by: Chris Vavra

June 27, 2009

Like almost all the other EA sports games that we have come to expect year after year like clockwork, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 delivers what it promises and does so in a very workmanlike, efficient manner. The boys at EA Sports have made the real-life golf courses look very close to their real-life iterations. In HD, you can see the amount of painstaking detail and effort that went into creating a realistic golf sim from just a visual standpoint. Whatever you think of EA, you have to give them credit for this much: They make damn sure that the player can have a realistic, albeit vicarious, experience playing the game and imagining for just a second that they are Tiger Woods making his way up Bethpage Black and winning the U.S. Open.

That aside, the simulation factor is in full effect and it can be trying for gamers. Sure, the Wii version might have an added advantage (for a change) because the Wii Motion Plus allows you to play a more realistic kind of golf game than you’ll get on the PS3 or the 360. All well and good. The PS3 and 360 don’t suffer too much by comparison, but there is a steep learning curve involved. There is a fair amount of trial and error involved for newbies because the controls do demand precision and they do demand your full and undivided attention. Less experienced gamers may find this to be a bit much. The putting, at least, is better than it has been with the new stick, which allows you to gauge speed and power. This used to be more of an intuitive feel. Now you have something to fall back on, but again, precision counts. Even on the lower difficulties, precision counts.

This leaves me feeling conflicted because the system does work and, with practice, it can provide a very realistic experience, even on a PS3 or 360 controller, but it isn’t as fun to me. I still enjoy the Hot Shots Golf system more. The characters are goofy, the courses sometimes outrageous, but the games are always more enjoyable and fun to play. Tiger is fun, no doubt, but that fun seems more calculated and grooved to work by design. It’s a well-oiled machine, like any EA series, and even with the occasional Happy Gilmore comment from the golfer you can create it doesn’t feel as organic as it should and this becomes problematic. Golfing nuts won’t mind and they’ll be very content with the system, but those looking for a more casual experience may not enjoy the experience.

There are a couple dozen golfers to choose from if you want to play as someone besides Tiger. Many are familiar faces like Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Mike Weir, Chris DiMarco, and Rocco Mediate. A few women golfers like Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer are also available. The real fun, however, is in creating your own golfer and creating a player tailored to your game and your approach. Even on a controller you’ll probably end up playing similarly to the way they play in real life. That’s a testament to the control and the mechanics that have been implemented for the title. Being able to bring them up and improve their game as you go along is the strongest aspect because there is so much depth and so much to do that playing as a pro isn’t as fun as beating a pro with your own golfer.