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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
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Graphics & Sound:
Once again, the Tiger Woods series from EA Sports looks and sounds great. From the player models to the courses, clubs, and effects, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 will treat you to some wonderful eye candy. Tiger himself struts around with confidence and the numerous other PGA Pros also look pretty good. If you feel so inclined, you'll also be able to once again map your own facial features onto a created player by using either the Xbox Vision Camera or a standard digital camera, then uploading your photos through the Internet, downloading them onto your console, and finally editing markers to help the program determine where facial features are located. Done correctly, you'll have your new digital double thanks to this Photo Game Face feature.
After creating your golfer's face, you'll be able to customize the other features as you would with any created player, including giving your golfer a nickname by which the commentators will refer to you. The voiceovers are once again pretty good and call the action fairly well. While it's a simple error check in the code, the fact that commentators correct each other, depending on your shot's final position, is quite entertaining. The ambient sounds in the game help add to the feeling of relaxation on the course as well.
Once again, there is a gallery that will follow you around the course. While they don't visually look all that great, they are definitely interactive (not that I've hit them with askew shots or anything... wink, wink). Weather conditions also show up on the courses, right down to the water spray that follows your ball as you putt in the rain. |
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Gameplay:
Again Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 offers up a wide variety of gameplay modes, with the biggest two being the offline PGA Tour and taking your game online to compete against other fans through Xbox Live. The former allows you to create a Pro and work him through the ranks of greatness against all of the Tour's greatest players. This is also your chance to improve your skills for other modes of play as well.
As far as new features go, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10's biggest change is probably in the new Precision Putting dynamic. Instead of having to swap out different length putters on the green (and sometimes forgetting to do so at the most inopportune times), the distance meter automatically adjusts no matter where you are on the green. Sound easy? Well, it isn't always a walk in the park. In fact, I find myself in a love/hate relationship with the putter now. The new control setup certainly is an improvement, but now accuracy is even more important than ever, making for a pretty unforgiving (and probably more realistic) approach to the short game. One big thing to remember is that not only will the slope affect your shot, but the new dynamic weather will also take its toll, especially in the rain and with wet greens.
Along for the ride are a bunch of game modes that we've all grown to love. With Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, you'll be able to play standard Stroke and Match play or challenge your buddies to a Skins match. You can also have a little fun with games like Bingo Bango Bango, where you get up to three points per hole based on the First On, Closest to the Pin, and Lowest Score. There are a host of mini-games as well.
Other new additions to the series are those of the Practice Round and the ability to play Live Tournaments online. The former is exactly what it sounds like. You'll be able to practice your game with as many shots as you like on any course of your choosing. You can also tweak out your clubs from within this mode, giving you an all-access pass to improvement. The Live Tournaments option allows you to hop online and play in a number of different daily or weekly tournaments, but where this mode shines is in the ability to play against real golfers during their real weekend tournaments, sort of. Your score will be posted in conjunction with those of the players you see on TV. Another fun but difficult mode when you're first starting to build your character is the Tournament Challenge option. Here, you will be put into scenarios set by real-life golfers in past tourneys with the goal to either match or one-up them. |
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Difficulty:
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is a mixed bag of difficulty, but in general, it is at times quite easy while also providing just enough frustration to make this a true golf game ("Golf" is a four-letter word, after all). I found that anyone who has played previous versions will easily be able to jump right in and swing like the king. However, those who may be new to the sport or, better still, new to the game may have a higher learning curve. There are just enough controls, both pre-shot and post-shot, to give veterans and enthusiasts a fair amount of control while still having those same controls and options be a bit overwhelming for new users.
Of course, like any good sport, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 takes practice. If you're willing to put in the time to develop your character, then the game does get much easier. At first, you will struggle to make the green in two shots on a typical par 4 hole, but after some improvements to your stats, you'll be trying to put yourself into position for Eagle on a par 5 instead.
The only true difficulty that arises more often than not is on the putting surface. The new Precision Putting swing mechanics is both a blessing and a curse. The fact that you now have full control over your putts from any distance is a great improvement, but the weather effects (especially rain) feel like they take a bit too much of a toll on the ball's traveling distance. In the same way, the actual mechanics of the shot now allow you to miss-hit the ball to the left and right, which means you get a more realistic feel to your short game but also that seemingly simple putts can sometimes be the end of you.
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Game Mechanics:
Most of the controls of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 are absolutely brilliant. As mentioned before, the putting mechanics are a bit of a double-edged sword, but as many times as I was yelling "I hate putting in this game!" I was also feeling a connection between finger, controller, and virtual putter that felt really good. One thing that truly upset me in the putting department, however, was that you are unable to use your putter at any time on the course. By this, the computer decides when you are close enough, meaning that if you are on the outer fringe or possibly the fairway, you may not have the option of being able to dribble the ball up next to the hole.
One thing that I love from this year's Tiger are the visual clues you get on each and every shot. Sometimes it's difficult to hit a perfectly straight shot every time that you push back-forward on the analog stick. However, there is an on-screen graphic that shows you exactly how you first pressed downward and then flipped the stick upward, making for a quick way to know when you're not optimizing your shots. Of course, until the end of time, I will say that it drives me crazy how you can control the ball's spin after the shot. How is that realistic golf?
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is an outstanding game and a welcome addition to the series. Admittedly, there isn't a ton of worth in buying the new title if you still have last year's version, but if you haven't played the series in a while, I highly recommend picking up a copy. The number of game modes and online play that the game offers you more than make up for any flaws. |
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-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele |
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