Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 Preview

By Shahed Ahmed, GameSpotPosted Jan 8, 2002 4:38 pm PT

We take a look at EA's upcoming PS2 golf game.

The speed golf mode easily seems to be the game's most accessible.

EA Sports' PGA Tour series, which for the last few years has been headlined by the world's best golfer, Tiger Woods, made its first foray on to the PlayStation 2 to mixed reviews. In the series' second incarnation on the console, EA hopes to iron out some of the problems and give fans of the series more of what they're familiar with. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 adds several new gameplay modes, uses a new graphics engine to improve the game in terms of visuals, and features an enhanced interface and control system. We recently took an alpha version of the game through its paces to bring you our updated impressions on the game.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 features eight primary modes of play. Naturally, the game includes stroke, match, skins, and tournament play modes. On top of those basic modes, the returning Tiger challenge and scenario modes are joined by two new gameplay modes, speed golf and practice mode. All the modes will let you play on one of the seven different courses available in the game--the four real-world courses are Pebble Beach, TPC at Sawgrass, Royal Birkdale, and Princeville, while the fictional courses are volcano, the canyon course, and Tiger's dream 18. The meat of the gameplay is in the Tiger challenge mode, which essentially serves as the game's career mode. Here you'll begin your career by playing against both male and female amateur players. Earning money and points will let you upgrade your player's skill in a variety of categories, including power, accuracy, and ball control. The objective is to advance through a variety of matches until Tiger Woods is unlocked. Once he is available, you can take on Woods through 18 holes on Tiger's dream course.

The speed golf mode is probably the most interesting of the play modes. In this split-screen mode, you can take on a computer-controlled or human opponent in a game of speed golf. Players compete against one another in stroke play format, with the catch being that both of the players are on a timer. In the game, you must use a cursor to follow the ball after each shot and place the cursor over the ball's landing spot to hit the next shot. All the gameplay modes in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 are individually designed to highlight different aspects of the game of golf, and judging from our early gameplay time with the game, EA Sports is well on its way to achieving that variety.

Here we see the legendary Pebble Beach course.

Still, all the gameplay modes in the world wouldn't amount to much without an intuitive control system. The game's unique total control swing system attempts to deliver on that front as well. Success in real-world golf depends on achieving a consistent swing, and with the new total control swing system, EA Sports hopes to more closely replicate that repetition aspect of the game. As with last year's game, the backswing is initiated by pulling back on one of the analog sticks on the PlayStation 2 Dual Shock controller. You can follow through and finish your swing by pushing forward on the analog stick. Pushing left or right on both the backswing and the follow-through results in slices and hooks. So, for example, if you pull back and to the left on the analog stick, the player will take an open and flatter backswing, resulting in a slice. You'll eventually find your sweet spot, in terms of analog position on both the backswing and follow-through, and it must be replicated for consistent performance.

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1 Comments

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jakeboudville
Posted Oct 6, 2006 9:33 pm PT

kinda impressive
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