Considering that there are some people that bought a Wii just to play the bowling game bundled with Wii Sports, it’s simply out of the question for Sony to launch PlayStation Move without its own take on the sport. While Sony doesn’t have anything prepped as far as we know, developer FarSight Studios has its own game, Brunswick Bowling, in the works.
Unsurprisingly, the game is exactly what you’d expect, with the basic mechanics not dissimilar from “Wii Bowling.” A notable difference is that the Move lacks any sort of direction pad, unlike the Wii Remote. Because of this, shifting your bowler left and right, as well as changing the angle of your shot, is all done with basic controller tilts. Point the controller upwards while holding the Move’s middle button, and tilt left and right to shift placement of your bowler; point downwards and do the same to change the angle.
Once you’re set to bowl, pulling the trigger (called the “T” button) preps the bowler. Next, you simply pull back on the controller and swing forward, releasing the trigger to send the ball down the lane. In the build FarSight was showing off, the moving of the bowler on the screen and your movements wasn’t one to one; instead, you had to match the movements of the on-screen bowler, which was a bit awkward. FarSight says that when the game launches, this one-to-one movement will be in place, however. On the plus side, I found it easy to put spin on the ball with a slight flick of my wrist; it definitely felt as much (if not more) responsive than the bowling in Wii Sports Resort.
Brunswick Bowling may not be the “Wii Bowling” killer some would want it to be, especially due to the fact that it’s a full retail title, and not a pack-in with the controller itself. Its realistic, HD visuals also don’t seem to have the same charm as those of Wii Sports, either. Still, with a little polish, the game could be a solid experience for PS3 owners with “Wii Bowling Envy.”
Brunswick Bowling is set to ship this fall alongside the release of PlayStation Move.
