Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08

In the storming wake of Madden 2008, there is another gaming masterpiece to immerse yourself with, if your tastes are along the lines of khaki pants and a large-brimmed visor on your head.  Since virtual golf has been a long time personal favorite, getting my hands on the (typically) best the genre has to offer is always a treat. My last foray with Mr. Woods’ namesake was in 2005, with the brand new PSP version. I loved it, but also missed the large-screen version with more flexibility and options. That being said, my views on the game are based on playing 2008 — not by doing a side by side comparison hit-piece on what isn’t improved over the past year’s version.

EA Sports brings us Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 -- right in time for those of us that are less interested in sports that involve doing “the wave.” If you are a fan of the arcade hit Golden Tee, you’ll enjoy the interface, here. You have options for swinging your club that include using a joystick or keyboard/mouse combination. I normally prefer the former with PC games, but in the case of golf, I like a keyboard. The sport doesn’t require lightning-fast button mashing or super high-jumps. Nope … this one is skill, patience and planning. The reference to Golden Tee is in regards to the way you swing. For novice users, you can use the (videogame golf) standard of synchronized clicking. That is, a click to get the swing going, then another at the precise point of release for maximum results. That’s always been fun and usually quite challenging (especially in putting), but now you can utilize the mouse movement, itself. You carefully pull the mouse backwards for your backswing, then jam it forward (as straight as possible) quickly to execute a nice swing. In the arcade, this is done with a large trackball, but with some effort, you get used to doing it with the mouse. I have had to use this technique for various videogame bowling offerings, so it was neither completely foreign nor hard to “master” (if such a thing exists). This little gem is called Trueswing and, as mentioned, optional to use. I liked it, personally. You can even pull up educational stats on your swing, to better hone your skills as you develop. This helped me a lot.

The AI of the ball, swing, environmental (wind and other nasty variables) and experience/ability is very precise. I did not expect much in the way of eye-rolling silliness that can ruin otherwise exceptional games. For instance, the putting in this one is very fair, for better or worse. The ball doesn’t get magically sucked into the pin if you get within 10 feet. You have to actually earn your putts. What a concept! The rough was easier for me to handle than in the past, though I imagine that’s just experience (finally) catching up to me. I tend to overcompensate when in roughs and hazards, but did not experience as many unforgiving overshoots. I am used to blasting a simple 10 foot putt to another fairway, but the enhanced putting action enabled me to be more accurate. I avoid sand traps whenever possible, but found my digging-out to be more reasonable this go ‘round.

The main screen invites you to navigate using their new "honeycomb" view. I guess that's more creative than frames or memorizing F-keys. As always, there are loads of good courses to sample. This version provides more than a dozen, which is up a few from 2007. There's the new FedEx Cup courses like Westchester Country Club and East Lake. Aside from new grass to see, there is also the insertion of LPGA players. "L" stands for Ladies (for the acronym-challenged). Your mix of players include John Daly, Vijay Singh, Natalie Gulbis and Christie Kerr. Oh yeah, and that Tiger guy. I understand that the player creation tool on other platforms allow you to input your own face, but that is missing from the PC.

Graphically, the game looks great. I did not experience many hang-ups or glitches. It seems slow to load up initially, but once you are “in,” it moves along without a problem. The characters look good, with minimal pixilation or other typical downsides when reproducing real-life people. The camera views are ample in variation, so you can’t blame poor performance on lack of perspective! Even the views from the blimp are nice to look at, though I can’t say I like the view from within a deep bunker. Who does? I make sure I turn off any programs that are not needed — which about all of them. Any processor/resource distractions will cause annoying hiccups that I choose not to experience.

The commentary is beyond annoying, so its one of the first Options to be disabled. Crowd noise via polite chatter/applause it fine, but again—mute. Though taboo in real life, I don’t mind turning on my own musical selection as I play. Golf is not a sport that is dependent on play-by-play and knowing whether the announcer likes my approach to the green. The stats I need are in the display, so that kind of audio interruption is just…. an interruption.

Aside from the “dazzling” honeycomb interface, it’s traditional from the start. There are an ample amount of play options, as well as specialty games and ways to make money. Play a couple of Tournaments really well, and you can buy all the goodies you need for long-term success. Good clubs and some snazzy pants are the key to being a golfing legend. I love playing Pebble Beach. Mostly because that was my addiction many years ago on the original NES. This version of the famous course looks much better, though. Go figure! There are a few more courses than before, which was already a good amount. The players will sulk and celebrate a shot, and you are free to do the same on your own. There’s a new “Confidence” asset that builds your skill as your mental prowess expands. It’s like self-hypnosis — with your abilities displayed on-screen. If you make some exceptionally nice shots, you can upload them to the EA forum and show-off for the world to see. No more fish-stories or doubters. With so many tweaks, courses and variations available to you, there is no way to walk away with a poor experience. It may take some trial and error to what you like most, but the fun is there — if you can swing it.

Gameplay: 8.0
From the opening screen, you feel comfortable with the game. Though not so easy to master, the controls are not too complex that it will take days of playing to get the swing of it. The various camera options allow any view you would need, and the use of the mouse as the club via Trueswing is a asset — should you chose to go that route. The nice thing is — there are choices. Gamepad (joystick) or mouse. Click, click and click, or Trueswing.  

Graphics: 8.0 
It’s a beautiful game. I think that it gets better every year, but not only as the expected advances in video grow. I think the developers are better at identifying what the player wants to see, and making sure our view is — good. Instead of focusing too much in one thing or another (I do not care how much the flag/pin staff looks like real aluminum), they have bettered balanced the overall look, plus made some even more enriching. I find some fault with the character creation, but I don’t care that much about it, actually. The point of playing this for me is to immerse myself in being a pro player. If I want to see what I look like — stinking up the links — I will take a mirror with me the next time I play a round! Even with my less-than-stellar hardware, I did not encounter many glitches. I did make sure I shut down all other programs, which is common practice when I play any game, these days.   

Sound: 6.5
The sounds are dead-on to what I have experienced in playing golf. A few years ago, I could only vouch for the sounds of Putt-Putt Golf, but now have a better understanding of the sweet “ping” of a well-hit ball. Also, the satisfying “plunk” of the ball (finally) falling into the cup. The commentary is old and tired … like the announcers, themselves. That’s a big minus, but overlooked for the purposes of this type of game. Turn it off completely, if you dislike hearing the same one-liners over and over.

Difficulty: Medium
These EA games are always a “medium” for me. They are as hard as you make them. Golf is not easy to play, and doing it virtually is no exception. The swing is the elusive grail of golfers, and using the Trueswing feature can be a challenge. Though you can intentionally hook and slice for maximum targeting, I usually do it quite by accident, which gives me a chance to practice my bunker abilities. Don’t get me started on water hazards.  

Concept: 7.0 
Golf is golf, so they are not trying to create a new game from scratch. The creativity enters the picture when trying to decide your levels of play, selection of courses (hint: they will be PGA sanctioned ones), and environmental or cosmetic nuances. Aside from those options, the game has rules and they don’t change over the years. Maybe the 2009 version will introduce steroid-testing or allow the use of wooden clubs ... but I doubt it. It will most likely be a game in which you must whack a white ball as accurately as possible, and keep doing so until it falls into a hole. Repeat 17 more times.     

Overall: 7.5
I love video-game golf and baseball, though watch neither in person or on TV. Although I enjoy an occasional guilty excursion with abominations like Outlaw Golf, EA’s PGA branding is hard to beat. I can find faults, but my overall experiences are almost always good. I appreciate that certain things do not improve from one release to the next, but that is why I avoid getting any title’s annual release — as a rule. I skip at least one year between updates. I may change it up a bit and get the next year’s title on a different platform, but I avoid the let-downs with spending good money on something that will not likely change, much. The player control is very good, the selection of playable characters is nice, the look and feel of the play is solid, so for my criteria, I am pleased with this year’s offering. Yes, there are some issue with physics (wind direction not matching the pin-flag’s motion) and etc, but I didn’t feel that kind of thing affecting my play. It’s solid, easy to load without having to have a Frag-machine, and fun for playing against others. They’re trying to tweak the interface, which is an understandable attempt at shaking things up, but cosmetics like that won’t warrant a bashing from me. I wasn’t “teed-off” by such distractions, and found myself able to enjoy my improvement as I played more and more courses. Maybe it’s not a hole in one, but it’s definitely on-par for the legacy of the title.