Thursday, September 6, 2007

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08



Tiger Woods tees up for another round. Tiger Woods’ Wii debut last year showed that the series could be quite the powerhouse on Nintendo’s new platform. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 improves—if only marginally—on its predecessor and delivers the most solid golf experience on the Wii.

Tiger Woods 08 Tiger 08 includes the expected game modes like stroke, match, skins, best ball, etc. You’ll also find arcade games in the form of skills 18, one-ball (and team one-ball), battle golf and elimination. There are also five minigames: T-I-G-E-R, target, miniputt, capture and best ball. Of course, you can still create your own golfer and task yourself with making him the best golfer in the world. You still earn money for winning rounds, which you can use to upgrade your character’s skill set. The game is heavily multiplayer focused but does not include online functionality on the Wii.

The game includes 18 courses but many of last year’s fictional courses have been replaced with real courses this time around. The Wii version includes the new courses added to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions (Cog Hill, East Lake, TPC Boston and Westchester), as well as Firestone, TPC Scottsdale, and Doral. While we’re not sure why EA removed the fictional courses, the real ones are a blast to play.

Once again, Tiger Woods 08 uses the Wiimote as a golf club, allowing you to swing it to mimic the swinging of an actual golf club. Longer drives are determined by how far back you take the Wiimote and tilting the controlling will affect where the ball goes. The simpler control scheme that merely requires you to flick the Wiimote is back as is the ability to use the Nunchuk’s analog stick to control swinging. The first option is the most fun and engaging, but the others are arguably more precise. The game does introduce a new wrinkle to the gameplay by allowing you to “preview” putts before you actually go for it. You’re limited to a number of previews per game, but it does eliminate a lot of the annoyance with putting.

Tiger Woods 07’s graphics were disappointing for a Wii game since they were quite similar to the PS2 version’s graphics. Unfortunately, the graphics system hasn’t been updated this time around. That said, the character models look fairly good and have great animation. The courses have relatively simple architecture and low-quality textures but it doesn’t get in the way of the game.

The game’s audio component also has yet to be updated. The sound effects are still great, although the commentary from Gary McCord and David Feherty is in need of an upgrade.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 is a marginally improved version of Tiger Woods 07. The control mechanism is better this time around and there are more courses and modes. It’s certainly the best golf game on Wii, but whether the upgrades are worth $50 if you own Tiger 07 will depend on how much you like the series.



Posted by wii-play at 1:42 AM
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