Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
Score: 88% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Sports Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Sports/ Sports (Golf)/ Family
Graphics & Sound: Nothing in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 will deter critics of the Wii graphics. The backgrounds and characters are well done, but it is not a stretch to say that the PSP or certainly the PS2/XBOX consoles were capable of as good or better. The trade-off being what it is, the game's creators went for a high level of realism in the gameplay and some neat extra features. The thing that you'll remember after playing the game is the extremely high level of customization possible for each character. If sales go soft on this title for EA, they can license the "My Appearance" segment to small-town police departments as profiling software. Everything about your golfer's face, body and clothing can be tweaked. Some of the depth in this will be lost on the folks accustomed to creating Miis, but I loved it. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 features a stacked soundtrack like most EA titles. Songs cycle through each screen as you select play modes or customize your player. During play, there are realistic sound-effects from the crowd and some very over-the-top fans. The feel of being outside and playing through is captured nicely in the game with the combination of sound and visuals. Photorealism may help some people get into the game but PGA Tour 07 does everything with what the Wii has to put you in the moment. Grass and scenery moves as you play and the cut-scenes between shots or holes are fitted out with the television trappings that EA has used forever to recreate the viewing experience. I've said it before, but the goal for years with EA seems to be creating the interactive equivalent of viewing a game on TV. If you're looking for something that will actually take the place of time on the green, you are barking up the wrong tree playing a videogame anyway...
Gameplay: The comparison to Wii Golf is inevitable, so let me put your concerns to rest: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is to Wii Golf as a Ferrari is to a Yugo. The depth of play in PGA Tour 07 takes you from traditional golf in a wide array of classic courses to unique competitive modes and challenging modes that test your ability to hit accurately. If all you want is a vague sensation of playing golf, you don't have to go beyond Wii Golf. If you want a golf game that rewards sustained practice, you have the right fit in PGA Tour 07. Even though the Wii version looks less shiny than the console versions with high-end graphics, it retains huge appeal by offering 18 courses for play and 35 preloaded characters. Each course demands a slightly different set of skills and will test your ability. Stroke, Match, and Skins modes are standard and expected for play through the increasingly challenging course competitions. Bloodsome, Greensome, and Alternate Shot modes are all variations that involve setting a shooting point to increase the level of challenge from hole to hole. Think of these extra modes as instant handicaps once you master the other play styles. Beyond simple competitive modes, there are some cool ways to play by yourself or with a friend. The Skills 18 mode tests your accuracy in ball placement. Nailing a shot in a target will result in maximum points. Another skill test is to play the Skillzone mode with a friend and see how well you fare under pressure. Skillzone puts two players up against each other for target competitions and some lightweight games that almost feel like mini-games. There are some other competitive modes that involve little tricks like sharing a single ball, swapping clubs with your opponent depending on how he plays, and going for gold (literally) in Tiger Challenge. The mark of good videogame golf for me is when the controls aren't getting in the way of your fun. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is like its predecessors in that it leans more toward a realistic game that "true" golf fans will enjoy. The idea of playing Tiger and having everything handed to you on a silver platter isn't very appealing, so the game plays on the side of challenging golf action. The controls are a part of this, but you can choose to play through with more arcade-style controls. The other great thing about videogame golf is how it can simulate all kinds of crazy play styles that you could only have in real life if you possessed a great deal of time, money, and patient friends. Since few of us have all (or any?) of these, we have to live vicariously through our simulated golfers.
Difficulty: I can't even play golf, so who am I to judge all this anyway? Nobody said golf had to be easy and certainly not when Tiger Woods is involved. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 does save a bit of the pain by allowing you to treat the Nunchuk stick as the same kind of swing trigger we used in the days before fancy swinging-arm controllers. The "real" swinging and putting style involves gripping the Wii-mote and simulating a swing. The trick comes from pressing and releasing the (B) button. I found the swings to be pretty twitchy, but it came from pressing or releasing the (B) button too early. The Wii knows a lot, but if you press the (B) button at your hip and then assume the pose, it will make your next move the release because it thinks you've swung through an entire backswing. After I got this down, things became easier. Putting spin on the ball and slicing can be a bit tricky. The basics of hitting the ball straight won't be too difficult for almost any experienced golfer and most videogame golfers will have it nailed on the second or third try. Putting and short shots were the worst because of the need to adjust strength by shortening the swing. The length of the swing always seemed a bit elusive without taking a practice swing. There aren't guides showing you when to release or time your swing, so you just have to practice and then recreate your swing without the "practice mode" button pressed. It sounds complicated and feels a might complicated on the first few go-rounds. With some practice you'll be blasting shots off the tee like the rest of the pros in no time.
Game Mechanics: Other than learning the controls via the swinging Wii-mote, you won't have much to learn in order to pick up Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 and start playing. Navigating some of the menus using the Wii-mote was awkward and the on-screen directions were weak. The manual that came with the game was even weaker and made it difficult to figure out some features early in the game. There are some "helpers" you get until you turn this feature off in the preferences. Another helper feature is the shot-cam on the green that shows where you should hit the ball. In combination with the moving lines that most golf games use to show the lie on the green, you are supposed to see exactly how to work your club. It sounds nice in theory, but the issues with powering your shot by swinging the Wii-mote robbed some fun out of analyzing the shot. What fun is scoping out the shot if you're going to blast it into the weeds in the end? PGA Tour 07 for the Wii isn't any less of a game than the versions on other consoles. Wii owners will be struck by the lack of sophisticated graphics compared to other versions and folks may be hot and cold on the controls. Even with the quirks that are here, the game is no doubt the strongest golf title to hit the system. Golf fans and Tiger watchers will need no special reason to grab a copy and they won't be disappointed. In a group setting, the game is quite fun but you may find yourself dialing in Wii Golf for the parties since it is so much easier and forgiving.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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