Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Review

Written by: Steve Martin Posted: 17th July 2009

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Tiger swings into action in this Wii review.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Details:

	Sports
	PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Nintendo Wii/PSP/Nintendo DS
	EA Sports
	EA Sports

Out Now

1-4

A famous quote that I've never agreed with is that of Mark Twain, “Golf is a good walk, ruined”. I enjoy the odd attempt at pitch and putt! Especially when the sun is out and you've got a couple of friends who aren't as good as you and you're making side-bets on every hole. By the end I'm usually pretty happy and my mates are a little less so!

Anyway, this latest instalment by EA Sports in their reputable Tiger Woods series of golf games is definitely not “ruined”. I found it an utter delight to play, especially with the new WiiMotion Plus accessory, with this attached the golf swing on screen mirrors your own at home. I cannot praise the controls highly enough. They are expertly balanced and are the most realistic I have ever experienced, it feels natural and uncomplicated. The power of your shot is dictated by your backswing, your follow through and the speed of your swing. By twisting your wrist before you strike the ball, you are able to curve the flight of the ball and avoid obstacles. It works sublimely, as does the new precision putting mode which gives you just one putter, rather than the traditional idea of several putters of different ranges. The strength of your putt is dictated by the speed of your swing; it can be a little tricky to begin with but doesn’t take long to get used to. In “All Play” mode, there is a lot of computer assistance with each shot, the ball flight is shown in full including bounces and rolls meaning all you have to do is get the power right. I found this to be far too easy, I was chipping in eagles from over 100 yards away. Adjust the setting to the standard mode and to begin with you’ll feel a little out of your depth, you’ll find out that your swing isn’t that great after all, without the computer to help you out, you’ll end up bogeying or paring most of the holes to begin with. But stick with it, because once you get the hang of it, it is amazingly rewarding! Every swing feels unique because it kind of is! How you swing the remote denotes how good a shot you will play and when you manage to sink a birdie you’ll feel great and proud!

The sheer size of the game is impressive, there are a multitude of modes and mini-games to play, so much so it makes your head spin. There are 27 full courses to play through, a huge career mode where you begin as an amateur and work your way up to super stardom. You increase your stats along the way by earning experience points gained by playing tournaments. As you progress you’ll play in bigger and better tournaments against more skilled opponents until you reach the stage where you are playing with the pros. You can buy new clothing and clubs that help to boost your stats using the money you have won. As well as the tournament calendar, which has over 60 events to compete in, there are a number of challenges to complete that are based on real life events in golfing history. There is a good amount of variety in this mode, with some challenges being driving competitions, closest to pin or simply match play. It’s impossible to list all the modes and extras crammed onto this one disc in this review, but take my word for it, it’ll keep you busy for months. There’s even disc golf, like golf but played with Frisbees and a net instead of a hole, it’s not brilliant but a nice addition.

As you would expect from an EA Sports game, the presentation is top notch, if a little recycled from previous outings. The television presentation helps the atmosphere, and the breathtaking and accurate 27 courses that you can play on are gloriously splendid. The on screen displays are unobtrusive but detailed and useful. The characters are wonderfully designed with smooth swing animations, which you can personalise for your character if you so wish. Although, the stock bogey, birdie and eagle animations are familiar to anyone who has played any of the previous iterations in the series.

The commentary has been done well! I especially liked the voiceover during the flyby of the hole, which gave you tips on how to play the hole or an interesting fact. Although I’d imagine that this would get repetitive after several plays. The “pings” and “clunks” of good and bad shots respectively, are present and correct along with some crowd noises. More worrying is the animal noises, I actually heard a cow mooing on one of the courses, which I didn’t expect!

I thoroughly enjoyed playing this and have become addicted to the career mode. The difficulty is pitched just right on the standard options. However, the “All Play” setting will allow novices to enjoy the game too. The control system is astonishingly good, especially with the WiiMotion Plus attached which makes every swing feel special! I don’t know if I could ever go back to playing golf games with an analogue stick again! The new precision putting is inspired and works brilliantly, and is much more rewarding than the traditional method, although that is still available if you so wish. The expansive career mode and the wealth of offline and online multiplayer options and the number of courses and challenges to complete make this great value for money, it’s great to see a hardcore sports game that has not been trimmed down or “kiddified” on the Wii. There’s very little to be critical of in this game, I suppose if you already own a Tiger Woods game than this is not a hugely different game other than the WiiMotion Plus compatibility and a few extra game modes.

In summary Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 features brilliant graphics with perfectly balanced controls, offers excellent value and most importantly is fantastically fun and addictive. This is, in my humble opinion, the best golf game on any console.