A poorly executed idea that ends up breaking immersion even further.

Walkabout Mini Golf is probably the most popular VR game for the mini golf enthusiast.

Boasting more than a dozen courses, with even more being added via DLC every so often, the game that was originally released in 2020 has continued to impress.

A PlayStation VR2 (PSVR2) version of the game was released May. 11, with updated graphics and haptic feedback that made you feel like you were playing on some of the wildest courses imaginable. The social game also allowed players to take part in matches of up to eight players, playing with those using multiple VR headsets.

While this game is truly one of the best available for the PSVR2 right now, an accessory released to increase immersion has failed to meet expectations.

Created in partnership with Hello Real, a company that works exclusively on creating accessories for VR games, the Walkabout Grip-to-Putter, was released in late September for the headset.

At first glance, the simplistic design – a realistic minigolf grip with a trigger system to activate your in game putter – seems like a no-brainer to improve immersion. However, like so many games released for this headset, the curse of having a fatal flaw seems to remain.

Once you start to setup your putter with the Sense controller – only the right one works for this – you immediately see how cheap most of the materials are. Easily breakable plastic is what holds this all together, snapping each into place seems like a game of Russian Roulette as you wonder when things may finally break and make this a hunk of junk.

Once put together, there is a sense of realism for all of a minute. Once you get ready to take that first swing, the dread of having wasted money creeps over you.

Developers Mighty Coconut have implemented a setting in game that is supposed to calibrate the putter to work right away. This is probably the worst calibration ever, since the in-game putter ends up at the craziest of angles, not at all matching up with your real life stance.

Hello Real, of course, blames the game and encourages players to setup a custom grip. Even after playing around with their suggestion, it didn’t help, with the in-game putter still not following the controller.

Of course, the biggest of flaws still remains… an absolutely horrendous freeze up that seems to take place when you try and play with the putter.

Whether you pull the trigger on the side of the grip to activate your putter, or are simply trying to take a practice swing, your golf club will ALWAYS freeze as if your game has crashed, often ruining your shot if you happen to have the trigger pulled.

With updates coming often from the developer, perhaps they’ll fix some of the issues that plague the accessory – the game itself seems to have next to no issues if you’re playing with just the regular controller.

As of right now, this is a waste of more than $90 CAD and it’s recommended that only the most patient of gamers shell out the cost. The limited edition putter is sold out, however, so those interested will have to purchase another version with the PSVR2 attachment.

NOTICE: Don’t let this accessory put you off from playing Walkabout Mini Golf, this is probably one of the best games currently available for the headset. You can play on some of the most amazing courses imaginable, including some based on Atlantis, El Dorado, and many other places, where each hole presents a fun challenge that cannot be recreated in real life.

But if you do want to make this a regular in your VR repertoire, play with the controllers.

The Walkabout Grip-to-Putter was reviewed after purchasing from the Hello Real store at full price.