A lot has happened to Mr. Woods in the past year, the majority of it being horribly detrimental to his public opinion. The development of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 has been somewhat uneventful in comparison, even the news of pay to play online failed to bring it crashing and screaming into the eyes of the public. What is lacks in drama however, it makes up for with a stable happier home-life. One that should interest, and even impress, the most casual of golfing fans.
The controls, feel and sound are all largely familiar if you have played any of the recent games, with most of the changes occurring on the technical side of striking the ball. There is a new harder challenge for the pros with the all-new True Aim point of view that is, well, it’s really hard. Too hard for me. It drops the majority of the helpful information that clutters your screen for a more intrinsic stripped down version of the game – something that true golfers may find easier to handle.
That aside, the only majorly noticeable change is with the Shot Focus mechanic. In previous games you could hammer A during your back-swing to add power and do the same for spin, but now you have to ration your button mashing and use it when it is most needed. For instance, if you use all your remaining focus in your drive and 2nd shot, powering your way down the fairway, chances are you will then lose the ability to spin the ball on your green shot or use putt preview on that tricky birdie. It does replenish after each shot but you still have to be careful.
This does add another degree of strategy to the game and possibly a level of frustration. The main career mode is structured around you taking your created golfer from an unknown name to a game seller like Tiger. When you start you understandably have a very limited skill set, with your stats being tiny compared to the big hitters in the game. The focus bar is very important in these early tournaments as you need that added power and accuracy to tackle some of the more complex holes.
The frustration comes in when you fail even with the focus. Now I don’t mean missing putts and hitting bunkers, that happens to the best of us, what I mean is teeing off on a long hole and smacking the ball perfectly with all the focus you can instill only to watch your ball land short of the fairway. These holes, although relatively few and far between, absolutely destroy your confidence. And that confidence is further whittled down by the ever-complaining commentators who, although impressively voiced, can moan and berate a little too often.
Same with the games club choices; I’m no golfer (that should be obvious from what I’ve written) so I place a lot of trust in the caddy’s club choice, and when that club ends up with me over or under hitting my perfectly hit shot, I’m not a very happy player. But through this you learn the nuances of the control system, and maybe even a little about golf itself. The more time you put into failing, and scoring far too many double bogeys to mention, the more your confidence rises and with that your skill.
It really is a perfectly balanced yet horribly frustrating difficulty curve. One that will test your heart and patience but is wonderfully rewarding when you can actually see yourself improve. I think that feeling alone is the most impressive thing about the game – PGA Tour games have always had that feeling but none have managed to perfect it quite like this one.
Besides the PGA Tour you can now play the Ryder Cup, playing as part of either the American or European team. I would recommend waiting until your created character is of a higher level, as a low skilled player might drag your team score down a little. The Ryder Cup is also available to play online, with up to 23 other players.
I tried to play this, I really did, but the amount of work, and more worryingly, the amount of money you may have to spend is quite daunting. EA have put a code inside the games box allowing you to play the game online. If however, you pick the game up second hand from a non-specific retailer then you will have to pay to play the online – which I find absolutely ridiculous. That annoyance aside, the online does offer a large selection of game modes to play, although I don’t know if that many will be played after the first few weeks. The only real mode that seems to have legs is the tournament mode, which has weekly tournaments on different courses with nice addictive leaderboards to show off your skills.
My other problem with the online, and maybe even the game in general, is the messy convoluted menu screens. It did take me a little while to work out where the career mode was and how to start your PGA tour, but I got there in the end. I had even more trouble with the online menus, with there being no easy option to just play the Ryder Cup. Again, a minor annoyance that will be eased with time, but I still don’t see why games have bad menus; surely it’s an easy problem to fix?
All this is great if you get a code but is it worth paying for? I’m not sure. Depends on how big a fan you are really. The real depth and enjoyment comes from the single player campaign and the almost RPG-like character development. Give this time and I promise you will enjoy it.
VideogameUK verdict: 7/10
