Tiger is Better Than Ever

In video games as well as real life, Tiger Woods is the biggest name in golf. This year, Tiger's game on Xbox 360™ is expanded and improved, and it's a great title for golf fans of all ages and skill levels.

With "EAsy play"turned on, along with certain swing aids, a young child can have both fun and success while playing.

But crank the game up to the "Tour Pro" difficulty level, and the serene golf courses in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 07 can become ravenous, snarling monsters that won't be easily tamed.

Take on the challenge of the PGA Tour.

By creating one golfer (using the stunningly detailed Game Face feature) per Xbox Live® profile and saving each with different difficulty levels, four players can play in a single round together on a single Xbox 360 console with different levels of difficulty for each player—perfect for families, little brothers, and sisters or significant others.

There are precious few sports games that allow players with differing skill levels to compete evenly, and the fact that it's so easy to do in Tiger Woods is reason enough to recommend it.

Subtleties of Real Golf
For more veterans, this year's Tiger provides a greater challenge than ever before on Tour Pro mode, and even rookies who haven't spent much time on a real golf course might be surprised at the experience. The ball's lie makes a much bigger difference than it has in the past, and coupled with the game's new aiming system, you may feel less in control. To which I'd say, welcome to golf.

On the higher difficulty settings, "grip it and
rip it" just won't cut it in Tiger's game.

The real sport's an exercise in course management and trying to place your ball in the most favorable area possible, all the while realizing that you only have so much control regarding where the ball will actually end up.

In Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 07, EA has tried to infuse more realism into the game, and they've succeeded.

Start with the "aiming circle". No longer will you be able to place your ball on a pinpointed spot on the course—instead, you see a wide circle on the course, and a good shot will fall somewhere in there. The bigger the club, the wider the margin for error, so shot planning is important, and sometimes, the longest club isn't necessarily the best one.

Plan your Attack
The right analog stick now controls the club face. Like in real life, opening the face as it strikes the ball will impart more back-spin, but the cost will be a loss of distance. Opening the club face on an approach will draw the ball back to the pin, but closing it a smidge can give you more forward roll when aiming at an uphill green.

Practice your shots with the mini-games.

Speaking of hills, the ball's lie with regard to your player's stance finally matters (although not nearly as much as it does in real life). Still, if you're shooting at a ball below your player's feet (a downhill lie), the ball will tend to push away from you much like a slice, so take that into consideration when you aim. An uphill lie works in reverse, as you're likely to pull the ball.

On top of all this, wind and surface lie play roles, as well. A heavy tailwind can cause your ball to sail, while a headwind or crosswind will knock plenty of yards off your shot, and the crosswind even carries your ball in another direction entirely.

This year, the rough can be exactly that. Try too much club, and you may muff the shot, traveling mere feet instead of hundreds of yards. The lie is always displayed in the lower left of the screen and expressed as a percentage. Landing on the perfectly-groomed fairway may offer a 95-99% lie, while landing in the rough can be in the 60s, and a bunker can be even worse. With low-percentage lies, it's important to use smaller clubs, and possibly open up the faces to help dig the ball out of the hazard.

The best advice, of course, is to stay out the hazards in the first place, so learning the new control scheme and playing intelligent golf is more important than ever before. John Daly may be virtually represented inside, but on the higher difficulty settings, "grip it and rip it" just won't cut it in Tiger's game.

Just like Tiger himself, you need more than talented hands to reach the top—you need to assess the course and play smart golf.

With a game designed in part by one of the greatest golfers of all time, what else would you expect?

Article by Shawn Drotar, Executive Editor, 5WG (5w-g.com)