Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by John DeGiorgio

The king of golf is here again. Tiger Woods has thrilled PSP gamers twice before and is up for another whack off the tee. By "thrilled", I mean "given us some really long load times, shaky gameplay, and the only real alternative to Hot Shots Golf." The proven EA track record for new systems is clearly in play with the Tiger franchise for PSP: Horrible first game, followed up by a second game that clears out most of the big issues with the first, and then give us something fairly decent on the third try that makes us wonder why it wasn’t what we got from the start. Does Tiger Woods '07 make the big leap we’re expecting, or are we still well short of the hole?

Keeping up with its console brothers, Tiger Woods for the PSP tees off with the ability to fashion your golfer in your own image, or any other image you choose. I dug right in and created my golfing likeness with great accuracy. Not knowing about this option, my wife walked by, took a look at the screen and said "Hey, that guy looks just like you, who is it?" After a lie about making the tour, she was pretty impressed with the ability to get that type of accuracy. Coming from someone with little game interest, I took it as a big plus.

Once you build and outfit your golfer it’s time to head to the course. Taking in the sights there reveals a lot of good and some bad. On the plus side, you’ll see a nice flyover of the hole you’ll be trying to tame and notice a good amount of detail. Step into the tee box and you’ll see that the animations and overall look of the golfers is very smooth and lifelike. It would be a travesty if this wasn’t the case. It’s not like you’ve got 22 players on the field like Madden. It’s one guy on the screen at a time, and he really isn’t moving all that much so I have no real complaints there.

The majority of the graphics look good overall but there are a couple of things you might notice as you make your way around the course. The first is the lack of spectators. This isn’t a big deal as I’m used to playing to empty galleries. Second would be the trees which are nothing more than pixellated cardboard cutouts. Unfortunately, there are a lot of these around the courses so they stand out a bit. This becomes less of an issue due to some gameplay characteristics that I’ll touch on later. Finally, the grass doesn’t present itself as grass at all but resembles sort of a painted green floor or the Brady Bunch’s back yard. Only slightly varied shades of green differentiate the cut of the grass. This would cause a problem if there wasn’t a ball indicator on screen which lessens the affect on gameplay. Still, what you’re seeing on the main screen tells you nothing about your lie.

While on the subject of indicators, the perimeters of the screen are loaded up like the walls at a junior high dance. All the real action takes place right down the middle but you still need to gauge your actions from the sides. There’s the aforementioned lie indicator to go with, club selection, hole indicator, wind and distance, and the power meter. After the ball is in the air you’re treated to displays of swing accuracy and, if you need it, a spin indicator. All of this is backed up with a putting grid once you hit the green. There’s a lot of information to take in, and with every shot you may need one or all of these guides to help you get the most out of your game.

Yeah!! There’s not really any hip-hop!!! The 'trax' that EA is laying down for us in Tiger Woods '07 is a combination of some funk and dance. While not really my type of music at least they mixed it up here. Speaking of mixing it up, there’s also the option of putting your own sounds into the game like it was a console game. Unlike a console game, you can’t actually listen to your songs when you’re on the course which kinda dulls the brief enjoyment of listening to your own music. In EA’s defense, golf is a sport where silence is golden during play. Although I’m not too sure anyone on the PGA tour would be opposed to hearing Tom Jones as they played their round with me.

On the course, the sounds are as good as can be expected. Gary McCord and David Feherty return to the booth again this year to give you the play by play. Sometimes they are a bit off on their comments but that’s made up for with the sometimes helpful facts and details you get during the course flyovers. Outside the commentary, you’ll hear birds tweeting, your club swinging, waves crashing, and the roar of the semi-involved invisible crowd. As with most sports games there’s nothing you need to worry about or look forward to.

You’re loaded up with everything you need to pull off every type of shot in the book. A little draw, some spin and a punch out of the sand can all be attempted with various button combinations. At times it’s just like making a real shot with all that arms straight/feet together/head down information you're supposed to remember but seldom do. It’s easier than real life in most respects but there are still things you may forget in the heat of the moment.

As in the past your main weapon is the analog stick. Pull it back, push it forward and let it rip. The limited movement and size of the little nub sometimes becomes a problem especially when reading the feedback you’re given after the shot, but I’ll cover most of this in the gameplay section since, unlike other sports, the control in golf games IS the gameplay. You have no teammates to rely on and there are no AI opponents directly impacting your success. You play most rounds all alone. Just you and the shot controls make up the entire game.

If any of you have played the debut of Tiger Woods on the PSP then you are all too familiar with the load times. It took so long to get to the actual game that it should have been renamed Sergio Garcia Golf in homage to the human rain delay that Garcia provides before every shot. The game itself was OK, but the load times assured it would hardly ever find itself inside your PSP. Over the last few years EA stepped it up a bit in this area, and in the current edition load times are cut down even more. I’m not saying that you won’t notice any loading, but the bulk of the disc spinning takes place before you’re on the course and is held to a minimum between shots.

The shooting mechanics using the analog swing are back in business and with the analog nub. You are given an indicator that shows how straight you’ve swung. Unless you are trying to put some hook or slice on the ball, the indicator might just frustrate you due to both the lack of  'play' you get out of the small stick and your ability to make adjustments. Speaking of adjustments, there is a lot you can do with your shots in the game including power in the backswing, punch shots, and spin.

This brings me to a problem I have with the franchise. While I do appreciate EA giving us the means to take control of the ball in many different ways, I think the ability to make adjustments after the shot is going too far. The way that you put spin on the ball drives me insane. In order to put spin on a shot, you pump the right trigger and move the analog stick in the direction you want the ball to travel once it hits the ground. You do all this AFTER you hit the ball. I don’t know about any of you, but when I’m actually out on the course, what little adjustments I can make all take place before the ball and club meet. I know it’s just a game and I should probably cut it some slack but EA is constantly harping on their realism and this just flies in the face of those claims. Like I said before, I do appreciate the fact that there is the ability to use spin but the way it’s implemented leaves a lot to be desired. Why couldn’t it be a pre-shot option like a punch or flop shot?

With all that behind me, I’ll get to the usual Tiger Woods gameplay and the usual issues. Much like Madden, you get a game with some new tweaks and options yet consistent issues still plague the title. The first is your level of competition. We’re all familiar with the term 'rubber band AI' in which you’re not 'allowed' to get too far ahead or too far behind the AI. It’s most common in racing games but seems a little obvious here in golf. In one-on-one competition you’ll notice this on almost every hole. I hit one into the water, and the AI puts one in the water. I launch one into the woods and the AI will do something similarly stupid. The same thing happens on the flip side too. I would rip a 200 yard shot within three feet of the hole and the AI will get it within two. It’s frustrating if you’re looking for an honest game of golf. If I’m going to win a tourney by 23 shots, it should happen. If I’m putting everything in the drink then I should get killed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that in Tiger Woods and it’s been that way as far back as I can remember.

Along those lines our old friend, the easy gameplay, is back again. As usual, for most of my reviews, I’m playing on default difficulty and it starts off a little tougher than in past years. You’ll quickly outgrow the degree of challenge that any of the courses presents. It’s not going to take much time for you to know exactly where you’re going to put the ball on any shot. This gives EA's "reality" another black eye. Any weekend golfer who has ever gone out on a course knows that it’s a rarity when you ever know where the ball is actually going to end up. Without too much of a time investment you can upgrade your golfer to the point where you can usually be within about 5 feet of guessing where any shot will end up before you even pick up a club. This really takes the intensity out of the game.

The combination of limited difficulty and rubber band AI does keep things close, even though you’ll be putting eagle after eagle up on the scoreboard, as it's nothing more than an artificial competition. It’s forced, and it doesn’t really give you a true representation of what intensity the sport actually provides.

Once again, it’s a shame that the developers at EA can’t quite get this right for the console world because the PC versions are able to handle most of these recurring issues pretty well, leaving us with essentially the same issues again this year.

You’re going to spend the bulk of your time in the career mode and with that there’s plenty to do and see. You’ll want to build yourself up to take on the best in the world and bury them. Along the way, you’ll unlock videos, increase your skill, and buy clubs and pants to keep you occupied. Even though there isn’t much of a challenge there is a bit of longevity to the games main mode.

Online is another boost to the length of this game. You can play all the standard modes online (skins, stroke, etc.) including a fun, quick game called Bingo Bango Bongo where you're in a three hole race for the longest drive, first to the green, and first into the hole. The winner of a hole gets to remove a club from their opponent’s bag. This presents a nice little change of pace for an otherwise sterile sport. There’s plenty to do in this game if you feel like sticking it out.

In an all too familiar wrap-up, I’m going to sing the same tune when it comes to an EA sports title. You get a good game that seems like a carbon copy of the previous year’s edition. There’s a few improvements, a few fixes to go along with the same old issues. Also, it’s another case of EA having you right where they want you. If you’ve beaten Hot Shots Golf to death (like I have) there’s really no other choice for golf on your PSP. There’s no other place you can go.

I’m not saying that this is an awful game, but the presence of some competition might do everyone good by pushing the Tiger Woods franchise to the next level instead of hanging on the edge of its current one. That’s the frustrating part. A few tweaks here and there and we could have a really special golfing experience. Until that time, I’m afraid that Tiger Woods will be stuck in the rough for the foreseeable future.

Gaming Trend Score

80

1. Graphics: 80
2. Audio: 75
3. Controls: 85
4. Gameplay: 80
5. Value/Replay: 80
6. OVERALL:80