Disc Golf is a strange sport because I hardly hear about it in the real world, but I’ve enjoyed quite a few video game adaptations. I particularly like how disc golf is often taken into an absurdist, arcade direction, removing itself from the real world and providing an experience only a game can serve up. Disc Golf City also takes the arcade approach, but does so in a charming and squidgy-looking city setting. It has some great design ideas, too, and has kept me entertained for hours.
Disc Golf City takes place in a one giant city, with seven courses that very occasionally overlap, but largely stay within their own sectors of the city. One will stay in the sports and college area, another goes around the airport, another goes to the beach, whilst nightlife and city hub courses show similar parts of the city change from day to night. Each course has 18 holes, with the goal being to throw your disc (or frisbee) into the hanging net goal in the fewest throws possible. Each course has a par to aim for, but whether you do or don’t reach it, it doesn’t matter much. It is you against your own best score, unless you are playing a timed event challenge with an online leaderboard.
Disc Golf City is entirely mouse-controlled, and it works fantastically alongside some clear user interfaces that help the player understand what is going on. If you click and drag around the edges of the screen, you’ll change the first-person camera perspective. This will help line up your shot initially, but you’ll also use the excellent top-down phone camera view to see if you are headed in the right direction or going to hit something that might be out of view. This is because your goals might be on top of buildings, carparks, or hidden down an alleyway, and that means you’ll need to pitch or curve your disc over or around buildings and city life to score well. When you take a shot, you’ll press and hold the left mouse button and pull down like an archery arrow to set your power meter. During this time, you can then drag left or right at the same time to set your curve yaw. The further to the side you pull, the more acute the curve, and the system is extremely flexible to get around all kinds of tight and twisty bends. Let go of the left mouse button, and you’ll throw the disc. It is very simple, but with wind, distance, the city itself, and the city traffic to contend with, you’ll have to time each throw properly.
Each course has something unique about it. The Ferris Wheel spins around with a few shots requiring you to either go around it or through it if you time the throw right. There’s a karting track which may hit your frisbee with a go-kart if you mis-time a throw. Fall short trying to get to the top of a car park and you might end up on the wrong floor. This is where a mulligan comes in, giving you the chance to retake any shot again, although it’ll be classed as an extra shot on your score. If you get very frustrated, you can even skip a hole, but I wouldn’t recommend it for your end score! The game tells you 50% power gets you around 80 yards distance, so with that in mind, you’ll be working out how wind and height play a role in your shot accuracy. One thing I took a while getting used to was actually getting my disc into the goal. As it’s in the air and not the floor, I kept forgetting to aim upwards slightly on my longer-range throws, missing an eagle or birdie in the process.
I cannot overemphasise how simple and enjoyable Disc Golf City is to pick up and play. Most gamers will click with it, due to its control scheme and clever user interface, and what’s crucial is that the last 10% of greatness comes from skill tuning. I was well under par on my first run through each course, but on subsequent runs, I was shaving even more off my score. I can see why the online timed leaderboard events could spark a competitive nature for Disc Golf City, but I can’t help but feel the lack of any turn-based hotseat local multiplayer is a huge missed opportunity. This game is designed for shouting with your mates around the screen as someone bags a ridiculous shot from far away to win. It feels a bit of a misstep. The only other minor complaints I have are that sometimes the camera freaks out a little when you are up against buildings, and sometimes the disc lands on its side and just keeps rolling for a very long time. They are minor quibbles, though, and rarely impacted my overall enjoyment.
If you are looking for a cheap arcade sports game, Disc Golf City is a great choice. Whether you are throwing discs between vans and buildings, or launching a disc off the top of a giant tower block for a goal in a motorway, you’ll be enjoying the challenge and feeling great when you bag a trick shot. Look out for all the achievements for trying to land your disc in places it obviously shouldn’t be, too. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Review copy provided by the developer. Disc Golf City is out on PC.
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