Gaming Trend Review
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 07
- Official Site
- Platform: Wii
- Publisher: EA Sports
- Developer: EA Sports
- Release Date: 03/13/07
- Genre: Sports
Pros
- The Swing Control
- Lots To Do
- Create A Golfer
Cons
- The Swing Control
- Graphics
- A Bit Stale
by John DeGiorgio
The folks over at EA must have been licking their chops this year. The next gen is in full swing and they get 2 more consoles to throw some of their staple games at. While the PS3 gives them a monster of a system to give you everything including the kitchen sink, the Wii is a different story. You aren’t going to get away with porting a 360 game over to the Wii, nor can you fall back on a little bump in graphics to call it ‘new’. The Wii forces you to actually do something different. You must take advantage of the new control system and tailor the game to Nintendo’s new fun machine and this could present a challenge for even the biggest of the big in EA.
All of this sounds good, so good in fact, the Wii is already home to 2 other golfing adventures in Wii Sports, and Super Swing. The new control scheme dictates that the Wii is begging for golf games. Well, the shelf just got a bit more crowded with the release of Tiger Woods Golf. Can EA step it up again like they did with Madden and really turn something we are so familiar with and make it work on a whole new level?
Good God it’s awful. That’s coming from a guy who really doesn’t get all wrapped up in things like that in my sports games. Just have it look decent, as long as it plays well, I’ll deal with it. That’s not to say that I don’t want all the realistic looks that anyone can cram into a game. If you can play great and look pretty, I’m all over it, but if the looks are taking place of my gameplay, than I have an issue.
It’s bad. This game may have looked better if they harnessed all the power of a Sega Genesis. The trees look bad, the grass looks bad, the water looks bad, the golfers look bad, the…I’ll assume you get the picture.
It’s not like the graphics are so bad you can’t make out obstacles and hazards, but that’s the next step. I thought we were past pixilated, cardboard cutout looking trees, grass that looks like carpet and water that has no texture? It’s passable in the graphics department but I was expecting a bit more than this. The 16x9 and 480p are nice to have, if you actually wanted to look at something.
On the bright side, the create-a-golfer feature that could suck up hours of your time in other Tiger Woods games is present here as well. Make a spitting image of yourself or make Sergio Garcia spitting into the cup, the choices are endless, and you wouldn’t want it any other way.
In stealing from my own past reviews, it’s nice to see the hip-hop toned down for golf. The gangsta influence hasn’t gotten to the likes of Colin Montgomery yet, but I imagine it’s probably only a matter of time so I should be thankful for what I have now.
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 but sometimes they are a little too informative. They tend to give you the end result of a shot long before it’s come to rest, kind of ending some of the drama that might be involved in a shot, but then again, they are wrong sometimes too. This is made up for with the sometimes helpful comments and facts you get during the flyovers. Outside the commentary, you’ll hear birds tweeting, your club swinging, waves crashing and the roar of the crowd and even some helicopters and planes at times. As with most sports games there’s nothing you need to worry about or look forward to when it comes to audio.
Screenshots
If you haven’t been yourself, ask anyone who’s ever strolled up to the local course and they’ll tell you how difficult the game is. It’s a sport that takes the utmost precision and consistency. It’s a sport where you basically do the same, one thing, over and over and it’s still almost impossible to master. Your golf swing is your game, and EA has the same daunting task for Tiger Woods on the Wii. Good luck with that.
Make it too hard and you might as well be out on the course yourself, too easy and, you end up with the same results you’ve gotten from past Tiger Woods games on other systems, mess it up completely and, well, you know where it goes from there. To plagiarize a little bit: It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. When the swing mechanic works as advertised, it’s almost reason enough to buy a Wii. When it doesn’t, you may want to sell the one you own.
The basic mechanics are the same as your golf swing (and the one in Wii Sports) where you hold the remote like a club and go into your backswing while holding the “B” button through the whole swing. The game controls like you would expect, a twist of the remote in either direction will cause the corresponding hook or slice. Let up on your swing and you’ll see less power. Really rip into one, and you may get over 100% of club length in your shot. This is all great and does an incredible job in bringing you into the game but it isn’t without its problems.
The first, and main, issue is that sometimes the game would ‘lose’ your swing. You will be at the end of your backswing, with the remote coming back/over your head and all of a sudden your on screen player will just drop his hands like you just went limp at that point. Of course you are still following through with your with your shot,which results in something that might send the ball 10% of the distance you were shooting (and swinging) for. This is a killer and while I haven’t seen it too much since my first outing, it’ll scare you enough to make you worry before most every shot. This hurts the game a great deal and may ruin it for most. I have made some changes to my swing, like going one handed and doing a more sweeping, slap-shot style, backswing, which seems to help but it no guarantee. Even if it did produce predictable results, it’s not how I swing a golf club so it does take a bit from the realism again.
The second thing about your swing that isn’t nearly as bad. You really need to ignore your on screen golfer when you are taking shots. Line everything up on screen and then, put your head down and make your swing. This is especially helpful with shorter shots and chips. If you look at the screen it makes your nice and easy 14 foot chip look like you’re trying to win the longest drive contest. This isn’t true. The swing is coming from the remote and the power will correspond to that swing and not what the guy (or girl) is doing on the screen. I don’t find it too bad, but at first it was a little disorientating.
One last thing that I like to bitch about in golf games is still here but implemented differently. You can ad spin to your shot by using the directional pad and shaking the remote. It’s not HOW you put spin on the ball after the shot; it’s THAT you can put spin on the ball after the shot. Anyone out there able to change what their golf ball does 60 yards in the air, after you’ve hit it? I didn’t think so. I’m begging EA, or anyone else, to get rid of any shot shaping that takes place after you strike the ball. Once you hit it, you’re done. Let’s keep it that way.
Putting wasn’t an issue for me once I stopped looking at my on screen counterpart. I found the controller is pretty responsive to my putting motion I could hit a few long ones or at least get close, depending on the green slopes and able to sink the easy ones easily. No problems there, but remember, don’t look up until after the shot.
While most of the gameplay is tied to the control of the swing, the Tiger standards are still there. You can go out on tour, take the Tiger Challenge or just shoot a round if you want. This is all the stuff you’ve come accustomed to at this point in a Tiger Woods game.
One unfortunate thing seems to be sticking around in the gameplay department as well, and that’s the rubber band AI. Like in most other console Tiger games, the strength of your opponent is somehow based upon your ability. While this is a nice way to keep you involved, it shouldn’t have become the norm for the series. If I’m getting my butt kicked on the course, I want to feel it on the scoreboard. Don’t insult me further by missing 2 foot puts so I’m within on stroke. Even worse, don’t start nailing 45 footers to half a hole either. Definitely don’t do both, in two separate rounds, against the same opponent. It’s just not right.
Other than that, you’ll see a few new twists, like two LPGA ladies joining the fun and a couple of new modes (“one ball” may make you pull your hair out). There are 18 courses to putt around on and make a few bucks to buy some clothes and upgrade your skills. The game itself is virtually unchanged in years.
This is where the Tiger series earns its stripes (Ugh)! As usual, there is plenty to do with your time in this version as well. The tour mode is here with the opportunity to take your created golfer on tour and try to earn a living playing against the greats, building yourself up statistically, and in the wardrobe department, to hit ‘em with the big boys.
There’s also the Tiger Challenge to put you through the paces with an assortment of tests that will through everything the game has to offer at you. In Tiger Challenge, you’ll be playing match, skins, target shooting, the dreaded one ball (you and your opponent taking turns hitting the same ball) and some regular rounds as well.
There’s plenty to keep you occupied with this version of Tiger. EA didn’t skimp on any of the features for their last shot at the ’07 version of the game, and in fact, it has more courses than the other next-gen offerings with the 18 that are included here.
For the first time out it’s not a bad jumping off point for the series on the Wii. That being said, it feels like the first time out too. It all boils down to what you can do with the new controls.
Can you handle the swing? Can you put up with the quirks? Will you even see it? It’s all in how you take to the swing. After more and more testing and tweaking, I’ve seen less of the issues than I did at first, having changes my swing for the game, but there is still the fact that it takes from the realism. I don’t even think to look at the screen during my shot, so that demon has been put to rest.
While I was happy to a beefed up version of Wii Sports Golf, with more control over your swing, I was a little disappointed that the on screen representation of my swing wasn’t in time with what I was doing, like in Wii Sports, and I was really disappointed that my backswing was completely stopped at some times too.
All this leads me to believe that the next version of should be worth the wait, and if you can, you might be better off waiting as well.
