Incredibly addictive, and purchasing it out of the used bin is better than buying the 2006 version at retail
The game contains a multiple of playing modes, including a life-long 10 year tour on the PGA Tour against legitimate, highly ranked PGA Tour professionals (including John Daly, Vijay Singh, and of course, the game's namesake, Tiger). Some of the EA Sports created players are also incredibly challenging, and depending on how long you have played and what areas you start to hone your skills (and earn money for spending on equipment, accessories, and abilities), the challenge of the AI can be incredibly demanding. For one of the World Tour stops - a match play game against an EA Sports fantasy player named "The Don" - proved to be exceedingly challenging, and it took me until the final 3 holes to win match after being down by 2.
The graphics related to the game are right on cue. The game face feature allows you to create a character with nearly any facial and body features you can think of. Even make up is provided, and if you spent enough time, you can make a character face look like just about anyone. The courses are stunning, and even the grass cut lines typical of professionally manicured courses are painstakingling rendered. There are virtually no slow spots in the, and the ball travel is smooth and responsive. In some of the courses, such as Pebble Beach, where the ocean played a prominent role in the course design, you will see the waves crashing against the rocks and spattering water to the nearby rough. When hitting out of trap, you can see the small speckles of sand flying through the air to land lightly on the green. And the shots on some of the holes in the Pacific area contain stunning visuals of mountains and inactive volcanos.
The sounds of the game are right-on, and the soundtrack adds a nice touch. You have the option of turning off the soundtrack when you play, but given that the majority of rounds that you play will be "solo" rounds, having the music soundtrack will keep you from getting bored. The two commentators add a great level of realism to the game, and the guy with the negative attitude says some of the funniest things in any sports game (or any other game, for that matter). "Well, if I had anything to say about that shot, I guess it would be 'That just plain sucked' ". Although he talks about sheep quite often (when your golfer errantly launches a ball into the rough), that should not be held against him.
Overall, a wonderful addition to anyone's library of games, and I would recommend that if you don't have any of the Tiger Woods golf games, scour through a used bin at your local store and buy the discounted 2004 version instead of paying full-price for the newer, 2006 model.