Bowling is one of those activities that costs a fair bit to play in real life but is extremely fun when played competitively with friends. When it comes to the gaming scene, bowling games are almost non-existent when it comes to consoles. The only memorable experience I have had with the genre is playing bowling on Wii Sports which required using hand motion controls rather than sitting with a standard controller. PGA Pro Bowling 2023 is the latest entry on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and focuses on the professional side of the sport. Looking back on previous entries from developer and publisher Farsight Studios, this is the first instalment in some time after a two-year hiatus.

Introduction

I’ll hold my hands up and state that this is my first dabble with the PGA Pro Bowling franchise, so I don’t have the ability to directly compared to prior versions. Going in blind though is sometimes a good thing when it comes to certain types of games, especially sporting titles. Unfortunately, anything sports related always gets dealt the most critical hand as it is often hard to make drastic changes to a formula that is the same all the time. Admittedly I had to look up what PGA stands for and it is an abbreviation of the Professional Bowlers Association. Someone who is massively into the bowling world will be much more clued up on the roster of pro bowlers, commentators and licenced equipment that is blended into this year’s entry. Farsight Studios have done an incredible job managing to get all the official assets into the game.

Gameplay

There are several modes to choose from and I immediately decided to opt for the Pro Tour Mode. This gives you the opportunity to establish yourself and climb the rankings and compete with the best professionals in the world of bowling. After choosing a character design and a region you’d like to bowl in, you then have to prove yourself and get stuck into some qualifying matches and get your foot in the door.

This is where I spent more than a few hours trying hard to even get through the qualifying matches, let alone beyond this stage. It felt like no matter how well I bowled, the AI opposition would always score better than me. You’d have no indication early on though of how things will go since the scoring is done across several frames rather than per match. This meant you had to often bowl fifteen times before you learn whether you’d progress.

The only way I could see an improvement personally was by unlocking new bowling balls which you can do with experience, you can also upgrade balls to further your skills. For me, it became a tedious method of progression and grinding through unenjoyable losses to somehow bring the game to a more competitive fun experience. Whether this has been done to lengthen the longevity and replayability I’m unsure, but I feel it could turn players off almost instantly. The control scheme and handling mechanics were spot on though and I couldn’t fault the bowling process itself and I have to admit that I wanted to keep playing to become better at the game. It is super satisfactory to score strikes when things go swimmingly.

Graphics & Audio

Visually PGA Pro Bowling 2023 does the trick for the most part. I went in with the mindset that this hasn’t been produced with a studio with the same budgets that EA has with their sports franchises and even 2K with the NBA and WWE games, and that’s OK. Immediately noticeable is the shiny gloss surface of the bowling lanes with the surrounding sponsorship boards with a small crowd in the background. The transition between letting go of the bowling ball and clashing against the skittles is extremely well done with various camera angles highlighting the impact and speed of your bowl. The plethora of cosmetic unlocks in both balls and bowling attire brings a layer of freshness to your approach to the game.

The commentary is pretty decent and as I’d imagine it would sound if I was watching pro bowling on an American TV channel. The audio design performs as you’d probably expect with the thud and roll of the ball thundering down the lane with the clash of the pins. Bring with that the atmosphere from the crowd cheering at the right moments and overall you have a pretty good presentation here.

In Conclusion

I had a lot of fun with PGA Pro Bowling 2023, but it required a lot of patience and practice to master the techniques and craft of bowling to score consistent strikes. From the little research I did on PGA Pro Bowling 2021, it appears that there aren’t many significant changes to the game overall with the aesthetics of the menu system and everything else being largely the same. I spoke with a friend who played the 2021 version for hundreds of hours and he explained that the difficulty level especially for newcomers to the game, has increased.

If you’re looking for a bowling game that caters to the more casual crowd, then this one may not be for you. It often feels more serious than fun and could probably do with some more enjoyable modes to fill the gaps between the times when you need pure precision and concentration. I’m thinking of maybe features like mini-games as the Virtua Tennis games had back in the day. That said though, it is a mechanically solid game that will scratch an itch for you if you’re really into bowling and like an on-the-edge competition against rock-solid AI opponents or real-life human players online. It is a game that has the ability to fuel unlimited gameplay should you wish and absorbing yourself amongst real-life bowlers and licenced theming makes everything feel like this is the best a bowling game could possibly get.