Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
I thoroughly enjoyed playing Wii Resorts Golf, but got a bit tired of playing the same 18 holes over and over. So, I went looking for a game with more variety. After reading the many rave reviews of TW PGA Tour Pro 10 for Wii, I spent my hard earned $[...]. According to many reviewers, this game accurately mirrors real life golf. Well, yes and no. Yes, because it incorporates the Wii controller technology allowing you to swing a virtual golf club, and no for reasons I’ll explain.
I started the game and selected some basic game options. Of the three play styles, I chose the middle one, which said for experienced golfers. Then, I was asked to select a putting style. One putter or three. THREE PUTTERS? The game then takes you through a set of short tutorials with a virtual Hank Haney. 90% of the time, I was able to complete each lesson with the first shot. The game then starts with you as Tiger Woods.
If you have never played real golf, you’ll find this easy to learn and play. If you ARE a golfer, you’ll immediately realize that good golf shots just don’t come this easy in real life. My first round in TW PGA Tour Pro 10 playing as Tiger was an impressive 4 under par 68, which included an eagle. In real life, my best round ever is an 86 and have never shot an eagle in all the years I have played. If, in real life, I could shoot sub-par golf right out of the box, I would either become a tour pro, or give up the game because of the lack of challenge, which I felt was likely to happen with the TW game. But, after creating my personal avatar, I quickly realized that my game didn’t even approach that of Tiger’s. This was my first disappointment. I played as Tiger and played exceptionally well. Then, played as myself and played considerably worse. Why? It was me swinging the controller in both cases. Here’s the reason. In the TW game, you can purchase power and accuracy with money you earn on the tour. That’s just not right if you are expecting realism from a golf game. In Wii Resorts Golf, your ability to hit good shots is entirely based on your skill with the Wii controller (your club) as it should be.
In my opinion, the Wii Resorts Golf game is a better interpretation of real golf. Here are some comparisons.
If you swing too hard in Resorts Golf, you get a bad shot. In the TW game, you can really muscle the shot and get good results; something that doesn’t work on the real golf course. Sure, the graphics are superior in the TW game, but not exceptional, and you pay the price for this by having to wait up to 8 seconds for the next hole to load. And, that’s not the only time I got impatient waiting for the game to either load or save data. EA Sports hasn’t made any real progess in the qualify of their graphics since I saw TW Pro Tour 05 for XBox 5 years ago.
Hitting draws and fades is possible, especially with the Motion Plus controller add-on. But, to achieve these spins, you open or close the club face by twisting controller, and you have to twist quite a bit; so much that if you did this in real life, you’d hit a really terrible shot.
In Wii Resorts Golf, you take practice swings by addressing the ball (pressing B), and taking as many consecutive practice swings as you like until it looks and feels right. In TW PGA Tour Pro 10, you have to press both A and B together and you get one practice swing. You have to wait for a short reset before you can take another practice swing, but by then you forgot the way the previous swing felt.
Once you’ve made your way to the green with some fairly realistic shots, you’re faced with putting that in no way resembles real golf, despite the claims EA makes. In Wii Resorts Golf, the putting is more realistic because you can actually see the terrain and visualize your putt. You can even get a view of the terrain from knee level, just like in real life. In TW PGA Tour Pro 10, the green always looks flat, but terrain is revealed as a grid with a confusing array of moving, colored dots representing flat, slight uphill, extreme uphill or slight downhill. You have to take your best guess. And, you have the practice swing issue again. The putting alone makes me sorry I bought this game.
One of the fun things about all the TW PGA Tour Pro versions is the ability to customize your avatar so that it looks almost like yourself, but be prepared to spend up to half an hour on this. You also have the ability to select, and pay for with virtual prize money, player animations.
In summary, if you’re a gamer looking for some sports variety, the TW Tour Pro game is a worthwhile purchase. It includes some other fun games, like disk golf and a mini-golf course, but I found the graphics to be too dark. Maybe it’s just my 50″ monitor. If you’re a real golfer looking for realism, the Wii Resort Golf game is a better choice, with the unfortunate limitation of only 18 holes to play, plus a special 3-hole game that is available after you prove yourself by shooting sub-par.
I’m hoping that the Wii people, or a third-party developer will come out with a multi-course golf game resembling Wii Resort Golf.
Shopping | Comments OffWe Love Golf!
Review We Love Golf!
By Lukasz Balicki
We Love Golf is the newest golf game entry from Camelot, any person that has played any other Camelot sports game will feel at home here. When swinging the golf club you get the standard meter that judges how powerful your shot is, the twist is instead of it being handled by timed button presses, it is judged on how far you move the Wii remote back when your satisfied with the power the simply swing the remote forward. To adjust your shot just point your Wii remote at your TV and drag to where you want to aim for, if you want a bird’s eye view of the whole course simply point the Wii remote up in the air. If you don’t like using the pointer to adjust your shot you can use the d-pad. To switch clubs you press the plus and minus buttons. To swing just point the Wii remote down at the ground twist the remote if you want to add a little curve to your shot. To do practice shots you hold down B and to do a real shot you hold down A, if you want some top spin hold down the 1 button the 2 button adds some back swing. If you are ever stuck with the simple controls there is a guide in the form of a talking and interactive Wii remote.
Presentation wise the game looks very similar to Hot Shots Golf. The graphics are upbeat and colorful; the golfers themselves look a little generic and sport happy and bubbly personality. To liven up the generic looking golfers there are Capcom costumes you can unlock for them. You can also unlock the use of Miis; the only Miis that are selectable are the ones that you listed as your favorites in the Mii Channel. The game supports widescreen and 16:9 however there are black borders on all 4 sides. The only problem I had with the visuals are that the HUD at times is very cluttered.
Gameplay wise the game is suited more as a multiplayer game than a single player mode. The tournaments in the game are your standard 18 hole tournaments, at the beginning the tournaments are laughably easy and they gradually ramp up in difficulty as a whole all of the tournaments are easy in general. There are also golf mini games you can play either by yourself or with multiple players. Multiplayer wise the game is packed to the brim with modes ranging from traditional golf modes, to mini games and finally the online mode.
The online mode is separated to two rules beginner and master rules they are pretty much the same except you get more help in the beginner modes, you can play random people or people on your friends list via friend codes. How online matchmaking is pretty standard with random opponents, if you want to play a game with your friend you either create a room with all the options you want, rules, course and so forth or you just join a friend that is waiting in a room for a match. There is sort of an achievement system in the online mode, you have 50 empty badges whenever you win a match against somebody online one of those badges fills up with their level on the badge and a portrait of what character/Mii they used.
Pros
+ Online mode and extra Capcom character costumes added in the US and PAL versions
+ Excellent Wii remote use.
+ A lot of modes to play through.
+ Good Multiplayer game.
+ A talking and interactive Wii remote!!
+ Good online mode with a badge system that records your wins.
Cons
- Easy and rather shallow for a single player game.
- Voiceovers are something to be desired.
- Unlocking the majority of things is a long process.
- The online cheers and jeers system will annoy people.
Score breakdown:
Graphics – C
We Love golf sports pleasant, bright and colorful graphics, everything looks clean but not particularly amazing in any way. The golfers are generic but the unlockable Capcom character costumes can liven up the golfers appearances. At times the HUD is cluttered.
Sound – C
The soundtrack is appropriate for a golf game and has a lot of upbeat music, voiceovers range from okay to bad.
Controls: A
Controls are easy to get into and you won’t be frustrated with them at all, Camelot injected motion controls into their existing system they used for Mario Golf with excellent results. Point the Wii remote up to have a bird’s eye view of the course and adjust your shot with either the pointer or the d-pad.
Gameplay: B
If you played any other Camelot golf game you will be at home here it uses the same meter to judge how powerful your shots are, instead of timing via button presses it is handled by the distance you pull the Wii remote back.
Lasting Factor: B
The tournaments are lengthy and there are a lot of different additional modes such as golf mini games, the online mode is good and fairly robust. This game excels as a multiplayer game but it’s rather a bit boring as a single player game.
Final Score B
Bottom Line: It may not have the 1:1 golfing system some games are trying to pull off but the existing Mario Golf system is still satisfying with motion controls. The game has a lot of depth and a lot of modes to come back to. If your looking for a single player game only then this will fall short once you beat the tournaments. Online play and the other bonuses for the US version are a big plus.
Shopping | Comments OffTiger Woods PGA Tour 10
Feel the drama of playing professional tournament golf like never before with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. For the first time in the history of Electronic Arts’ much lauded golf simulation franchise, players can take aim at capturing the US Open Championship on the ever-challenging Bethpage Black.
Playing in front of huge galleries and hearing crowd reactions from nearby holes, take your game to the next level when it matters most as you try to hold off a charging Tiger Woods and other PGA Tour Pros. Whether you’re fighting the course, the crowd, dynamic weather conditions, or the field, feel the drama on every swing with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10.
Key Features:
Wii Motion Plus Integration – Elevate your game with an enhanced, true-to-life golf swing that features precise draw-fade capabilities and authentic sports motion which mirrors your every move.
Win the US Open Championship – For the first time ever, feel the drama of playing in the US Open, one of golf’s biggest—and toughest—tournaments of the year. Known for its extremely challenging playing conditions, Bethpage Black tests even the best golfers.
Take the Tournament Challenge – Replay dramatic scenarios from past PGA Tour seasons as you’re placed on the course at the precise moment before history was made—only this time, you determine the outcome.
Dynamic Weather Conditions – Powered by the Wii Forecast Channel and the Weather Channel, real-time weather now has a major effect on gameplay conditions. If it’s raining in Pontre Vedra Beach, Fl, then you too can face the challenge of a rain-soaked TPC Sawgrass.
EA Sports Live Tournaments – Prove yourself against the best players online in unique tournament events. Play alongside actual PGA Tour Pros during real-world PGA tour events or swing away in daily and weekly tournaments as you fight to stay atop the leaderboard.
All-New Disc Golf – Trade your clubs for discs in a fun, new game mode based on the family-fun sport of Disc Golf. Play from custom tee locations on all 27 courses in the game.
Multiplayer Support – Online and local support of 2-4 players.
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
Review Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
By Kyle Tolle
After playing all the Hot Shot Golf games on the Playstation 2 and being very pleased with all of them, I am again impressed with the new Out of Bounds version for the Playstation 3. Beginning with a look at graphics, I don’t know if I would label them true ‘next generation’ in appearance but they are very nice to look at. Whether it is reflections off of water or vegetation or clothes on the players and caddies, it is well done in my opinion. As far as seamless game play, you’re going to get that here. There is no lag or stutter in any animations and the load times are virtually non-existent in almost every case. Movement from hole to hole is quick and a round of golf can be too. I can play a round of 9 holes in about 12 to 15 minutes (I’m still on the 9 hole challenges at this point in the game).
When it comes to the controls used in playing the game, they are easy to learn and not hard to master, with one exception. This new version introduces a new type of advanced shot method where you watch the backswing of your player and look for flashing lights at certain points to gauge how hard to swing. Upon making your downswing, a circular meter below the golfer has a ring around it that collapses toward a ball icon and when the circle shrinks to encompass the ball, you hit the X button on the controller at just the right time to get a perfect hit. It sounds complicated but it isn’t really. It is all a matter of timing and a little patience required. I personally still use the traditional shot method as seen in previous Hot Shot games which is the power bar at the bottom which gives you more precision in setting power and showing just where to hit a solid impact on the ball. I’ve found the advanced shot type a bit awkward personally and even though the manual says that the new method offers better range and impact zone, I haven’t noticed any significant differences between the two shot methods and this is after playing many rounds with many different types of clubs using both shot types.
So far I’ve only played on two courses in the challenge mode (you open up new courses after beating a computer opponent in each challenge session) and what I’ve seen so far is good stuff. There is options to play regular games (stroke, match play, etc.) aside from the challenges and you can do practice rounds also where you can set course conditions to help you make shots in certain types of situations. There are 5 main characters that you can choose to start out with and each one has their own individual strengths, animations, and funny ways of talking. There is also several different caddies that add a good dose of humor now and again during the rounds.
I haven’t played online yet and I don’t know If I will do that but the instruction manual is very detailed on how to do this and the manual is excellent regarding all other facets of the game also. Something to look forward to, according to the game makers, is the fact that later on you can go online to download new content for the game including new courses, new gear, and other goodies. If you’re a past fan of Hot Shots Golf, I would definitely recommend picking up Out of Bounds because it’s a great game in my opinion and should bring many hours of fun to those that like golf.
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