Links 2003

by Microsoft

Product Features

• You'll be amazed at how realistically the graphics work here -- you'll see every blade of grass and ripple of water, and even hear birds chirping
• The realism goes even further with more accurate ball physics -- you'll feel like you're reallyout there, adjusting for the wind
• Test your skills in six all-new championship courses
• Try out an online tournament with the all-new Match Maker
• Improved player stats & handicap information, along with a library of new objects to create your own course, with the updated Arnold Palmer Course Designer

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006FXB4
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches ; 6.4 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 19, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,277 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #4 in Video Games > PC Games > Sports > Golf
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Developer

Links 2003 is the most realistic golf sim available. The newest version of the all-time bestselling golf simulator features improved graphics, six brand-new championship courses, high-resolution 3-D characters, a dynamic camera that lets you see your shot from different perspectives, and improved putting with a new 3-D Green Analyzer. Links 2003 also brings improvements to the powerful Arnold Palmer course designer--the same 3-D course architecture tool used by the Links team to create course graphics in stunning photorealistic detail.

Links 2003 allows you to create your own highly customizable player and challenge some of golf's hottest pros, including Sergio Garcia and others. Other new features include: 3-D audio, a practice facility, interactive tutorials, Links Match Maker (matchmaking within the game), and a revamped Links Tour that will allow players to compete against players from across the globe in the ultimate online tournaments.

Product Description

Links 2003 brings you the more and better golfing fun with the latest courses and graphics! It's simply the realistic golf simulation ever created!

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very mixed baggage and no longer the undisputed champion., October 2, 2002

By 

Yih Dzelonh "yih_dzelonh" (ER) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Links 2003 (CD-ROM)

(Having never owned "Links 386" -the first installment of the critically-acclaimed Links series- Links LS (1996) was the first Links golf game that I ever purchased and when I did it totally blew me away: I was in awe of the awesome photorealistic graphics and the incredibly-realistic ball flight and ball-surface physics. The golfers were also photorealistic digital images. The game was a die-hard sim, yet extremely fun and accessible at the same time. I was instantly hooked on LS and as a result I've played more hours of this game and its sequels than all other computer games combined, by far.

Up until several days ago, LS 99 was my current version of Links. I was unable to upgrade to LS 2000 (I was out of the country) or Links 2001. Which brings me to my first "upgrade" in four years -Links 2003. After having played the game extensively for several days now, I have very mixed feelings about this newest installment. In some ways it seems significantly improved over LS 99, but in just as many ways it seems to be substantially inferior. Because I wish to expound upon every component in this dissertation, I've decided to simply list the Pros and Cons.

PROS

1. The graphics are more 3D and much more detailed than LS's: The shrubbery and foilage around trees and roughs is very detailed, photorealistic, and very dense. With a close-up view of your golfer, you can now see detailed blades of grass in fairways and greens. Sand bunkers look great.

2. The addition of the APCD (Arnold Palmer Course Designer) is huge: From my understanding, although it's very complicated and not beginner-oriented, it's hands-down the most powerful course designer in any golf game.

3. The addition of the real-time swing: I've sampled this feature in other golf games and liked the concept but not the implementation. Likewise, I've had little luck with Link's implementation as well and have found it tedious and extraordinarily difficult.

4. A plethora of golf courses: Betwixt the 6 2003 courses, the 20 Championship courses, user courses(from Links 2001 made with the APCD), and my converted LS courses, I have 60 altogether!

5. Options galore: As with LS 99 there are simply smorgasbords of options.

6. Excellent in-flight and ball-surface physics: Links has always been the benchmark in this category and this year is no different. No other game comes close.

CONS

1. No Virtual Tournament: This was a huge reason why I played LS so much.

2. Fairways, greens, and roughs are "too" clean looking -to the point of being "spartan"- and look like artificial turf. The ball even bounces and rolls off roughs like it's a thick layer of artificial turf. It even "sounds" like it.

3. Big, cluttered menu interface: The condensed and organized interface of LS 99 makes 2003's look like a homecrafted Kindergarten design.

4. Extremely ponderous load times: On my 1.7 Ghz processor, screen redraws take forever, adding another camera view on the main window slows the framerate down to a nil, and even jumping from one pregame menu to another takes a long time. Totally unacceptable.

5. Polygonal golfers: I actually prefer digital golfers. These polygonal ones look cartoonish and clash with Link's otherwise photorealism. A motley combination.

6. Unrealistically adept A.I. golfers: Real-life A.I. counterparts such as Sergio Garcia and Parnevik hit every drive straight and birdie every hole. Microsoft did a shamefully-poor job in this area. Even when I created a new computer golfer and set his skill level to the lowest possible, he was still a decent golfer.

Overall, Links 2003 is very mixed baggage. In several ways it seems to be a (close copy) rehash of "Jack Nicklaus 6: Golden Bear Challenge": The fairways, greens, and roughs are more cartoony-looking, the golfers are polygonal and cartoonish (while Links LS's were digital), and most notably, some surface and tree striking sounds are now less realistic and cheesier -similar to Jack Nicklaus 6. The swing meter and other features even seem inferior and (close copy) from JN6.

All things considered, Links 2003 is a very good golf game on its own merits and still the best golf SIM, but with its major shortcomings and horrendously-implemented real-time swing I'm still ambivalent as to whether this latest installment is an "upgrade" or a "downgrade."

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I think is one of the best golf games out there., October 19, 2002

By 

Michael J Woznicki "Michael J Woznicki" (Holland, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Links 2003 (CD-ROM)

I have been a huge fan of the Links golf series since playing Links 386, now Microsoft has released its best effort to date. This application is made for the armchair golfer of all ages.

The installation was simple and straight forward with no complications during the install. I was able to get the application up and running in Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP professional. I was impressed by the graphics and how realistic they have become from previous versions. I was also impressed by the fact that previous version courses could be converted with the utility included.

Nice additions have been made with a new swing type and the addition of the putt path when you are on the green to give a better chance of sinking the long one on the first try. One thing that I found nice is the web interface connection that comes up at the intro screen; however you do need an active connection.

Loading and rendering were above average as long as you have a 3D video card and that you can tailor the game to your needs making this head and shoulders above all others out there. I also like the new addition of the "New Record" feature that lets you know your longest drive or putt by course or overall play.

The best new feature is the fact that you can now setup and play an entire golf season, so now you can setup leagues, run tournaments and even have skins competitions all from the comfort of you own home and it cost a lot less.

The game has several new courses included and there are a number of websites you can download additional courses from. Speaking of additional course I also received the Links 2003 Championship courses as well.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Mouse Swing & 3D Golfers Revitalize, September 22, 2002

By 

J. Hardy IV (Snohomish, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Links 2003 (CD-ROM)

Having purchased all the Links games and courses dating back to its inception, I have to unhappily admit that over the last couple years things have languished. Updates have given us more of the same great physics we've been used to and slightly tweaked the graphic textures and added a mouse based power swing, but for myself and many there just weren't a compelling lot of improvements. That said, it is with great enthusiasm I can heartily recommend Links 2003. It's made playing fun again, and this is mainly attributable to the new real time mouse swing.

Previously I have always been a proponent of the classic tri-click method, which while functional, is a bit sterile to interact with your golfing avatar. The new Links provides a brand new control method. You aim first in the classical method of pin placement, click an image of the club, then you have full control over your new 3D golfers swing. Move your mouse or trackball backwards to create an appropriate power percentage on backswing, then launch forward straight or slightly skewed to get your hook and slice, fade or draw. It definitely takes some time to get used to after the static method for so long. :) I had tried their powerswing implementation over the years, but always found it too cumbersome and inelegant. This way you can actually begin to gauge distances for the trackball vs the ultimate distances your shots produce. Quite nice.

The graphics have continued to be tweaked as well, the interaction of different ground types has now been softened. When you're near a bunker, the grass and sand combine to look much more lifelike than previous sharply delineated versions. Shadows have finally made an appearance and it makes quite a difference viewing the panorama as you look out at the vista of the hole in front of you. Tip: use the close up view in golfer preferences to see the most texturing of the ground near you. Things blur a bit more with normal and panoramic view. Redraws are about 1 to 2 seconds slower than previous versions I've found, not bad on an AMD 1900XP w/ WinXP Pro. Worked great with my workhorse Matrox G400 Max, but had some trouble with the Matrox Parhelia 512 [lack of golfer translucent shadows, some dialogue box corruption].

Your golfer is now a 3D construct, no longer an image captured digitized version. This allows for a wider range of movement as well as full control during swing using the new real time swing method. With modern video cards w/ hw lighting they look great, they're composed of *a lot* of polys. Another feature I've liked has been carried forward, and that is customizing your player to use your personal club distances, so you can effectively put yourself and your game out on these courses. Extending from that, you can now join career mode and go through Q school and start in tourneys.

I picked up the 20 're-done' course collection as well, sort of a greatest hits. But it also allows you to convert all your previous Links courses so you can use the elusive Pebble Beach you got a few versions back. I don't use the online play features or the course designer, but they're back and updated as well.

I played Links386 / Links LS era courses into the ground back in the day racking up the rounds over and over. Finally, I think this version will hold my attention again thanks to the new play method. It's always been the best golf sim, now it is the best golf game again. Highly recommended.