KMGR of "Ernie Els Golf 2009"

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Ernie Els Golf 2009 is a very competent golf game for the mobile. However, the lousy practice mode makes it less than it could be, as does the lack of courses. The extra variations in play doesn't help much in that regard. The result is good, but not as good as EA's Tiger Woods Mobile.

The game is full 3D, most of the time. As in all golf games, you tee off from the tee, try to stay on the fairway, get the ball to stay on the green, and putt the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible. You get special shots like bunker, chip, backspin, and so on, if you need them, but other than one quick practice in the "tutorial", they are never touched again, and that's not enough!

Club selection is automatic, and one can "overpower" the shot at the cost of control. However, the wind effects seems to be exaggerated, and putting is nearly impossible. Even with the show-contour function, it's impossible to know if you're facing an upslope or a downslope (or just flat ground). This makes putting long distances (more than 20 ft) nearly impossible. You either hit the ball so light that you barely go 10 ft and it rolls off to the side, or you hit it so hard it went PAST the hole and off the green. ARGH!

And what's worse, you can't practice putting the way it's meant to be done. When you practice putting, you'd expect to be fixed in one position, putt one way, see how the ball rolls, and learn how much to adjust. But instead, you're moved about after each and every putt, so you can NEVER EVER learn what you did wrong!

You get to unlock some higher-power equipment like Big Bertha (tm) clubs, Calloway hi-spin balls, and so on after wins. However, how those affect you game was never explained.

The whole game was presented as if you are a new member of an exclusive country club with several courses, and several amateur players who wants to turn pro, you among them... So, they will challenge you to various matches in hopes of beating you.

All in all, Ernie Els Golf 2009 is a golf game that doesn't have any surprises, and plenty fo faults that may cause you to NOT come back playing it.

Overall 7 out of 10
Pros: each to learn,automatic choice of clubs
Cons: bad putting, not enough holes and courses