'Tiger 08' a bit better than '07'
If it ain't broke, don't fix it pertains to "Tiger Woods" golf, to a point. EA tweaked the "08" version of "Tiger Woods," making it harder to hit the ball. That might be good for a few hard-core gamers out there but not for my 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter. It's far too easy to slice the ball with the slightest arc of the thumb on the analog stick. Thankfully, the three-button swing is back. The three-button approach is the only way to play now that EA messed up the analog swing.
There are some tremendous additions. Putt Preview is just as it sounds — the ability to preview the likely path of your putt. It's not perfect, which is why it's the likely path. It's still mostly a guessing game based on the grid. If you are good at working the grid, then the Putt Preview is just another helpful hint.
Another addition is Shot Confidence. It increases your confidence at certain holes and plays. If you knock down a 40-foot putt, it'll increase your confidence for long putts. And even if you get lucky smacking a shot out of a sand bunker and it goes in, you'll be all the better out of the sand next time.
"Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08" is bursting with great play options. If you have the nerve and want to play as yourself, you can take your photo via the Xbox video camera and use the new Photo Face feature. You can also play as a young Tiger Woods and hit the greens as a greenhorn. It can be very frustrating to come in last place over and over again. It seems like forever to earn stats to get only gradually better. At one point, a younger Tiger Woods hit a +21. It actually seems a little absurd enduring the first few matches because in real life you'd be out of the tournament lickety-split.
Still, the most entertaining part of "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08" is multiplayer. Go two or four head-to-head and enjoy talking some trash. It might even be fun to watch Tiger or John Daly talk a little smack after sinking a putt.
• Graphics: Don't waste your money on "08" if you don't have an HDTV. Without hi-def, you're going to miss what is one of the best-looking sports games out there. Not only are the PGA pros dead-on accurate, but the courses are crisp right down to the grass and trees blowing in the wind. The interesting thing is how it never rains. Apparently, in Tiger's world it's always sunny.
The spectators are nothing more than poorly designed polygons waiting to be hit by an off-target ball. My daughter seems to have a knack for knocking down the poor souls.
Recent comments
Ya, I would say that 07 is far better. I played 08 and you hardly...
Anonymous | Sept. 15, 2007 at 9:53 a.m.
