Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Wii)

...experience, and however good the Tiger Woods franchise is, it has in the past lacked realism due to some dodgy swing mechanics and less than accurate controls. This year's incarnation, 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10', sorts out these issues via a complete overhaul of the control system with the addition of Nintendo's new 'MotionPlus' add-on.

For those of you who haven't heard of 'MotionPlus', it's a small white box which clips onto the underside ...
...it packaged with this new Tiger Woods game for £46.


==Swing Like a Pro!==

In the past, doing anything like an authentic golf swing on a Tiger Woods game would result in a horrible hook or slice, which became incredibly frustrating when watching your ball soar into a bunker or a pond nine out of ten times - the addition of MotionPlus means that now you can take your real swing and use it in the game - and believe me, ... more

The 'Tiger Woods' series has set the benchmark for golfing videogames over the years, and as someone who enjoys a round or two in real life, I'm usually the first to buy the new title upon its annual release.

What I usually look for in a golf game Is an authenticity to the actual experience, and however good the Tiger Woods franchise is, it has in the past lacked realism due to some dodgy swing mechanics and less than accurate controls. This year's incarnation, 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10', sorts out these issues via a complete overhaul of the control system with the addition of Nintendo's new 'MotionPlus' add-on.

For those of you who haven't heard of 'MotionPlus', it's a small white box which clips onto the underside of the Wii controller, and increases the precision of the device around eight-fold. When purchased on its own, the MotionPlus costs around £16, but you can actually buy it packaged with this new Tiger Woods game for £46.

Swing Like a Pro!

In the past, doing anything like an authentic golf swing on a Tiger Woods game would result in a horrible hook or slice, which became incredibly frustrating when watching your ball soar into a bunker or a pond nine out of ten times - the addition of MotionPlus means that now you can take your real swing and use it in the game - and believe me, it works. The result is that Tiger Woods '10 is the best and most authentic representation of golf to date, and can be played by anyone from the complete novice to the seasoned pro.

In fact Tiger Woods '10 has included a whole sub-game called 'Disk Golf' to show off the capabilities of MotionPlus. This mode gives you a chance to chuck around a frisbee on any of the courses, with the ultimate aim of getting the flying disk to the hole in the least amount of throws. This is actually great fun, and quite addictive, especially when you're competing against another human opponent. Anyway, enough about frisbees - let's get back to the main issue at hand... golf!

How do you play Tiger Woods '10?

Simple! Just hold the Wii controller in both hands as you would a regular golf club, then hold down the button on the back of the device and make your swing. A soft swing will send the ball a short distance, whilst a full and strong swing will result in a powerful strike. These new swing mechanics also make a huge difference to the much improved putting system, which now feels incredibly authentic to the real thing.

This is certainly a game in which you need to use the Wii controller's wrist-strap, as I can picture smashed TV's up and down the country - the result of over-enthusiastic video game golfers with greasy hands.

Graphics

From afar, the representation of the golf courses in the game is very well done and a pleasure to view, although if you take a closer look, the textures of both the greens and fairways are of a low resolution, which mars things slightly. The player models themselves are average to say the least, and apart from Tiger, they don't bear a massive similarity to their real life counterparts. To be honest, it's time the Tiger Woods series had a complete graphical overhaul, as the visuals haven't improved much since the initial game on the Wii in 2007.

Courses

This time around there are twenty-seven courses to choose from, including the home of this years British Open, Turnberry. With such a great choice, the game inevitably has a decent replay value, so you will definitely get your moneys worth this year. The full list of courses are as follows;

Banff Springs, Bay Hill, Bethpage Black, Cog Hill, Doral, East Lake, Fancourt Links, Firestone, Gary Player Country Club, Harbour Town, Hazeltine, The K Club, Kiawah Island, Oakmont, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Riviera, Sheshan, Old Course at St Andrews, Torrey Pines, TPC Boston, Sawgrass, Scottsdale, Turnberry - Ailsa Course, Wentworth, Westchester, and Wolf Creek.

Most of the courses listed above are based in the US, although there are a few European venues which will inevitably keep us Brits happy. Some of the courses are difficult to play (Bethpage Black to name just one), although there are a few which feel a little rushed, and feature flat greens which makes putting a little too easy.

Game Modes

There has always been many game options in Tiger Woods games, and this year, there are probably more than ever. The 'My Career' section allows you to play Tour style matches, and also gives you the chance to hone your skills with mini-challenges (long drive, chipping, strokeplay etc) on selected courses. Then there are the 'arcade' and 'mini-game' sections which allow for non-traditional golf to be played along the lines of 'Target Golf' and the Disk Golf game which I previously mentioned. For the purists amongst you, the standard golf games are all present and correct with 'Matchplay', 'Stroke Play' and 'Stableford' variants.

Online Play

The online elements to this year's game are much improved over the Tiger Woods '09 version, and there are a number of online tournaments to play in. Another cool feature of the game is the 'real time weather' setting - if you play whilst your Wii is connected to the internet, you have the option of playing a course with the actual and current weather conditions for that location. For example, if it's raining in real life at Wentworth, and you choose to play Wentworth on the game, it will be raining there too!

Audio

The sound effects used throughout the game are of a high standard, and all add to the ambience of the golfing experience. Planes can be heard crossing the golf courses, and there is the constant sound of wildlife, and some gently rippling water effects.

The real weakness on the audio front is in the commentary, as i've found that the commentators have the knack of saying completely the wrong things at inappropriate times. Often i'll mis-hit a shot, or leave a putt a long way short, and one of the commentary team will inform me that I've done something quite amazing - of course, this gets pretty annoying after a while, so you'll be glad to know that the commentary can be switched off!

Criticisms

Apart from the less than perfect commentary, and the weakness on the graphical front, it's only minor annoyances which blight the game. One of which is the fact that if you're just off the green (within 10ft) you can pretty much hole chip shots 10/10 times, due to the 'preview' system. Holding both the front and back buttons on the controller and making your swing will show you the predicted path of the ball, and therefore you can make adjustments until the preview line is shown going into the hole - this just makes it a bit *too* easy from these chippable positions.

Also, however good the new putting system is, holing putts from within 15ft is quite simple, just aim a tiny bit left of right (depending on the break) and hit the ball harder than is necessary, and you'll find the hole the majority of the time - like the chipping, I would like to see the game being less forgiving in these situations.

Final Word

In conclusion, Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10 is an excellent golf game, thanks almost entirely to the new MotionPlus controls - this brilliant and ingenious technological marvel has allowed an authenticity which has been lacking in previous incarnations, and the result is the best golf game to date. For golfers and non-golfers alike, I would give this game a high recommendation.

From Amazon, Tiger Woods '10 can currently be purchased for £24.97 as a stand-alone product, or for £45.96 with the MotionPlus accessory.

*I've also published this game on dooyoo.co.uk under the username JJJJ* 

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