Strike Force Bowling

This is my third review of Strike Force Bowling (if you count the Fast Lanes PC version) and I continue to have as much fun today as I did back in February when I put on my first pair of virtual bowling shoes. I recently took a look at what some of the "other review sites" had to say about this game and while I wasn't totaly surprised, I was disappointed that so many "game reviewers" have become so self-important that they have forgetten how to have fun with a game. Not everybody has to have Halo-graphics, or Ninja Gaiden gameplay. There is a certain type of gamer roaming the stores with $20 in their pocket, perhaps with a wife and kids, looking for a "fun game". Well here it is.

I admit it; I am a bowler. Now just the average Saturday night "Rock 'n' Bowl" bowler either. I bowl on a Thursday night league with my wife. And it's pretty enjoyable. I get to see friends, have a good time, and yes; there's a little bit of competitive spirit involved. But it really is all in good fun.

Well, that's it, Strike Force Bowling. Not a giant game by any stretch, but you're also talking about a game that costs less than a tank of gas these days! And for that, the game is worth the money. It's certainly not a realistic bowling game by any stretch, but it is fun and with up to four players it not bad to have to whip out at a party or if you just want to throw a few games. Good job.

Strike Force Bowling delivers a comprehensive bowling package with multiple gameplay modes, inventive locations, and several bowlers to choose from. The first thing you need to do is create your bowler. This isn’t as creative as it could be. You basically pick from one of eight character models, male, female, robot, skeleton, or alien, enter your name and it’s off to the alleys. You can then tweak four attributes like power and accuracy by removing points from one attribute and adding them to another.

They stand on a pirate ship, two humans and a pair of aliens, the latter wearing knee-high black rubber boots. The list of the ship has little to do with the bowling lane. Remarkably the ball hugs the rough wooden surface, smashing into the skull-capped pins as though on a flat surface.

The game does have some cleverness. If you pick the old West setting, instead of pins, you are knocking down whiskey bottles. The lane over the bridge in China has an Asian theme, from the dragon markings on the ball to the characters used to register the score. In the medieval setting, you are bowling with pumpkins, and if in a single-player mode, your opponent is a skeleton.

The last month has seen more than a couple of high-budget games, with several more on the horizon. However, Strike Force Bowling is definitely not one of them. Weighing in with a price tag of $20.00 US, it seems like Crave is trying to rely on price more than quality to move copies of this one.

I'd respectfully decline a purchase of Strike Force Bowling, but for those that are eccentric fans of the sport, this will give you the dose you need. In reality, with the price, you can't go wrong, so I'd say you might as well purchase it over a rental.

I have not played the PS2 version, so I am not responsible for any decision in regards to that. I'd respectfully decline a purchase of Strike Force Bowling, but for those that are eccentric fans of the sport, this will give you the dose you need. In reality, with the price, you can't go wrong, so I'd say you might as well purchase it over a rental.

The game is roughly the same on all three consoles, which makes you wonder why the GameCube version wasn't released until almost a year after the other two. But regardless of that fact, in the end, Strike Force Bowling is a textbook example of a budget game. Its no-frills approach is inoffensive but also quite drab.

Strike Force Bowling attempts to combine zany locales with tried-and-true bowling mechanics, but the game lacks substance and ultimately won't please bowling fans, be they hardcore or casual.

The game is roughly the same on both the PS2 and the Xbox. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Xbox version is five dollars more expensive than the PS2 edition, or that there is an "online enabled" tag on the Xbox version's box. The only real difference is that the Xbox version is "Xbox Live aware," meaning that it will connect to the Live servers so that you can field friend requests and invites while playing the game. In the end, Strike Force Bowling is a textbook example of a budget game. Its no-frills approach is inoffensive but also quite drab.

It has a few unlockables and modes of play, and though some of them are kind of cool (like cosmic bowling), the game fails in the simple task of capturing the excitement of actual bowling.

It has a few unlockables and modes of play, and though some of them are kind of cool (like cosmic bowling), the game fails in the simple task of capturing the excitement of actual bowling.

All in all, if you’re looking for a basic bowling game with some depth and extra modes and such and aren’t really looking for anything that authentic, Strike Force Bowling is worth the pocket-change price. But beyond that, it’s not a good enough game to really wow most gamers as an authentic sim or anything. At the end of the day, you’ll end up wishing for an online mode, more human opponents and an easier easy mode for the young’uns.

Unfortunately, even at its budget price, Strike Force Bowling just doesn’t cut it when it comes to fun bowling action. In fact, it misses the mark when it comes to knocking the pins. While it tried to be different it just doesn’t have the goods to keep virtual bowlers wanting to play this one again and again. Sorry, Crave Entertainment, but this one just isn’t any good.

Strike Force is as undesirable as games get, not that it's horribly broken. The game is always so many steps below mediocre, the typically enjoyable pastime of beer and bowling becomes a frustrating and equally tiring endeavor. After a week of straight play, we all feel like Bilbo, who carried the One Ring of Power till it stretched him thin and empty. Then again, at least we can claim to have played Strike Force, a bowling story.

Why does the cleverly named "Pro 9" -- a computer controlled skeleton -- perform the same animation routines as the young Asian schoolgirl capable of hurling a 20 pound pirate ball at 800 miles per hour? More importantly, what is the difference between a ball composed of mud and magma and one that is 3 pieces of plastic? I don't know and Strike Force Bowling sure as all hell doesn't know.

You can tell a lot about a game from its manual. I should have had fair warning about Strike Force Bowling from the 9 page manual (five pages are about playing the game). There are 6 game modes and the manual states "you'll have to learn to play them all if you want to unlock "those secret lane variations." Goodness gracious, you'll have to have the patience of Jobe to reach "those secret lane variations."

The desire to finally have another PS2 bowling title may cause some to blindly walk about tossing $20 at any clerk holding a box with "bowl" stamped on the front. This is understandable since we don't have much the way of bowling games. Still, just because pickings are slim, rotten apples do not magically become less rotten.

Developing a bowling game and trying to make it worthy of a purchase must be a difficult task. Why, you ask? Well, bowling is a sport completely dependent on the minute motions of the human body, along with the broad strokes that are easily imitated by a videogame. A game developer has no problem programming an on-screen character to walk forward, walk backwards, to pull out a gun and shoot it, to hop slightly or to jump twenty feet in the air.