HB Studios today continued on their path to release for The Golf Club 2 by showing off some aspects of the game during a Twitch live stream that focused primarily on some on-course gameplay and the new character customization options. Here is a recap of some of the finer points from the stream which is archived on HB Studios Twitch channel.

Graphics

• On console, the game is designed to run at a full 30FPS, there will be NO support for PS4 Pro or XBOX Scorpio.
• The courses they showed off (Victory Village, Tropic Falls), both looked fantastic with nice running streams, rolling fairways, beautiful skylines, waterfalls, thick tree lines, large rock formations and stunning lighting.
• Menu graphics have been re-done. They look very clean, crisp and easy to read.

Character Customization

• Completely revamped. It had a very NHL 17 creation menu feel to it. Maybe it’s the Canadian inspiration?
• Includes options (both male and female) for: hats, shirts, pants, watches, gloves, shoes, glasses, belts.
• There is a set of unlocked base items, other items can be unlocked using coins earned during gameplay.
• Users can make custom clothing emblems using a system similar to the MLB The Show Diamond Dynasty logo creator, although there is no custom text entry, only use of the in-game logos.
• Your created character has 5 outfit preset slots. One for casual rounds, then one slot for each of the 4 rounds of a tournament for the user who just has to wear something different every day.
• There are three different types of clubs you can use: Standard, Player and Tour. Jumping up a set gives you more control and distance potential on your shots but at an increased difficulty threshold.
• Each individual club in your bag has a customizable look, allowing you to change the look of the club head, shaft and grip.

Gameplay

• TGC2 will have the same basic game modes as TGC1 (meaning no alternate shot mode or other community requested formats)
• Ball bounce physics have been vastly improved in an effort to replicate true-to-life bounces
• The shot shaper has been toned down to limiting the amount of draw, fade and vertical control you have over your shots. This was a big feedback issue from the community to make the game more realistic.
• The shot system now measures your speed during both the back and down swings separately and will provide you feedback on each.
• Shots can be made with the left or right stick.
• There is a new green overview approach camera. Appeared to be very helpful to identify breaks, undulations and trouble spots on the green.
• There is now a lie grid which will show you slope direction and severity for your current lie.
• The club sounds are all newly recorded and sound much more true-to-life.
• There are now 2 different commentary systems. The more laid back system (like from TGC1) will be used during casual games and a more broadcast system will be used for tournaments.
• There were several different camera angles for during your shot.
• The new wind meter is a circle with a certain amount of fill. Users can turn off the text indicators and only rely on the circle for more of a challenge.

Extras

• They walked through some of the robust tutorial mode for getting into the game. While they didn’t show much, it appeared to be a structured step-by-step learning of the mechanics of the game.
• There will be between 25-30 officially TGC licensed courses when the game launches.
• They also showed off the full practice mode including the ability to hit up the driving range or practice literally any shot on the course with a custom shot option.  I feel this option is a great addition given the tweaks to the shot system.
• They have also revamped the course filter which is a welcome upgrade. It might not matter early into the release, but when there are 50,000+ courses in the library, we will all be very thankful for it.

Overall Opinion – I came away from the stream very impressed with what I saw. The gameplay looked very fluid and the character creation and customization options were exactly what I was looking for. While I still need to see them show off the online component of the game, including career and societies, I am very impressed with where The Golf Club 2 appears to be headed.

Make sure to hit me up on Twitter @SnaggleJ and let me know your thoughts.

The Golf Club 2 releases on June 27^th in North America and June 30^th Worldwide. It is currently available for pre-order on PSN and should be on Steam and XBOX sometime next week. Pre-ordering the game will get you access to a theme, 10 avatars, some in-game currency (believed to be 2500 coins) and a 24K gold driver for your custom character.