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Tiger Woods PGA Tour '09
Wow, golf is pretty fun!
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Tiger Woods 2009 is the first golf game I’ve purchased in a long time and it’s the first Tiger Woods game that I’ve played seriously. I have to say I’m pretty happy with the purchase. It feels like something I’ll keep around for a long time just for when someone who likes the game comes over, or if I feel like playing a round of golf online. Unfortunately that’s about as much use as it’ll get, however, as I’d way rather spend my time playing the other EA sports titles to satisfy my competitive drive.
From what I’ve read in the reviews they’ve made some significant changes to the core gameplay rather than just adding a bunch of new mini games. They have a feature now where your stats go up and down based on your performance in each round (resulting in me having an awesome 3.4 out of 12 for short game) that I find quite satisfying. I just wish it happened in every mode you play, including online matches. It happens enough though and provides good incentive to build up your character and play the offline modes. Other new additions are advice audio from Tiger Woods’ coach, which I found to be useless, and a new Club Tuner that allows you to fine tune each of your clubs and practice your shots. Finally, you can also play simultaneously online now, seeing your opponents’ shots as color tracers instead of each player waiting their turn. The result is fast and fun online play and it’s a great addition.
The single player mode is the best feature of the game. You create a character and build him up in stats as you play through either the PGA Tour or the Tiger Challenges. The PGA Tour allows you to set the number of days in a tourney and then you play through an entire year of a golfer’s life in the PGA Tour, competing against all the greats. At the end of each tourney you get a series of exercises to improve your golfer’s stats (which unfortunately all feel the same, except for putting). The Tiger Challenges, alternatively, have individual professional golfers that you have to beat one at a time, but before you can challenge them you have to complete a number of challenges, things like: drive more than 450 yards in 3 shots. Both modes are fun to play and both contribute to the growth of your character that you can take online.
One thing that I find completely unacceptable in this game is the graphics. Some of the trees and bushes are still 2D transparent graphics and in 2008, with a golf game, that is complete bullshit. When I play GTA4 and Crackdown, games that arguably have more complex models, higher resolution textures, and zero fill in when flying over an entire city, I see real graphics technology. This is GOLF. You have a couple dozen moving objects on the screen if you include the audience members. There is absolutely no reason that the game shouldn’t be photorealistic. I want to see trees swaying in the wind. I want every single leaf on the tree to blow independently of the next. There’s no reason that in this day in age that a golf game can’t pull off these kind of graphics.
Another thing that left me disappointed was the lack of online modes for multi-player competition. You’re pretty much limited to two options: Individual ranked games or the Daily Tournament that every single person in the world competes in. Look, I am NEVER going to be able to compete with the top 100 in the WORLD at Tiger Woods, I just don’t care enough. But, if they had given us the option to create custom tournaments, or even better: leagues, and let us compete in groups of 52 at a time, say, then it would be much more fun for the casual player. I suspect that in 2010 we’ll see more of those kind of features.
Finally, and this really was a huge disappointment, I can’t believe there is not a filter in the online matchmaking for Custom Players Only. It is nearly impossible to get a 4 person game going without SOME jackass using Tiger Woods, who has near perfect stats. Fine, let people play Tiger Woods, but at least let me search or create games that exclude the option to use anything other than created characters. |
Graphics
Completely unacceptable in this day and age. This is GOLF, people. At this point it should be photorealistic.
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5.0 |
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Sound
I enjoy the sound in the game once I turn the announcers off. Incredibly annoying and useless comments. Other than that it sounds great.
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7.0 |
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Gameplay
This is where the game really excels. I pretty much always understand why the ball did what it did, and I feel very much in control of my swing.
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9.5 |
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Originality
Can't dock it too hard as it's unquestionably the current leader in video golf innovation. From what I can tell, though, it hasn't added a whole lot to the game over the years.
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8.0 |
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Interface
Very easy to manage golfers. Auto-save works perfectly. Finding what you want is never troublesome. Loses points only for not having a Custom Golfer filter for online matches.
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9.5 |
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Fun
I have yet to be bored while playing this game, and on some nights I have played 5 or 6 tourneys before putting it down. It has that addictive quality that makes you want to play one more game.
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9.0 |
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Lasting Appeal
I don't see myself trading away this game anytime soon. I do think that 2010 will be a huge improvement, though, so I can't see this one lasting more than a year.
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8.5 |
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Overall
All-in-all I very much enjoy playing Tiger Woods 2009, and that’s all that really matters. I think next year’s effort will be much more impressive as they’ll take the core engine from this one and add much needed online features to it.
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8.1 |
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