Okay,last week I went out and got the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. Although I have PS3, I decided to get the version for the Wii. The selling point for me was the fact that I could get the WiiMotion Plus bundled with the game (more on that later).
Graphics:
Maybe my standards are too low for some but, graphically, even on the Wii, the game looked just fine to me. Sure, on the Wii, I may not be able to see every blade of grass moving or someone in the gallery scratching his/her nose but, the graphics are clear and the action is smooth. However, there are the expected animations. For example, if a ball is hit from the rough or from a sandtrap, you can see the grass fly or the sand move.
Gameplay:
In a word: fun. I think I played a Tiger Woods game back on the PS2 and, as I remember it, it was as fun to me as watching golf on TV. Maybe it's the interaction with playing on the Wii but, I am able to really get into this game. For example, when you hit the ball perfectly, you see a special animation that indicates you're in the zone. When you are needing to hit a key shot, you hear your character's heart beating and all other noise is blocked out. If you have a Wii, not only can the heart beat get to a frantic pace, your controller vibrates more and more and could affect your shot. Of course, we all like adulation so, there's nothing like the crowd feedback you get when you lay the ball up on the green just a few feet from the hole or when you have the long chip-in for eagle.
If you are in Career mode and are a winner, you'll be offered sponsorships which pay your character for wearing or using the sponsor's gear while on the course (not real money, of course). You can use this and the money from your winnings to purchase upgrades for your golfer, such as clubs, clothes, balls, jewelry (including platinum "fronts"), accesories, hair dye, etc. Some of thse purchases can help you upgrade your player's performance, allowing you to hit farther or more accurately or allow you to get better spin on the ball. You can even purchase new swing animations if you don't care for how your golfer is swinging the club.
Also, if you want to take a break from regular golf, you have other golf-related minigames and another great innovation (and the real reason I bought this game), disc golf. You might also know it as "frisbee" golf. They actually did a pretty good job of reproducing the experience of disc golf (again, I have to speak on WiiMotion Plus). Just like the real game, it's about the postion of your body, how you hold the disc, your approach, follow through and release that determine the accuracy and distance of your throw. Also, just like real disc golf, you bad aim will cause you to hit a tree, land out of bounds or in a hazard. It's not a perfect reproduction of the real game but, it's a great and worthwhile first effort. I just hope they can bring a real disc-golf game to the one of the next-gen systems.
Control:
I had to speak on this. I like the WiiMotion Plus. I really noticed how it responded during the disc golf game. It responded to my right/left/up/down tilts accurately. In fact, because I have played disc golf in the real world many times, now, I have a feel for when I am making a good or bad throw. I get much the same feel with the WiiMotion Plus. I am interested in finding out how well this will work with other games coming out for the system.
Conclusion:
I say go out and get this game, especially if you are a Wii owner. The fun factor is high and, from what I hear from other players, the higher levels go from challenging to near-maddening (I hear trying to beat Tiger at the higher levels will put your skills to the test, to say the least). Who knows, we might see each other out on the (virtual) links.
