and it takes playing through the 10-tier single-player Challenge Mode just to unlock them all (and that takes a while). Don’t get me wrong, six courses is still enough to keep you plenty entertained for a long time to come, but when you see most other golf titles, especially the upcoming Hot Shots Golf PSP sequel, featuring twice as many, it’s a bit disappointing that more weren’t included. But who knows, maybe there are plans for more to come in add-on packs. I’d be down for that, as long as they’re free or don’t cost too much.

Aside from the meager course lineup, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds is the best golf game I’ve played in years, hands down. Not since the Tiger Woods series was overhauled with the Game Face character editor and all those new modes (which was the 2004 edition if I remember correctly) has there been a golf game so addictively brilliant. Yes, it really is that damn good. Buy it, play it, love it. You’ll be sorry if you don’t.

Pros:
+ New Advanced Shot swing mechanic works brilliantly
+ Top-notch online functionality; 50-player, real-time tournaments, need I say more?
+ Beautiful HD graphics are a pleasure to behold
+ Deep single-player Challenge mode with tons of unlockables to keep you busy

Cons:
– Only six courses seems pretty limited

Game Info:
Platform: PS3
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: Clap Hanz / SCEJ
Release Date: 3/18/08
Genre: Sports – Golf
Players: 1-50

Hot Shots Golf finally makes its way back to consoles this week with SCEA today releasing Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds for PS3. The series’ PS3-exclusive debut comes packed with more than enough to satiate the arcade golfing game fan, including colorfully stunning graphics, 21 over-the-top character personalities (15 playable characters, six caddies), customizable character clothing and attributes, larger courses, realistic ball physics, a new Advanced Shot swing mechanic, Challenge, Stroke and Training single-player modes, and an extensive lineup of online activities featuring 50-player tournaments, eight-player New Real Format matches, an interactive online lobby area to chat with other HSG players, real-time stat tracking and plans for post-launch downloadable add-on content. Sounds fantastic, can’t wait to give it a try!

“Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds truly offers a golf experience for everyone, striking a balance between the wacky Hot Shots universe and realistic golfing action that can only be delivered on PS3,” said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA. “From its intuitive controls, to brilliant graphics, to robust online functionality, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds delivers the most entertaining and quirky golf gaming experience available.”

Per the latest PlayStation Underground newsletter, the official website for Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds has gone live. Game info, a features list, trailers and screenshots await at www.us.playstation.com/hotshotsgolf, so be sure to swing on by to get all ready to go for the game’s PS3 release next week.

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Hot Shots Update: Advanced Shot Mode [PlayStation.Blog]