GameSpy Review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10

GameSpy's Take





I used to have a roommate who played Tiger Woods constantly. As a spectator from the couch, I thought driving the ball down the green seemed cathartic, and I loved the idea of taking a custom character from the bottom of the ranks to the top. But upon seeing my roomie take a few minutes to line up a putt, only to have his work shattered when the ball danced in and around the hole, I realized how frustrating the game could be -- it seemed like you'd need a pro's skills in order to win. Not one to be intimidated, I decided to pull up my knickers and climb the ranks.





At the dawn of your career, you get a few customization options to make your rookie golfer look just like you; the Xbox Vision Camera (or the PlayStation Eye) gets your golfer eerily close to an exact match. From there, coach Hank Haney takes you through some practice rounds to determine your attributes. The tests are vague -- the required shots are extremely easy, and they don't seem designed to stratify beginners from experienced golfers. From there, you're quickly thrust into tournaments, where your golfer's performance continues to feed back into his/her actual attributes. It's great if your drive game is naturally strong... but horrible if (like me) your putting game's not so good. Putting poorly will drop your stats, making it harder the next time you're out on the green.










But with difficulty comes rewards: The new Precision Putting system takes some getting used to, but after enough practice the whole putting experience becomes a thrilling puzzle game. When judging the power and line of your shots, you pull back on the left stick at just the right point, then flick it straight forward. Before you commit, though, you'll want to use your one-time Putt Preview the see if the trajectory of your shot lines up. If not, you have to readjust blind. If you try it and still aren't meshing with the new Precision Putting, then you can revert to the Classic style (though I wouldn't recommend it; as nothing's kinetic about tapping the "putt" button at just the right moment).





The online modes give you a chance to invest as much as you want into the sport. The Play the Pros mode, for example, displays and compares your scores against the pros' as they're happening in real-time. If Tiger sinks straight birdies at the FedEx Cup, the leaderboards will reflect that in-game. Play the Pros doesn't allow the assists you're used to -- putt previews, the option to add midair spin to the ball, and the more forgiving swing settings are all disabled. And if the pros are dealing with rain at Torrey Pines, so are you... which means adjusting to the inclement weather, hitting the ball harder (in most cases) than the suggested power range. Top scorers get their custom golfer displayed in the news ticker that feeds on top of the screen. Beyond that, daily and weekly tournaments allow you to create (and topple) your own records. Seasoned Tiger players will get the most out of the online perks by showing off their scores on the leaderboards and participating in tournaments as they unfold on TV.










As a relative rookie, I had the most fun playing online against others within my skill level, as Tiger 10's main drawback is that it's too damned hard for series non-veterans. In the Play the Pros mode (and in the normal PGA Tour), I felt complete despair when golfers scored -24 while I sat at +24. This frustration aside, Tiger 10's dressings just keep pulling me back. I love the hush of the fairway, the crack of the club meeting the ball, and the putting mind-game. I just wonder if I (and others like me) have been left behind, since I didn't jump on the couch next to my ex-roommate way back when.







The Critics Agree



My lack of history with the series definitely penalized my progression (and enjoyment of the game). I want to love Tiger 10... but as the reviewers below agree, if you don't already think it's perfect, you probably never will.





"A word of caution though: if you didn't think that Tiger Woods 09 was all that great, you'll probably have a similar sentiment on TW 10; at the core these games are very similar." -- Dale Nardozzi, TeamXbox





"There are small things like the new Tournament Challenge that lets you take on real-world tourney situations from years past and Live Online Tournaments -- my personal favorite of the new features -- that allow you to record scores against other living players or real pros currently on the course. Still, none of these features are mind-blowing, and none will change the way you fundamentally think about Tiger Woods Golf." -- Nate Ahearn, IGN.com





The Critics Disagree



The biggest tweak to Tiger 10's gameplay is the Precision Putting mechanic. Some reviewers thought this new way of putting made it too easy to navigate the green, but I have to side with TeamXbox's Dale Nardozzi in wanting more direction for putting.





"The toughest part of Precision Putting is the level of green-reading expertise that is necessary in order to consistently drain putts. Sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what pace to put on the ball, as the distance of the ball's resting spot above or below the cup is not the only factor." -- Dale Nardozzi, TeamXbox







"While [Precision Putting] adds to the realism and forces you to be a lot more careful and accurate when reading the greens, once you've decided that you've lined up the shot correctly, an on-screen meter makes it far too easy to execute the shot perfectly. Last year's Tiger could be unforgiving when it came to the putting game; this year it seems the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction." -- Steve Steinberg, Crispy Gamer





The Word on Twitter



"Debating whether to get Ghostbusters for Xbox 360.. want Tiger Woods 10 too....why can't i be rich?" -- TheBretsky





"I played Tiger Woods 10 for about 10 hours yesterday, and like the real US Open, there will be some golfing on Monday" -- Shopmaster





"Played one night of Tiger Woods 10 and I'm already hooked." -- Jokala

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