Plenty of improvements, but why does it look the same as last year? I'll tell you why!....
I mean it's only been, what, 9 months since the previous release – which wasn't without fault, n'or was it the best in the series, wasn't the most challenging and didn't feature any real jaw-dropping innovations either. Moreover '09 was just about good enough to keep me playing it for about six months.
I was cynical – how much improvement could EA have crammed into that short amount of time? And does everything work ok (for a change)? Well, the answers are LOTS and YES (for now)…..
But before I get into all that – have some bad news, because life is like that. All is not rosy with Tiger Woods 2010, it does have it's faults and isn't as new and improved as EA like to make out. Firstly we have the graphics – very nice indeed….unfortunately not too much of improvement on 2009! Large chunks of the game, graphically anyway, have been lifted from the previous game. Playable Characters look a little more life-like, some courses look a little smoother – but that's all 9 months buys you I'm afraid.
Whenever you take a shot, a very noticeable white trail will follow the ball – and it looks like you're hitting some kind of weird tiny comet. Some would probably tell you that it makes it easier for you to follow the flight of the ball, but it looks out of place, distracting and almost arcade-like – which is something EA have spent a lot of time and money distancing themselves from. It belongs in Outlaw Golf, not Tiger Woods!
Another gripe is with the Tournament Challenge – this is the part of the game where you get to unlock all your other PC's and courses. This year's offering is based on real-life past experiences of actual golfers, which is very interesting from a fan's point of view and points are rewarded for certain challenges depending on difficulty – but it's just too stunted. It doesn't take very long to finish and it's not particularly challenging.
We've been here before haven't we? The PGA Tour season is a mainstay career mode, and can and will take you years to complete it fully, if you don't get too bored. But your side missions, where you get to unlock everything, have been in recent years consistently short.
One last real complaint is the repetitiveness of the courses to play. Yes, we all like the history and the prestige of St Andrews, but do we have to play it every year? Ditto Sawgrass, Pebble Beach, Bay Hill & more recently Harbour Town. That's five courses that are guaranteed to be in the game year in year out and reminds me of when I was a kid. Every summer we used to visit Margate and go to the same beach, sit at that same spot of sand, and eat the same food…..for about 7 years in a row. There are other places to go in the world, there are other great courses to play!
And word on commentary – which brings back Kelly Tillman and introduces Scott Van Pelt. I'm not particularly au fait with either, I'm more used to the dulcit tones of Peter Allis – but I guess with Tillman and Van Pelt at the helm, the game maintains it's professionality and "TV" style presentation. The commentary itself is ok, there's not much chemistry there, it's just plain and basically informative. But ultimately it makes you miss David Feherty and Gary McCord.
OK, so if we equate this review to a round of golf – the 1st nine hasn't gone well. Tiger is struggling, he's taken a beating, he's looking tired and forlorn but he's still got the back nine to prove himself once again as he stand at the 10th tee with the Big Dog…..
One of the more impressive features of recent Tiger Woods' games have been the online tournaments – finally something to properly gauge yourself against fellow players on a level playing field, apart from St Andrews, which is very bumpy (sarc)! But it was open to criticism, it was only one per day, time-differences & delays from one tournament to the next meant you could cheat (you lot know who you are, you're weren't fooling anyone!). You could have as many goes as you needed too, which just didn't make any sense – even the best Tiger Woods' players confessed that it was far from ideal!
Well, 2010 not only expands on this idea, it takes it, ties a rocket to it's legs and shoots it into orbit!
There are literally loads of online tournaments to try of varying difficulties and settings. Weekly tournaments will test your skills over four rounds. If the real-life pro's are playing a PGA event, you can challenge their scores at the same time. There are special Single Try tournaments, where you've got one chance to play a round, no quitting, no restarting when you miss a birdie putt – you play, you sign your card and cross your fingers waiting for the others to finish their round.
Xtreme tournaments will test your ability to the max. No aids, no spins, no powerboosts, no green grid. NO GREEN GRID? Just like real golf then!! Which means that Xtreme Single Try tournaments are just the most challenging thing in the world…ever!
Another cool feature of the online tournaments is that you get live updates on what's going on as you play the holes – and it also lets you know how others did, so you can tell how hard a hole is and prepare accordingly. This is right up there with sliced bread – it's fantastic!
The Weather also makes a triumphant return to Tiger Woods. You may or may not recall, back in the day, the Tiger Woods series did have a basic weather implementation, and it did influence play when the weather was bad. But the whole thing was far too haphazard, too brief and too inconsistent – so EA got rid of it.
In TW2010, I dare say having read dozens of forums on the subject, EA have now re-introduced the weather systems using actual weather reports from the golf course's location. What that basically means is gone are the days when we stroll around courses in blazing sunshine every time we play! If you turn your weather onto Live and start to play a round at St Andrews in the middle of Winter, Fife's finest weather will greet you (*)
(*) Generally, this will involve lots of drizzle, a lot of dense & low cloud, swirling winds and fog – lots and lots of fog….it'll be interesting to see how TW2010 handles this concept.
Rain affects your game greatly – balls don't roll as far obviously on sodden ground, so putting becomes very interesting. Of course, it means that you can attack a hole more aggressively, since you know the ball isn't going to fly through the green into a spectator's shin. So harsh weather automatically engages you into taking a more tactical approach.
Talking of putting, EA have introduced "Precision Putting" – which is basically an improved upon version of putting from last year. You have total control on where to direct your putt as well as total control on the strength. No more guessing where 75% is on your back swing, no more 10/20/30/40 feet markers to mess with. A yellow bar will adjust to where you think you should be aiming, and it's this yellow bar that you must hit to. If you miss, it's your fault and you can't blame it on your dodgy controller!
EA have messed around a few times with the putting over the years, this one, although it does take some getting used to, is definitely a keeper! And if you don't like it, there's the option to revert back to last years' putting style.
If you have played or owned any previous Tiger Woods titles and found them a bit too easy, then you would be pleased to hear that 2010 is considerably more challenging. Even on the lenient settings, there's a noticeable change. Some of the holes are longer, the distance you can hit a shot has come down in yardage slightly, bumpy and elevated terrain is more demanding and tricky when planning approach shots, bunker shots seem a little more difficult to control.
Don't go buying this expecting to birdie and eagle every hole straight away, coz that's not gonna happen. For beginners, the learning curve is quite steep, and if you raise the difficulty settings too soon, you could end up hating this game.
To surmise, EA are to be commended on a fine effort with Tiger Woods 2010. The expansion of the online tournaments and the variety and choices that comes with them are breathtaking. They've used the technology of worldwide weather systems to bring you actual real-life conditions across every course in the game – another welcome addition. What's more you get the impression that EA have scoured the forums and chat-rooms and listened to opinion to bring in the kind of improvements that the majority of gamers actually want.
This is rare for any big gaming corporation – let's not forget that EA have NO competition in this genre. It's easy to become lackadaisical and contemptuous when this is the only golfing game out there worthy of our attention. But, they've listened, the actually have taken note to give us a great game.
It's just a shame that the whole thing has been put together and released in just 9 months. You can understand why from a business perspective. The USA release last month co-incided with the US Open (which is in the game), the UK release on July 3rd is a few weeks from the up-coming British Open – and you will always shift more units when there's a major event going on. And let's face it, this is what EA are all about.
An extra three or four months development, particularly in the graphics department, could and would have added finesse and quality to Tiger Woods 2010 – and we would've been talking about this game in years to come!