PangYa!

I have no idea what it means, but that is the battlecry of the Albatross18 golf game.

While I’m not a big fan of golf, I have enjoyed a few rounds of Tiger Woods on the XBOX in my time. Albatross18 was introduced to me a couple weeks ago as Korean MMO golf game. I was slightly intrigued by a couple demo movies on their site, so I signed up. It turns out this game is a blast and the physics in it work surprisingly well.

There are a few modes of gameplay. The most popular is versus, where you play against up to 4 other people trying to get the lowest score and the highest Pang. This is played similar to real golf, where everyone takes a turn until everyone sinks the ball. There are also 30+ player tournaments which you don’t directly see the other players and play pretty much as fast as you can swing. You can see other players ball locations and standings, but that’s it. I learned quickly that you really have to book to finish 18 holes in 30 minutes.

While it seems to have a bit of lolicon influence, the characters are really well animated. Where they make their money is from the hordes that love to trick out the styles and ubergame the stats of their characters. This can be done with “Pang”, which is a money type system earned through game wins and extra style. Also, you can use “Cookies” which are only available by purchasing with real money. Most of the stuff bought with Pang is pure fluff, while Cookies buy the majority of the sought after stat boosters and outfits.

I actually have no problem with no stat enhancements, but I can see where they would be helpful. I have already won many versus games against people who are relatively decked out. Skill is definitely the main factor.

Speaking of skill, there are many “special move” type shots, such as the tomahawk, cobra, and super spins. More are expected in the next “Season” (they call new versions of the game “Seasons”).

The current season:

Upcoming Season 3:

What I just found out yesterday is that they are making a version of this game for the Wii. It will be called PangYa, and, of course, utilizes the versatile Wii Remote for the golf swings. It looks like a blast. I swear I haven’t wanted a console so bad since I was a kid.