The British Open this year was a classic. Conditions were awful for golfers with strong winds causing play to stop on occasions and a championship which saw the shocking comeback of Greg Norman to narrowly miss the title on the final day. And guess what? Tiger Woods wasn’t anywhere in sight. Proof perhaps that you don’t need any tiger to enjoy golf!
With this, the tenth anniversary of Tiger gracing the box of PGA Golf with his trademark Nike cap, a cheesy grin and pearly white teeth; we ask that yearly question, what has changed? Can Tiger Woods 09 possibly beat the best game in the series to date – Tiger Woods 2004?
The good news for fans is that Tiger Woods 09 is a definite improvement on the series. Tigers coach (Hank Haney) makes his first appearance in the game, and as ever, you can create a character from scratch (even using a photo image uploaded via the internet or Vision Camera), you’ll also get a series of coaching talks on how to improve your game.
On the surface the features are generally very similar to last year’s edition; however they have received much more of a polish than usual updates to the series. The dynamic attributes means the game is now trickier than previous instalments, where you could generally max a character out and usually end up with stats similar to that of the Tiger himself. This unique system allows for less complacency out on the course and will see stats for Short Play, Putting, Power and Accuracy both move up and down with each tournament that you play in.
Improving these attributes comes from playing in major tournaments, doing well on the course and also in Hank’s training sessions, which will pit you on the trickier holes which you didn’t do well at and allow you to improve on shots and your stats at the same time. This is a nice touch which allows a more realistic feel to the golfers and how they perform. After-all, just ask Greg Norman, golfing veteran, whom if featured in the game would have seen his stats shooting up after the British Open after a gradual decline over the years!
The multi-control system makes a return as well, and since this is the first Tiger Woods game I’ve played since 2007, it certainly is a welcome return that relives my glory days of using the 3-point click system which appeared back on the Megadrive! With the click of the right analogue stick you can change from what is now deemed modern analogue control to the more traditional method. When it comes to driving and putting the power from the analogue stick is welcome, but for the short game and chipping onto the greens; the 3-point click system is much more useful and it is great that both can be used at the click of a button. Perhaps fans will be turning to the 3-point click-system more often as the analogue controls feature something quite ingenious which tracks the movement of your finger on the stick called Real Time Swing Feedback. When you push back on the control a yellow line is drawn which tracks the movement of the stick and will make an impact on how straight or hooked your shot is. A simple idea which has never featured to date, and certainly will keep you on your toes (or fingers rather) about how straight you hit a shot.
The array of online features is also a credit to the game. The EA GamerNet is now seamlessly integrated into the game play itself and at the touch of a trigger after playing a shot you can upload a saved replay to the EA GamerNet. But not only that, various challenges will appear on-screen including perhaps the record for the longest drive on a hole, or how close you can get the ball to the pin and an un-obtrusive line or circle will appear along with a banner to show who has achieved this and what you need to do to beat it. It turns the game into a community without throwing it in your face, and it can be turned off if it bothers you. The menus and tickers as ever bring news from the ESPN server and are streamlined as ever to make it a welcoming experience.
A new online mode Simultaneous Stroke Play (some of you may recall Links 2004 on Xbox did this effectively) features and instead of waiting around for hours for someone to hit a ball, four of you can play at the same time and you’ll see coloured markers indicating the line of play. It makes for an interesting online experience and can help beginners by opening up new routes to hit the balls or showcase the disastrous ones such as landing in the drink.
We’ve looked at the in-depth new features but the usual yearly updates to golf courses has occurred with five new ones including Sheshan, Gary Player, Wolf Creek, Bay Hill and Wentworth. The career mode remains largely unchanged, tournaments as ever appear on different dates as you progress through a year, but the Tiger Challenge has received a minor overhaul, with a series of cards revealing the Pro Challenges on offer before taking on celebrity players replacing the grid system of old.
The main critique which is an ever occurrence in the series is the graphics however. We’re now into the fourth next-generation golfing game and yet it still looks just as similar to the debut of the 2006 game. While the courses look clean and crisp, the background textures such as the sea or trees look flat and dull while the spectators are still looking unhealthily thin. Players are also lacking emotion and expression and stare blankly as a shot flies through the air. Real golfers will be following the movement and dancing about if it lands in the hole. Yes the voice adds a minimal amount of expression and commentators feature more than ever; but the game really needs a kick up the backside in this area.
And thus we have come to the end of today’s golfing session. Tiger Woods 09 is a serious contender for the best golf game of all-time and rightly so. There have been no significant leaps in technology, but small steps which year-on-year takes the series forward. As we approach the 2010 edition next year, EA need to think about how they can continue to break the barriers and high on that list is graphics and players. Until then, rest in the knowledge that Tiger Woods 09 is the definitive golf title and a fans favourite for at least 12 months. I’ll see you again in 2009 when we do this all over again…
