I have mixed feelings when it comes to this years version of Tiger Woods. While there is a lot to like here there are a couple of things that in my opinion hold this back from being a great game.
Graphics:
No doubt about it, this is one great looking game. Each course is meticulously recreated and everything looks fantastic. The grass textures are quite varied and really look fantastic. The courses look just like they do on TV. The lighting and shadow effects are impressive and really draw you into the game. What is with the rain though? It seems to rain all the time during the season. It even rained for 4 straight days at Dubai! They need to cut WAY back on the rain.
Sound:
I really like the changes they made to the sound effects. Gone are the cannon explosions when you hit a powerful shot. Now you get to hear the satisfying ping of the club smacking the ball and the hollow thud of a well-placed iron shot onto the green. The crowd reactions are also much more accurate to what is happening on-screen with realistic reactions to a great shot or a near miss on a putt. The commentary also is much improved and they seem to have much more to say this year. They can still get repetitive and a little annoying at times but overall they do a decent job.
Gameplay:
Here we run into my biggest complaint with this years game; putting. They completely overhauled the putting mechanics this year and have increased the difficulty to where at times it can be completely frustrating putting when using a created character. The precision needed to draw back the analog stick just right and then push it forward perfectly can be a daunting task when your newly created golfer is just starting out. I can appreciate making things more difficult, especially when one doesn't have a lot of points allocated to putting, but the mechanics just seem a bit too sensitive. Even now where I have played enough to have an 80 putting skill I can still have great difficulty getting the timing down on really long putts. Yes, it does make the game more difficult but when my golfer is a professional and I am belting perfect 320 yard drives and lofting perfectly played irons to the green the putting's difficulty just seems out of place.
Features:
This is where Tiger Woods really shines (save for DLC which I will talk about in a bit). You get A LOT for your money. The Tiger Legacy Challenge, where you get to play as Tiger from a toddler to pro, is very long. You can spend hours and hours just playing that. Start a career as an amateur and earn your way onto the PGA Tour. Join or start an online Country Club where you can compete against your fellow club members as well as other clubs around the world. There is just a ton of stuff to do here.
The DLC is an issue in my opinion. You get 16 courses on the disc which is a decent amount of content but for the rest you will need to cough up your hard earned dollars (usually 5 dollars a course) to download them from the marketplace or play the game A LOT and earn in game currency to buy rounds on the DLC courses. Every time you play a round of Tiger Woods you earn in game coins based on your performance. I average a little of 600 coins per round. You can then use these coins to purchase rounds on the DLC courses. One round costs 6,000 coins or you can buy 3 rounds for 12,000 coins. Based on how well you do on the DLC courses you can "master" the course and then it will become available to you for free. It can take anywhere from 5-7 purchased rounds to master a course so you will need to play the game A LOT if you want to go this route. So far I have unlocked 2 downloadable courses for free. Not bad but I have played a ton of rounds to do this.
What bothers me most about the DLC is that all the courses were released the same day the game was. If EA released a couple of courses each month I would at least feel that they were continuously supporting my purchase but by putting them all out on day one I just feel like they just are ripping me off by no including more on the disc.
Overall I do think the game is worth the 39.99 I paid for it and I am having a lot of fun playing it.
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