Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Review
2010 – 2011 has been an interesting year for the worlds number 1 ranked golfer Tiger Woods. Off course behavior cost him numerous sponsors and millions of dollars but Electronic Arts stuck by the man who has transformed golf to what is today and release this years annual edition of the franchise. You’ll notice right off the bat that Rory McIlroy is also on the cover. Is this a ploy to get positive attention to the game to also feature one of the upcoming European players or is it strictly to promote the Ryder Cup which is the best golf team event on the planet. Enough talk about that and let’s get back to regularly scheduled review.
Another year means minor visual upgrades to the game. It looks great but how far can you go to improve graphics in 12 months. There are a issues with the voice acting in this game. First of all, can we please get rid of Kelly Tilghman. Her voice is annoying and she isn’t funny at all. Further more, there have have many issues triggering the audio cues. By that I mean, how can the game tell me I’ve hit an awesome shot so close to the pin when in fact the ball is 20 yards from the pin and in the rough? Honestly it’s ultra annoying. EA we all know you have ultra huge QA department and these little annoying bugs should get squashed.
One of the big additions to Tiger Woods PGA tour 11 was adding the Ryder Cup which is in my honest opinion one of the best golf tournaments to watch. Sure we all love the masters but there is just something about the Ryder Cup. USA Vs Europe Team play sounds great? It sure does however there are some issues with the implementation of the concept. First of all, not all the players in the roster of PGA tour are not eligible to play in the Ryder Cup and thus should not be allowed to play. Sure I’m getting pretty technical here but I am golfer and a huge golf fan and I don’t think it’s too hard to follow the rules of the Ryder Cup. Also I found the fourball matches took far to long to play. I often found my self getting quite sleepy playing this portion of the Ryder Cup.
There has always been a fine line between enjoying Tiger Woods and getting your balls handed to you playing on the Ultra tough Tour Mode. This year the team over at EA has introduced True-Aim. This allows you to get up close and and see the hole and course from the golfers perspective. True-Aim removes the old accuracy circle we were use to in Tiger Tiger Woods games and forces you to aim your shot entirely from an over-the-shoulder camera. This is how Tiger and the rest of the PGA, LPGA, and European tour players play. This adds an interesting challenge on it’s own and I struggled with it at the very beginning. So after you pull the analog stick, the only indicator you get that your shot is good is by the noise the crowd makes and the commentators have to say.
The focus system is another effective tool at increasing the difficulty of your round without getting frustrating. The focus meter sits on the lower left of the screen where it normally does. You use it to add power to your swing, spin to your ball and finally to use to putt preview. Using the focus meter uses up it’s availability pretty quickly and generally I’ve found it adds a bit of a tactical element to the game. When do you use it? when do you not use it? those are the tough questions to answer during a round of golf. How do you gain focus back? simple, hit quality golf shots on each hole. No longer can you simply rely on putt preview for 18 holes you actually need to think and implement a bit of strategy into your round of golf.
Online modes haven’t really changed since the inception of the Tiger Woods franchise on next gen consoles. You still have your typical gamernet challenges, weekly, daily and play with the pro tournaments that we’ve all come to play hours of. The only real addition to the online mode is team play where you can join 23 other plays and play on Team USA or Team Europe. I’m really hoping for some improvements.
Career mode hasn’t seen a drastic change either you still have 48 skill challenges that pit you against some crazy shots, rounds of golf done by by the tour pros. The PGA season is firmly intact and the race to the Fedex cup is on. You’ll now notice you no longer earn cash but Experience Points (XP) based on your actions on the course. Make a birdie? It will yield you 25 XP points. There are 7 levels in all to get and you’ll need 100,000 XP points to get. XP can be really hard to earn in the early stages of the game but later on when you have your character maxed out XP comes by a lot easier. You can assign this XP points to your character growth or to buy new shinny clubs. Not happy with a decision you made? no problem you can reallocate those XP points if needed.
Another year means another annual edition of Tiger Woods, is it this year’s addition worth $69.99? Personally, I don’t think so but as you can tell I’m a sucker for golf games and keep buying them. I really wish I could avoid purchasing it. For those who are hardcore into their golf the new additions of True-Aim, Ryder Cup, and XP system are welcome changes that make the game a bit more challenging. I’ve yet to shot lower than a 61. If your like me and you love golf be sure to pick this up as I can’t wait to the play the pros tournament when the Ryder Cup does actually come around.