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It is a common misconception that Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III and other big-name golfers are not “real” athletes. But what says “athleticism” more than being able to go out on the golf course and consistently shoot a 67 to 73 every weekend? How about being able to drive a ball on average the length of two and a half to three football fields? OK, enough on why golfers appear to be ‘”real” athletes; this is about “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005,” the No. 1 and pretty much only golf simulation on the market.
The basic premise of “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005″ is simple. You play golf. And lots of it. There are several different modes of “Tiger Woods,” including “My Legends” mode, which gives you several different options of play including a 10-year PGA Tour career, a legends career where you face off against the likes of Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicholas. There is also the option for traditional games like “skins matches.” You can also play online and even have the option to “Tiger Proof” your course.
Creating a golfer is pretty simple using EA’s Game Face II. With Game Face II, you can select dozens of different options for your golfer: Are they young, are they old, are they thin, are they fat, do they have dimples or do they have freckles? The options are almost endless. With a few minutes of fooling around, you can get a character that looks pretty much like you do, and after going through the mandatory tutorial, you’re ready to hit the links.
On the PGA Tour you can earn cash to upgrade your golfer’s statistics, buy new and used equipment and earn sponsors. Sponsors are interesting, as they pay you to wear their clothing or use their clubs on the golf course, which in turn gives you more money to upgrade your golfer so eventually you can max out your statistics and stand a chance on the golf course, which is one of my biggest complaints of the game, more on that in a few moments.
Not all courses and tournaments are in the game, though. This is due to the fact that EA Sports doesn’t really work with a players association like they would with “Madden,” “MVP,” “NASCAR” or “NHL.” Instead they work with the individual golfers, country clubs and tournaments. So, for example, there is The Players Championship, but you won’t find The Masters. Instead you’ll find a tournament called “The Southern Major Championship.” Neither is there a U.S. Open, British Open or Ryder Cup.
Gameplay has been enhanced from last year. Yes, it’s pretty much using the directional arrows to aim your shot and the analog sticks to swing, but this year EA has added a couple new features. For example, when putting, if you press the white button on the XBox controller, you can enter “Tiger Vision.”
Basically, “Tiger Vision” will tell you exactly where to aim your shot. The caddie tips are helpful, but gauging “3 feet, 2 inches left, and 8 feet, 11 inches long” in a video game is downright impossible for a shot aim. New golfers are at a severe disadvantage when starting the game, while it is possible to win several of the early tournaments as the season progresses, it gets pretty difficult to compete.
The best two features added to this year’s game are “Tiger Proofing” and the swing customizer in Game Face II. “Tiger Proofing” is a fun little diversion where you can unlock different courses and edit them to your specifications. You can make the fairways wide or narrow, the speeds slow or fast, and even choose the upkeep of the greens. Are they going to be pristine or so undermaintained that a car on cinder blocks on the green wouldn’t be far fetched? Will the bunkers be deep or shallow? How deep will the roughs be? All these options and more are at your disposal as you go through the course creation process.
The swing creator is neat, but it doesn’t really have an effect on how the game is played. It just adds a different visual aspect. You can select the standing posture, how flexed the knees are, and where the hands and wrists are located during each part of the swing.
The audio commentary is decent, and thank god they aren’t talking in hushed voices as so many of the announcers of television tournaments do, like the golfers are going to hear you from the booth. The commentary is refreshingly witty and adds a little bit of variety as you go through the game, but at times it almost seems too repetitive.
In all though, “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005″ is a decent game that does a good job of giving some variety to the courses and adds some new features that make buying the current version a likely option.
Bangor Daily News