Putt Down

I knew I shouldn't have taken that loan. Finished the game, got all the acheivements. If you like to be scared will playing putt putt then its for you.

[h1]Shotguns and Mini Golf! Together at last![/h1] [b]This review contains no story spoilers[/b] Icehelm has a knack for intriguing short horror games, and for [i]Putt Down[/i], they're revisiting the same ground as one of their previous titles, [i]Gone Golfing[/i], and have added elements from other horror titles, such as [i]Silent Hill[/i] and [i]Five Nights at Freddy's[/i]. Then they've made the excellent creative choice of giving you a shotgun instead of a golf club. You play as John Walker, a gambling addict and all-round ♥♥♥♥ up who has racked up some serious debts with some dangerous people. Rather than wait around to see what it's like to get buried alive with two broken knees, John decides to run. He's then kidnapped by a lunatic wearing a golf ball and told that he'd like John to play a game; in return, he'd have his debts wiped clean. The game in [i]Putt Down[/i] is mini-golf. With a shotgun. Each level has you explore for various items, shoot or avoid monsters, and complete three holes before the exit door opens. The controls are straightforward: you can shoot, move, crouch, and smoke. There is no inventory; you have only one weapon and a limited number of shells.…

There's a premise here that I can get behind, but unfortunately it hits a point very quickly where the enemies become more of an annoyance than a scare factor. For the baseball man you just have to get his attention and then hide between puts. For the furby you just keep slapping the music box between putts. It does nothing but add extra time that you wish you could be playing the game, instead spent trying to wrangle cats. That, and when you do actually get to play golf, it's inconsistent and downright confusing. Why advertise and balance around shotgun shells, when putting is more accurate, just as effective, and doesn't cost a resource? Why make so many of the courses reliant on jumps that can't possibly be predicted, when losing a course is so punishing? Good atmosphere, solid enemy designs, decent sound design. But still far from a recommendable game.

Horror is meh

As a fan of the very niche genre that is golfing horror, I had a good time with this. Sometimes unforgiving, sometimes tedious, but the mechanics are sound and its got a good feel. It's frightening when it needs to be, aesthetically well-realized, and Penguu is very precious. Thank you dev for positively contributing to the golf horror cannon!

mid, tedious gaemplay, but cool concept