JACK NICKLAUS may well be the greatest golfer, but when it comes to making simulations of the game, there is plenty of very strong competition for the crown.
The world leaders in this department at the moment have to be PGA Tour and Links LS but there is, as always, room for improvement.
These two games, while basically the same, have individual traits: PGA Tour prides itself in being backed by the USPGA Tour and so has all the top stars included in the game. Therefore, when you set off in Tournament mode you can play against the top golfers in the world. Links LS, on the other hand, focuses more fundamentally on the game of golf itself and what you get is a much more aesthetically pleasing and accurate simulation.
Jack Nicklaus 4 is neither here nor there but has one vital component, which the others don't offer - course design. Many top players, when they are nearing the end of their playing days, turn their hands to designing and Nicklaus has again proved to be one of the best at this. He is responsible for many of the world's top courses including Mount Juliet in Kilkenny.
While Mount Juliet isn't included with this package, eight courses are, two of them immediately recognisable - Muirfield Village and English Turn. Of course, if you really feel up to it you could design an exact replica of Mount Juliet or the K Club or wherever. Or, can design your own dream course from scratch right down to the last bush. But be warned, designing a golf course, even on PC, can be a slow and tedious task.
Aside from the design element, Jack Nicklaus is a competent, if not outstanding, golf game. The graphics are excellent and the re-draw rate is far better than any of its competitors. Where it does fall down, however, is on its overall playability and presentation.
Putting, in particular, can be infuriating. While one does expect this aspect of the game to be difficult in its own right, when you have putts of less than two feet being as hard as putts five times that length it is a little unfair. The game is hard enough without that.
This aside, Jack Nicklaus 4 represents a reasonable golf sim, but unless you have the patience and the will to use the course designer then there is not much here that either PGA Tour or Links LS does not already have. Just like the real game, golf sims are proving hard to master, but Jack Niclaus 4 just about makes the cut.
Graphics: 90%, Sound: 80%, Gameplay: 72%