TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 08 REVIEW

GAME: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
PLATFORM: PS2
DEVELOPER: EA Tiburon
PUBLISHER: EA

Imagine yourself as Tiger Woods with a 2-stroke lead at St. Andrews in the British Open. Suddenly, Vijay Singh makes a birdie to cut the lead to 1. Then, your fairway shot lands in the green but your impending putt is 30 feet away. Then, in expected fashion, you make the pressure putt and win the event.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, one of EA's crown jewels of the Sports genre, let's you play pressure situations such as what the first paragraph stated. This game is definitely the king of all golf games and this version solidifies its reign as the king of all golf games.

Graphics-wise, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 looks good. The animations of all golfers look splendid. The courses are nice and sport out that golfing atmosphere that makes the game unique. However, the occasional glitch appears. In this game, the occasional glitch appears in the form of giving the player the wrong camera view when the next shot forces the player to stand next to a tree and the ball landed in the thick rough. Also, ball trajectory is shown in a great way and this makes this golf game good. Also included in the game are various real-life brand names of golfing merchandise such as Nike, Calloway, Ping, amongst many others.

The game lets you choose from 23 pro golfers from both the PGA and LPGA Tour - 19 from the PGA Tour and 4 from the LPGA Tour. You can play as Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Adam Scott, the list goes on and on. The game features 18 courses. From the Pebble Beach, St. Andrews, up to the Kiawah Island course, the game does have a good amount of realism included. However, there is still no "Create A Course" option so that somehow lessens the game's fun value.

With EA's fondness of the analog stick, it is evident that this game utilizes the analog stick a lot. You swing the golf stick by pulling down the left analog stick and then you subsequently pull it up. The harder you pull it up, the stronger the shot attempt. Meanwhile, you putt by pulling down the left analog stick and also pulling it up subsequently. Also, a feature coined as "Putt Preview" is present that lets you play a putt without affecting your score. However, beware that you only have limited time allotted for the "Putt Preview" feature. And in my opinion, the "Putt Preview" feature decreases the challenge of the game.

The game does have variable modes included and the one that stands out is the "Tiger Challenge" mode. In this mode, you make a new golfer from scratch and let this golfer partake on various matches and gain experience along the process. After defeating the various tasks, you will then face Tiger Woods in a one-on-one match. Also present is "The PGA Tour Season" mode wherein you participate in various tournaments and stamp yourself in the history of the PGA Tour.

Sound-wise, the game falters. The game does have sounds from the atmosphere such as the chirping of the birds but then, there is no commentary this time around. Sound is only the game's weak spot.

One lingering question does remain. Is this year's version better than last year's version? Aside from updated courses, updated golfers, and updated game modes, it is pretty much the same so I suggest that if you have never played a game out of this great gaming series, buy this year's version. It definitely is your money's worth. But if you are more of a golfing purist, buy last year's version essentially because there is no "Putt Preview" feature.

The game tends to be easy but if you do want a challenge, you can always toggle the sliders located in the Options menu.

The game is great but it is not meant to be played on 6-hour sessions. My suggestion is that you play this game on a spurt-setting like allotting an hour or two for this game.

If you want to play a golf game on your consoles, buy this game as soon as possible and see the magic that this game provides.

Graphics 4/5: The golfers look great. The golfers almost perfectly match their real-life resemblances. Watching the animations is a joy. The courses look like their real-life counterparts as well.

Gameplay 4.5/5: The analog controls make this game fun yet challenging. This is one golf game that sports out a good control system and the analog control system definitely pays off. However, the "Putt Preview" feature decreases the fun factor of the game.

Sound 3/5: The weak spot of the game. However, crowd noise adds realism to the game. Atmospheric sounds add a nifty touch.

Replay 5/5: You can go online and challenge players all over the globe. Or you can invite a friend and have a 1-on-1 match or compete together in the "Team Tour" mode. Multiplayer options are many and this adds value to the game itself.

Overall 4/5: A good golf game that lets you play your modern golf heroes in real golf courses. What else could you get? Definitely, a must-have game in my opinion.