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Sony spills more on PSP's Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2

16-player online support and more cutesy courses coming to the sequel

Sony spills more on PSP's Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2
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PSP
| Everybody's Golf 2

Like tennis, golf is one of those sports that translates stupidly well to video games – even if you don't actually like the sport that much in the first place.

While Tiger Woods caters for the more serious fans, Hot Shots Golf (or Everybody's Golf as it's known as in the UK) is the one anyone can pick up and play. Yet despite its cute visuals and swing meter that a five-year-old could use, it also packs a perfectly lengthy challenge for those pros who know their woods from their wedges.

Today Sony revealed new screenshots for the game's western release (it came out in Japan last December) which will be June is the US and no doubt soon after that for Europe.

The publisher also released plenty of detail on what the game will feature. We begin, then, with a wide range of multiplayer options, including 16-player online tournaments, local play for up to eight players in the Match Play mode and head-to-head play in ad-hoc set-up.

Of course, Hot Shots is just as much a single-player game as a multiplayer one, and there are plenty of options to play the AI across the game's 12 courses or take part in skill-honing mini-games such as Hole-In-One.

Courses are located in a range of environments, including desert plains, snow-capped mountains and besides oceans. And they're looking as colourful and pretty as ever before – as you can see for yourself in this latest video of the game in action.

The PSP game's Character Customisation option, meanwhile, will let you personalise your golfer with new hairstyles, clothing, clubs and other accessories – there are over 320 options in total. Certain combinations even boost your character's attributes, giving them the edge on the green, as does conquering in-game challenges, which lets you upgrade your shot accuracy, the length of your drives and level of control.

You can read our hands-on preview of the game here for a more in-depth analysis of how it plays. Going on how good the previous iterations in the Sony series have been though we're pretty confident this won't be a good walk ruined, but rather one made hugely more enjoyable.

Kath Brice
Kath Brice
Kath gave up a job working with animals five years ago to join the world of video game journalism, which now sees her running our DS section. With so many male work colleagues, many have asked if she notices any difference.