Tiger Woods PGA Tour '05
By Bart Skinner
Fore!
Cold weather is upon us and it's time to watch the leaves fall, pull the sweaters out of storage and get ready to play some…Golf? EA sure thinks so, and with the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, it's easy to see why. Fans of last year's game will be pleased with the upgrades found in 2005, and anyone who has yet to play against Tiger will see why Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 is two strokes ahead of the competition.
Gameplay is relatively unchanged from last year, with the same rudimentary swing controls fans of the genre are used to. Putting has been made more difficult with the lack of a grid showing the break on greens though PC users will still find the grid available. Without the grid you are left to putt based solely on the advice of your caddie who seems to get better at reading greens as time goes by. Or you can use one of your precious Tigervision allocations, which when activated switches the view to a top-down look with a yellow aim-point on the green which will sink a putt regardless of the break or distance 99% of the time. Unfortunately, you only get four of these per round, so you will want to save them for the par 5's, meaning accurate approach shots are necessary on the rest of the course.
Visually the game is slightly better than last year's version, and the early morning fog effect is quite well done. Couple that with the necessary commentary from David Fehrety and Gary McCord, and you will be pleased with the overall sight and sound.
Last year EA gave us Gameface, which allowed you to customize your golfer with amazing detail, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 blows past, like a Tiger Woods tee shot using Gameface II. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 offers up almost infinite combinations of looks, swings, clothes and equipment, guaranteeing that no two golfers will look the same-unless you and your twin brother play against each other.
This year's marquee addition however is Tigerproofing, which allows you the user to customize courses on a hole-by-hole basis, or piece together a collection of the greatest signature holes in golf to make your own Dream 18 course. Tigerproofing lets you narrow fairways, lengthen rough and move the tee boxes back, turning short par 4's into nightmares, and making 700-yard par 5's the rule, not the exception.
Legend Pursuit mode allows you a bit of a storyline to compete in, pitting you against the greatest golfers in the history of the sport. Square off against Jack, Arnold, Seve, Ben Hogan and more, earning you much needed cash and unlocking much needed equipment to make your game that much better. And you'll need to take your game up a notch if you are going to play 18 against Tiger himself.
Everything else is relatively unchanged over last year, so if you were not thrilled with Tiger 2004 this is not a must-own game. However if you are a golf junkie or can't get enough EA Sports in your life it is worth your time and money, as you will find hours upon hours of playtime in it.
Reviewer's
Scoring Details
Another great EA product, easy to learn and fun to play..
Well done player swings and the courses look great, but in the end it's still just a golf course.
Almost perfect, repetitious commentary get on your nerves after awhile though.
With Tour Mode activated, you'll find yourself gritting your teeth like Tiger did all season.
Mostly the same game as last year. It could use a bit more depth.
Nothing offsets internet lag like a leisurely round of golf.
Good but not great, you could get away with buying TW 2004 for half the price.
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