Review
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 Review (PS2)
Now I know how all those cab drivers feel at the clubhouse after 3 or 4 pints, a ploughman’s and a solid, rewarding 18 holes of golf behind you. There they all are, telling each other stories about how they chipped in from 18 yards, exchanging stories about griptype and generally not listening to each other and just waiting for their opportunity to verbally recreate their master stokes on the golf course. If you think that kind of behaviour a bit annoying and overbearing then I wouldn’t pick up Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 as that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. Only you’ll be an even larger pain in the backside as the only people you’ll have to relate your stories to are your missus who won’t care, your friends who’ll be too busy playing what they consider ‘real’ sports games like FIFA and PES or your cat who’ll just raise its rear in your general direction and attack your feet in the hope you’ll put the controller down. Yes, Tiger Woods 08 will do that to you.
However, as is the case with many EA Sports games, if you bought the previous incarnations, there’s very little reason as to why you should spend yet another forty pounds on yet another one of those ‘same game with a few minor tweaks’ that we continually invest in year after year. I truly believe that one day we’ll stop buying these games and give EA two or three years development time so the changes made from version to version will actually feel radically different instead of slight and unfulfilling. Though if this is your first Tiger Woods game there’s plenty in here to keep you occupied and the game mechanics are solid and realistic.
The only new additions are the confidence meter and putting time whereas a couple of new mini games here and there don’t really inspire. The confidence meter is a good in theory. In practice however, especially during the career mode it actually hinders you rather than helps. If you mess up a couple of shots your confidence bar falls and thus your luck percentages will be lowered for the next shot of the same type and you’ll have more chance of shanking or literally not getting the rub of the green.
This only serves to make the game even more difficult as during the early stages of your life as a Pro as when you start your skills are pretty much at zero and there’s a long way to go until you can compete with Tiger or any of the other Pro’s out there. Conversely, if you do a couple of good shots of a certain type, the confidence meter will rise thus increasing your stats and your confidence for the next hole. For example, if you hit a powerful drive (rapidly tap ’X’ during back swing) your confidence meter will rise the next time you drive and skill points will be added to power and power boost and if it lands of the fairway, driving accuracy. When the round is finished you can then upgrade your various golfing attributes at the menu screen. So if you’re very good at approach shots your confidence meter will be high on the next hole for next approach and if you’re poor at putting the meter will be low next time round. Although this seems an ok idea it actually isn’t any different whatsoever to what Tiger Woods ’07 had to offer in terms of levelling up in accordance to how well you fair on the course. All the confidence meter serves to do is add some extra pressure before taking your shot as you know if you don’t get it perfect it’ll fall even farther and thus further decrease your chances of getting the next shot straight.
The putt preview is probably the only worthy addition to the game as far as I can tell. It’s cleverly implemented too. When you’re lining up for a putt you press ‘X’ and the putting meter will appear on screen and the green bar slowly diminishes with time. During this countdown you have time to practice your putt to improve your chances of getting it right first time. When you’re satisfied, press ‘X’ again you’re back to real life and your golfer can sink it one and do one of the many celebratory dances that are available from the options menu. Although this might sound like the game just got easy, it hasn’t. Your putt preview meter continues throughout the whole round. So if you use too much time on one putt on the 6th, when you reach the 15th and the green is sloping sharply up and left, you might not have any putt preview time left and will have to rely solely on the putting grid. So use your time wisely.
Other annoyances are that they’ve changed the way you progress in career mode. In TW ’07 you had your practice games to improve your skills and then at any time you felt like playing against the next Pro you could give it a stab and edge closer to Tiger himself. In ’08 you can only play against the Pro’s unless you complete five challenges. This wouldn’t be too bad itself if you could have some of the excellent commentary and the crowd whooping, “Get in the hole!” and “I love this game!” to add some sense of atmosphere and realism. But no. They’ve stripped these challenges of those and added some background music instead so it’s just a case of getting the annoying tasks out the way before you’re allowed to rub shoulders with the golfing elite.
If the career mode isn’t your thing then you can simply click the Play Now mode in the options menu and have a custom game using Mr. Woods or a whole host of male and female golfing pros. There are a few extra courses to choose from compared with EA’s previous incarnation but again nothing really radically different although the course designer is a nice touch and will add some extra life to the title. All the traditional gametypes are there from Stroke Play to Skins to Match Play. There are some variations on these such as Bloodsome which is a two-on-two game where the opposing team chooses where you tee off from and you take it in turns from there and of course the first one to sink the putt wins. Again, these gametypes do add some multiplayer life if you’ve got a friend or four over but nothing radically new from what came last year.
Although it certainly can be said that TW ’08 hasn’t exactly moved on from last year’s effort in the graphics department it’s actually taken a step back. The framerate noticeably drops when showing the mini-cut scenes as your golfer prepares to make his shot. It tears often and the bland, green bushes and trees seem to just blend into each other. The character models look decent enough but the whole game lacks the polish of ’07. You can still morph every single aspect of your face and still not get it looking anything like you but this year you can add lip wrinkles! Wow.
One thing that hasn’t changed at all from last year’s walk in the woods (no pun intended) is the quality of EA’s servers. Net Play as it’s called is a shoddy affair with games few and far between and the lag can really spoil the flow of the game. However, if you’ve got the patience, playing with a friend online is can still be fun if and when you don’t get kicked on the 17th and it’s all square! It strikes me as strange that a company so vast and so committed to sports games can’t get the one thing right that sports games fans everywhere want: a lag free, smooth environment with which you can pit your wits against friends. Fight Night Round 3 suffered from it also but not so much the recent FIFA games. Let’s hope the inevitable TW ’09 will be an improvement.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’08 could be the last in the series for Playstation 2 owners. If PS3 sales really pick up then we could see development support for it’s ever popular last-gen console starting to dwindle early next year. Tiger Woods ’08 could have been a fitting swansong. It isn’t however. The care and attention that was poured into ’07 simply isn’t here this time round and it seems like EA have given up the ghost on the PS2 when you compare the new additions to the next-gen console versions of this game compared with this one. EA has been accused of shovelware many times in the past but it’s recent titles such as EA and the ever improving aforementioned FIFA seemed to have gone some way in ripping that label off. Tiger Woods ’08 on the Playstation 2 however is just that.
Top Game Moment: Chipping in from the rough.
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| Tiger smiling and waving. I’d be happy too if I had just made my 8th sports game! | The fly-by mode is a good way to see the course from all angles |
However, as is the case with many EA Sports games, if you bought the previous incarnations, there’s very little reason as to why you should spend yet another forty pounds on yet another one of those ‘same game with a few minor tweaks’ that we continually invest in year after year. I truly believe that one day we’ll stop buying these games and give EA two or three years development time so the changes made from version to version will actually feel radically different instead of slight and unfulfilling. Though if this is your first Tiger Woods game there’s plenty in here to keep you occupied and the game mechanics are solid and realistic.
The only new additions are the confidence meter and putting time whereas a couple of new mini games here and there don’t really inspire. The confidence meter is a good in theory. In practice however, especially during the career mode it actually hinders you rather than helps. If you mess up a couple of shots your confidence bar falls and thus your luck percentages will be lowered for the next shot of the same type and you’ll have more chance of shanking or literally not getting the rub of the green.
This only serves to make the game even more difficult as during the early stages of your life as a Pro as when you start your skills are pretty much at zero and there’s a long way to go until you can compete with Tiger or any of the other Pro’s out there. Conversely, if you do a couple of good shots of a certain type, the confidence meter will rise thus increasing your stats and your confidence for the next hole. For example, if you hit a powerful drive (rapidly tap ’X’ during back swing) your confidence meter will rise the next time you drive and skill points will be added to power and power boost and if it lands of the fairway, driving accuracy. When the round is finished you can then upgrade your various golfing attributes at the menu screen. So if you’re very good at approach shots your confidence meter will be high on the next hole for next approach and if you’re poor at putting the meter will be low next time round. Although this seems an ok idea it actually isn’t any different whatsoever to what Tiger Woods ’07 had to offer in terms of levelling up in accordance to how well you fair on the course. All the confidence meter serves to do is add some extra pressure before taking your shot as you know if you don’t get it perfect it’ll fall even farther and thus further decrease your chances of getting the next shot straight.
The putt preview is probably the only worthy addition to the game as far as I can tell. It’s cleverly implemented too. When you’re lining up for a putt you press ‘X’ and the putting meter will appear on screen and the green bar slowly diminishes with time. During this countdown you have time to practice your putt to improve your chances of getting it right first time. When you’re satisfied, press ‘X’ again you’re back to real life and your golfer can sink it one and do one of the many celebratory dances that are available from the options menu. Although this might sound like the game just got easy, it hasn’t. Your putt preview meter continues throughout the whole round. So if you use too much time on one putt on the 6th, when you reach the 15th and the green is sloping sharply up and left, you might not have any putt preview time left and will have to rely solely on the putting grid. So use your time wisely.
Other annoyances are that they’ve changed the way you progress in career mode. In TW ’07 you had your practice games to improve your skills and then at any time you felt like playing against the next Pro you could give it a stab and edge closer to Tiger himself. In ’08 you can only play against the Pro’s unless you complete five challenges. This wouldn’t be too bad itself if you could have some of the excellent commentary and the crowd whooping, “Get in the hole!” and “I love this game!” to add some sense of atmosphere and realism. But no. They’ve stripped these challenges of those and added some background music instead so it’s just a case of getting the annoying tasks out the way before you’re allowed to rub shoulders with the golfing elite.
If the career mode isn’t your thing then you can simply click the Play Now mode in the options menu and have a custom game using Mr. Woods or a whole host of male and female golfing pros. There are a few extra courses to choose from compared with EA’s previous incarnation but again nothing really radically different although the course designer is a nice touch and will add some extra life to the title. All the traditional gametypes are there from Stroke Play to Skins to Match Play. There are some variations on these such as Bloodsome which is a two-on-two game where the opposing team chooses where you tee off from and you take it in turns from there and of course the first one to sink the putt wins. Again, these gametypes do add some multiplayer life if you’ve got a friend or four over but nothing radically new from what came last year.
Although it certainly can be said that TW ’08 hasn’t exactly moved on from last year’s effort in the graphics department it’s actually taken a step back. The framerate noticeably drops when showing the mini-cut scenes as your golfer prepares to make his shot. It tears often and the bland, green bushes and trees seem to just blend into each other. The character models look decent enough but the whole game lacks the polish of ’07. You can still morph every single aspect of your face and still not get it looking anything like you but this year you can add lip wrinkles! Wow.
One thing that hasn’t changed at all from last year’s walk in the woods (no pun intended) is the quality of EA’s servers. Net Play as it’s called is a shoddy affair with games few and far between and the lag can really spoil the flow of the game. However, if you’ve got the patience, playing with a friend online is can still be fun if and when you don’t get kicked on the 17th and it’s all square! It strikes me as strange that a company so vast and so committed to sports games can’t get the one thing right that sports games fans everywhere want: a lag free, smooth environment with which you can pit your wits against friends. Fight Night Round 3 suffered from it also but not so much the recent FIFA games. Let’s hope the inevitable TW ’09 will be an improvement.
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| Cleverly placed bunkers to the left and right of the green means your approach shot has to be good | The clubhouse looms at the back of the 18th. Anyone fancy a pint? |
Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’08 could be the last in the series for Playstation 2 owners. If PS3 sales really pick up then we could see development support for it’s ever popular last-gen console starting to dwindle early next year. Tiger Woods ’08 could have been a fitting swansong. It isn’t however. The care and attention that was poured into ’07 simply isn’t here this time round and it seems like EA have given up the ghost on the PS2 when you compare the new additions to the next-gen console versions of this game compared with this one. EA has been accused of shovelware many times in the past but it’s recent titles such as EA and the ever improving aforementioned FIFA seemed to have gone some way in ripping that label off. Tiger Woods ’08 on the Playstation 2 however is just that.
Top Game Moment: Chipping in from the rough.
