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Best Sim on the market...PERIOD!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 68 / 70
Date: November 12, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I've been using LinksLS Golf for several years. I've had the opportunity to play a couple of the courses available for the program. The realistic graphics are excellent. Add on players are fun (Arnie, Davis Love III, and Fuzzy Z) and actual player voices are used. There are lots of options to customize the game to your liking. A must for Sim fans and ALL golf fans.

Continues to be the Purest and Best Golf Simulation

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 29 / 30
Date: June 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Granted, Microsoft, which recently purchased Access, was resting on its laurels with the release of this year's version. This is not the revolutionary update to the series that the 2001 version is purported to be. Still, with rebate and some new courses it's not totally devoid of charm. The more of the same you get, however, continues to be the strongest simulation in the computer golf genre. I have owned all the versions since its inception, along with all the courses, and have seen its sophistication and polish grow over the years. Many people approach the Links series from different angles with different goals in mind. What they should not approach thinking is that this is a shallow console game that you can control with a gamepad. I golf 3 of 4 times a week in real life at an 8 hcp and have not found a golf game that models the physics of putting and ball striking as well as Links LS does. Punches, flops, bump and run, pitches and chips are all represented choices your avatar/player can choose from. It's always interesting to find yourself moving back and forth between the simulation and reality, where you might tell yourself while on the real course `now make sure your swing is as smooth and controlled as LS' or inadvertently looking for the non-existent putting grid. LS also helps hone game time decisions such as when to punch out of a wooded area, or to declare an unplayable lie, etc. Each side of the game is helped by the other. In addition to liking the LS series because of its mental/situational parallels to the real thing, I appreciate the meticulously crafted courses. In this version one can actually detect increases in sharpness for many of the objects on the courses included. [The 30 or so other courses are still compatible] One begins to pick up little niceties over the course of the series, like the progression of the fairway and the rough designs and colors. The panoramas have also seen a sharpening; it's just a pity that we will have to wait until the 2001 version to finally progress past the current pixelated players and their square-ish shadows. The new clouds are also more realistic and lend a storm front atmosphere if you want it. Can't comment on the online/tourney aspect of this game, it's usually just me vs the course and my scoring histories. So, if you're upgrading from MS Golf, or entering the LS series completely, this is the appropriate on ramp. If you're a Links lifer you get more of the same strong product as you wait for the big update this fall. Things to look forward to there, the addition of a course designer, new sharply digitized golfers, a preparation for a 3-d world, new courses, and the ability to tune your PC golfer to your real life ball striking physical characteristics [7 iron, 130 yards, etc.]. It's a testament to the strength of the series and Access that it continues to find a home on my HD after more than a decade of constant play. Recommended.

LS 2000 Is The Best Simulation Out There

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 28
Date: January 05, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Links LS is a God send to golf fanatics of all ages. The realism is uncanny and the play is almost as good as being there. The game is easy to play and even offers lessons on how to play better. This software also has internet play built right in. You can play on-line tournaments or even one-one play at The Gaming Zone. Microsoft also sells add on courses that makes you feel like a pro. You couldn't get on these PGA courses in real life, but with Links LS you are there! Don't worry about the software going out of date. I previously owned LS 99 and decided to upgrade. To my surprise, Microsoft offered a $15 rebate if you owned a previous Links LS version. You will be amazed at this game. If you are trying to decide between Tiger's Game or any other sim game, wonder no more. This game is IT!

Best computer golf game out there

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: June 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have been playing the Links LS series for a few years now, and every year the graphics some how get better, as well as the game play. I've played pretty much every other golf game for the PC, and I like this one the best by far. There are numerous courses you can play, all with amazing detail and clarity. The players swing motions are just perfect and sharpe. If you love golf, this is a game should should go out and purchase.

LINKS LS is still champ...but there are Contenders!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: January 24, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I've been a LINKS LS fan for a long time. I have ALL 32 available courses. The photorealistic graphics are unquestionably superb. The ball flight and landing physics...outstanding. The total gameplay and user interface is smooth and flawless. The choice of players, modes of play, and swing syles is also first rate. However, the ONLY complaint I have at this point is the choice of courses available. In my opinion, Jack Nicklaus 6 (from Activision) is the next best runner up of all the the golf sims available, They have an extremely sophisticated player "course designer" that allows individuals to actually design courses. So far there are a mere 310 courses. Perhaps 50% of which are not top of the line, but several that are absolutely outstanding! LINKS LS has 32. Plus a new 10 course "add-on" that includes 1 "new" course. The rest have already been released in other packages. Let me tell you...this is a gorgeous golf sim, but they need MORE NEW REAL COURSES, released NOW! Microsoft....if you want to remain competitive, release new courses, or incorporate a course designer. There is no question about it! None the less,Try LINKS, and you'll be amazed!

4 years after its release, STILL the best.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: August 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Even though it's the latter half of the year 2003, I recently 'upgraded' from my former golf game -Links LS 99- to its sequel, the supposedly outdated and obsolete 4-year-old Links LS 2000. Why did I opt to purchase a four year old golf game instead of a new golf game such as Links 2003 or Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003? Because the supposedly obsolescent LS 2000 is still, even today, the best golf game available.

Being an avid fan of the LS series, I can say that LS 2000 is, by a slim margin, the best of the series. I was pleased to find that it is an improvement (albeit very small) over Links LS 99 -something I CAN'T claim about its sequels, Links 2001 or Links 2003: Both of these installments had many changes made...and the changes weren't good ones, either. In a nutshell, ever since Microsoft bought out Access Software in 2000, the Links series has gone downhill. Microsoft, like most software companies, has no understanding of the addage 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' The numerous tweaks in Links 2001 and 2003 brought more graphical 3D rendering and better depth perception as well as increased the detail of foliage on the golf course. Most of the good changes were graphical improvements, but the graphics in those two games ALSO look more 'cartoonish' than LS's graphics. Almost all other tweaks have been de-improvements: Worse physics, very inferior swing meter, horrible real time swing, no Virtual Tournament (offline), and a host of other inferior tweaks. Microsoft discarded the original and creative ideas of Access Software and adopted, in its place, the inferior ideas and physics of Links LS's competition such as Jack Nicklaus 6 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Thank you Microsoft; you people are such geniuses.

If you are a casual PC golfer who enjoys getting a quick round in and likes your golf course to appear as aesthetically-pleasing as possible, as 3D as possible and animated graphics to boot, I would suggest purchasing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003. My main complaint (if not only) with the Tiger Woods game is that it looks and plays like video arcade game or something more fitting for the Playstation than for the PC. On its own merits it's a very good game filled with many cool features, very good animated graphics (albeit a 'cartoony' graphics engine), decent physics and a very good real-time swing. If EA Sports software programmers had the rocket scientist mind-sets of Links LS developers and tried to make Tiger Woods as die-hard realistic as possible (especially graphics and physics-wise) I would jump on the Tiger Woods bandwagon. As it is, the Tiger Woods series is still a great game and will win over millions of arcade-minded fans but for the rocket scientist-minded golf connoisseurs of utmost realism -such as I- Links LS 2000 is the only golf game to own. The graphics of LS 2000 -though not as 3D or 'animated' (e.g., trees swaying, water rippling) is photorealistic, not 'cartoony,' and still -4 years after its release- very good. The courses are virtually indestinguishable from their real life counterparts whereas in Tiger Woods you have no idea what course you're golfing: they all look similar and certainly bear no resemblance to their real life counterparts. Gameplay is what makes the game and LS's physics are much more realistic than Tiger Wood's. And there are far more options for customizing shots and customizing the actual gameplay in LS than Tiger Woods. As far as I'm concerned, LS 2000 is still by far the best PC golf game ever, as far as extreme realism is concerned. My only complaint is that in Links LS 99 I could set my display to 1600x1200 resolution in 32 bit (16.7 million colors). In LS 2000 the 1600x1200 resolution is only available in 16 bit (65,000) colors. Why, I have no idea. Not a big deal, but it makes a little difference. Still, an excellent game and I even find the new sound script (Craig Bolerjack and Dave Feherty's comments) pretty funny.

If you want the hardest-core golf sim with great graphics, sound, gameplay, and options, then take it from me -an avid PC golfer who has been playing computer golf since the mid '80s and has sampled virtually every golf game past and present: Opt for Links LS 2000 over its inferior sequels and the new Tiger Woods series.

Great golf game for the "Walter Mitty" in us all

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: May 05, 2000
Author: Amazon User

For years I have used the similar Microsoft Golf (which can even load the same courses) but Links is superior in graphics and reliability. I found that Mirosoft Golf occasionally had glitches that Links does not have. The beauty of Links is it's realism. For example, I attended the US Open at Pinehurst and it was very misty and drizzly on the final day of the tourney. I am able to set the settings to duplicate the haze and mist. It is absolutely uncanny. Having seen the Pinehurst #2 course (and even played it) several times, I am stricken by the stunning accuracy of Links. It is truly like you are really there. I am a so so golfer but in Links, my fantasies are fulfilled as I battle Arnold Palmer (and sometimes beat him). The software reproduces shots accurately and the game is truly fun and realistic. There are settings to duplicate any situation including wind conditions, fast greens, shotmaking (ie fading and drawing the ball) etc. I recommend Links without qualification.

Playing golf has never been easier.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

When Links first hit the software market it was the talk of the town, now the latest version LS 2000 is going to follow suit. This three cd set is the best golf software package bar none that I have ever tested.

The install has an upgrade or full install depending on whether you have LS1999 installed. I recommend the typical install unless you have 800MB of free space. Also you will need cd disk 1 in order to run the game.

The graphics and sound are even better than before and this version does run under Windows 2000. You have more options to choose from in the setup of players, more professional golfer like Fuzzy Zoeller installed and more overall match options making this game one of the best around.

Also include are six new course to choose from and a screen saver. I was very impressed with the software, but knowing Microsoft reputation for quality gaming application this should have come as no surprise at all. I highly recommend this product to everyone.

Can't reccommend it

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: March 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Jack Nicklaus GBC has passed Links by. Links is still a great game, but the JN game is flexible, playable, and looks better. Plus, there are hundreds of courses available for download all over the web, many by the same designers who did the courses that are included in GBC. Links makes you pay for their courses. Until Links releases a course designer, improves the play options and the playability, they'll come up short. Still a very good game, and if you're used to the Links family, you may not be willing to change. The JN game is, however, better this year.

Have to Love this Game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

As a long time user of Access links golf sims I just have to say that this game keeps on getting better, maybe not by leaps and bounds but always an improvement. If you have Links LS 99 and are debating over the upgrade to 2000, it is definitely worth it. Why? The scenery seems more clear than ever, you are able to choose from numerous sky scenes which is great, Fuzzy Z. is a new golfer with great comments and new courses. It is definitely an upgrade from Links LS 99. You just install it over top of the previous version. Many people who upgraded from Windows 95 to 98, noticed the differences after using it for awhile. It is the same with this game.

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