Tech News on G4Tiger Woods 09 swings for the topOct 20, 2008By Andy Barratt - G4 Canada |
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Last year's TW was almost inexplicably tough enough to stop fans ever wanting to take to the greens ever again, but just in case anyone thought they might ever drive a ball straight again, Tiger Woods PGA Tour is back for another year.
Thankfully though, EA learnt from its mistakes and drove its latest outing straight down the fairway. It's insanely accessible right out of the box, but 09 still makes big of its player's skills improvement. Tiger's personal golfing coach Hank Haney is here in virtual form to provide all the right pointers on improving every aspect of your game, through drills involving your short game and putting, and of course the power and accuracy that'll get you to the short stuff in the first place. Your ranking improves along with your skills, in time turning you into a worthy opponent of Tiger himself. Hank would be proud.
Online play is much improved, with finding up to three other players proving to be quite easy - and with the bonus of each player not having to wait for the other to swing, (each players drives are visible by a trail showing their ball's trajectory) it makes for a much more seamless, almost delay free experience. As usual the presentation of Tiger Woods PGA Tour is second to none, with slick menus and the customizable player mode - which is so flexible it's almost impossible not to create something that's not too dissimilar to your real world appearance - should you want to. Music has thankfully been toned down to a more relaxing tone. I had to tear myself away from the recent Ryder Cup coverage to play Tiger Woods 09, and whilst it's obvious it's a video game, the visuals are ever closer to that of the real thing, especially in high definition. Overall, it's a return to form for Tiger Woods after last year's appalling step backwards. A near perfect control system, great online play and ever improving visuals, we once again ask as we've done in previous years, how can EA top this to make Tiger Woods PGA 2010 a worthy purchase?
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 |
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Most peculiarly, EA decided to mess with the previously fantastically responsive swing mechanism in its 08 outing, meaning even with skills leveled up to the hilt the most seasoned video game golfers were hooking and slicing all over the course. It made for a terrible balance between realism and fun, and as previously mentioned anyone would be excused for not wanting to return for another year. 
The usual set up is here again, with the career mode and PGA courses, with subsequent courses available for unlocking as you progress through the calendar. Cheapskates or those eager to try different courses can skip the line and buy the locked courses from XBLA, but where's the fun in that? What's more, when it comes to the Pro Shop - whereas in previous games you used your in-game career earnings to buy fancy shoes, pants and clubs - in addition to this traditional, almost more respectable method, you can use your own hard earned real cash (in the form of Marketplace Points of course) to buy the same things. Quite why you'd want to is anyone's guess, though I guess it depends on how much you really want that pair of shoes.
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G4 Canada (formerly TechTV Canada) launched in September 2001. G4 is the one and only television station that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Owned Rogers Media Inc., the channel airs more than 24 original series. G4 is available on digital cable and satellite. For more information, see www.g4tv.ca.
