Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters Review

Game: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters

Developer: EA Tiburon

Publisher: EA Sports

Available on: PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 (Reviewed on Xbox 360)

Another year has passed and with it we see another Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf title released. Once again we have new features along with new hopes and aspirations, but it has to be said the Tiger Woods series has been a bit flat in recent years. Sure, each year they upgrade the graphics a little and then bring out some new crazy putting system, but it always seems to be a repeat of the year before and could definitely be accused of becoming a bit stale. For that reason, some people have skipped buying it on a yearly basis, with Tiger Woods 11 failing to match the previous years sales by quite a margin. However, there is no other simulation golf game on the market, allowing this franchise to totally dominate.

There were concerns as to whether or not Tiger would remain the face of this franchise, due to his recent fall from grace, but EA have stuck with their man and have also tried to win back their falling fan base by using one of the biggest golfing tournaments, The Masters, as one of its biggest selling points. The main worry for this was that the previous years outing had pretty much done the same thing, but instead of The Masters,  they used the Ryder Cup. Being released just before of the start of The Masters tournament at Augusta National, you can play on the same course, albeit a computer rendered version, at the same time as the tournament, which would allow you to compare your mad video game golfing skills with the worlds best professionals!

But what everyone wants to know is, does Tiger Woods 12 signal a return to form? Is it a hole in one? Has it reached par? Or is Tiger having trouble with his frequently used putter? Let’s tee off and find out!

GRAPHICS: This franchise is normally well developed when it comes to the graphics department, but this time they have really smashed it out of the park. The amount of detail that has gone into this is astounding! The course graphics are so good, it’s almost as if you can see every blade of grass, whether it be the fairway, short cut or rough, and it is absolutely fantastic. The surrounding foliage and background are beautiful as well, and it really does feel like you could just walk your golfer over to them, if it wasn’t for this pesky game of golf you are playing.

If all that is impressive though, wait until you see the character graphics, especially the game face creation system. They are on the ball with regards to the playable professional golfers, and the body movements of the club swings and the facial animations for both the available and created golfers are all top notch.

Usually with game face, you get a character that may look like you a bit, but there is always something off about it. This time however, after using a photo of myself which I added to the  EA website (admittedly for FIFA 11) and a little bit of tweaking, I managed to create a character to look almost exactly like me, so much so that it is actually quite scary! It goes to show that the developers have been working very hard to improve this functionality, and they have pretty much nailed it. There will probably be issues for some, but they have finally achieved what game face is meant to do, and hopefully they will incorporate it into future EA Sports titles.

The weather mechanic is lovely as well. Although the weather doesn’t really change whilst on an individual hole, it will gradually get worse (or better) as you play through the course, which is as you would expect. When the weather does change however, it affects your golfer. For example, if the wind picks up, you will see your golfer’s trousers flapping around, which is a nice touch. In summary, the attention to detail in every aspect is quite astounding and the developers have gone to great lengths to make everything as close to real life as possible.

Another nice little feature is the crowd. Normally in EA games you have the crowd in a stadium and it’s pretty much the same section of people copied to fill a stadium, along with the same repetitive motion. Admittedly in golf you don’t have the crowd chanting or hanging off the rafters, but they are not an eyesore. They do what they are supposed to do and add to the whole experience, although when you see them clapping, they all seem to do this in unison which does look a little strange.

Should your ball go and hit one of the crowd, they will react properly as to where the ball hits them for the most part. I did manage to hit two crowd members in the family jewels and yes, they reacted, but with a golf ball hitting your sacks at full pelt, you would expect them to drop and not let out the pathetic wail that they do. It sounds like someone banging their head, but as any man will tell you, taking a shot to the plums usually ends up with a manly yelp, with lots of swearing! This is only a very small gripe but if they were going for realism, it would’ve added to the humour, which is usually portrayed either by the commentators or just physical slapstick, but lets face it, everyone finds someone taking a shot in the happy sacks funny, just not when you are the one receiving it!

SOUND: There is no soundtrack as such for this title, apart from the music in the opening video and title screen which can only be described as perfect for golf tournaments, which obviously suits the game nicely. The sound effects, like the graphics, are very highly detailed and are of a very high standard. The background noises are nicely recreated, with the birds tweeting away nicely, and the wind gently blowing on a calm day. Should the weather conditions be poor though, perhaps if it starts chucking it down with rain for example, the sound effects are perfectly executed. The club swinging and the sound of the ball being struck are as they should be and the crowd cheering and clapping is also top notch.

The voice-over work is also good, with the commentators (the voice of golf, Jim Nantz, rocks the mic) in tournaments doing their thing (with some funny comments) and your caddie giving you his feelings with every shot, though some of these are a little repetitive. However, there is a voice option for your created character which is, unfortunately for the majority of the planet, American. This seems a little pointless, as I honestly don’t remember hearing my character ever speak at all, which makes you wonder why it was ever put into the title in the first place. But once again this is only a small gripe and doesn’t really affect the game as such.

GAMEPLAY: There have been a few changes to the gameplay to try and mix things up a bit this time around. In previous versions of the franchise, you had the ability to tap a button furiously to gain power when making your shot, or to add spin to the ball to make those approaches to the pin a little easier, especially if you are looking for those hole in ones and eagles. Added to these abilities, you now have the option to focus on the area where it is suggested the ball will land. Simply by tapping the focus button, the aiming target will get smaller, increasing your chances of getting the ball exactly where you want it, providing you swing your club correctly, which is handy for awkward shots but fantastic for putting, as it will give you a greater chance of getting those long, tricky puts in.

These abilities are great to have, but to give you more of a challenge, you won’t always have them. You have a focus meter in the bottom left of the screen, and you are only able to use these abilities as long as you have something left in the meter. If you run out, you only have your own judgement when taking a shot. You can refill this meter, but only by not using all the focus abilities. This makes the whole experience a lot more challenging, forcing you to concentrate more when playing, and making it very satisfying when pulling off a great shot.

The swinging of the club when taking your shot is similar to previous entries to the Tiger Woods series, but feels a lot more sensitive than before. This again makes you concentrate more, making it more challenging, which in turn leads to great satisfaction when you pull off a good shot. The same can be said for the percentages of power that you require. It will take some practice to get it right, which you can do for every shot by simply clicking down the left stick to take a practice swing, and then once you feel you have it nailed, click the left stick again and make your shot.

The next new introduction to this title is the caddie, which is essentially a help system. Before you take every shot, he will give you two suggestions for your next shot, one safe and one more aggressive. Once you pick the one you want, simply press A and then take your shot. You don’t have to take these options if you don’t want to, and you can simply press up when the caddie starts speaking and then move the target area where you’d prefer instead. If you don’t want the caddie or his suggestions, instead wanting to go all Shooter McGavin on his ass, you can disable him and carry on. That doesn’t mean your character breaks his legs though, you just press B when the option shows, and he goes away to the clubhouse for a beer. This isn’t the wisest move to take, as he does often give you some valuable information which can improve your play, although at first, his suggestions might seem a bit weird. As you play each course you have a series of accomplishments to fulfill, similar to the accomplishments for your virtual pro in FIFA 11. You have bronze, silver and gold, and once you completed these, your target area’s get better and your caddie’s suggestions go up in accuracy, almost guaranteeing a good shot, providing you swing correctly, whether it be with the stick or the 3 click method.

The target area’s are surrounded by a colour coded ring with 4 colours to aid you in making your shot. Green signifies that your caddie is saying that the ball has an almost certain chance of landing in this area, yellow is where he’s saying that the ball may land there, red is him saying that he is pretty much guessing, and grey is the custom ring, where you make the decision as to where to place the ball, absolving the caddie of blame, so if it goes wrong it’s your fault. This target area is also incorporated in the putting system. You still have the grid on the green and the white dashes telling you which way the green is sloping. For putting though, don’t trust the caddie too much until you have the gold accomplishments, as even with a green target, the area can still be quite large, forcing you to choose whether to use your precious focus ability or to just go with your judgement. You can use the caddies suggested area for putting as a guide by all means, but it is important that you make sure that you are happy with the placement, as you may find yourself missing some very easy putts.

The target area and putting system is well executed along with the caddie, and forces you to think about every shot and take your time, which adds to the simulation aspect and makes it an enjoyable experience. The emphasis on taking your time is paramount, because with previous titles, you could pretty much just play the game one handed, which is one of the main reasons why the franchise was becoming stale and repetitive.

As for the game modes on offer, you can use your created golfer to grow in skill by going through career mode. It isn’t a story mode as such, but you go through as an amateur, progress to become a pro on the PGA Tour and then go for the ultimate goal, winning The Masters tournament. This is good fun to play through and also raises the stats for your character which will inevitably prepare your golfer for the multiplayer aspect, which like last year, is XP based instead of just earning money. To truly experience this mode, you need to purchase the extra courses that are available as DLC, which is a shame as you would want to play through entirety of the career mode without the requirement of having to pay extra to do so.

The Presidents Cup (or Ryder Cup to you and I) is a fun mode to play for the truly competitive people out there, and the other mode available to you is the Masters Moments mode, which allows you to recreate previous iconic moments from the tournament’s history. These are fun to play as they build the tournament up more, but they can get a little tedious after a while. You also have a set of challenges available to you whilst playing through a course via EA Gamernet. These can be set by anyone who has pulled off a fantastic shot, and by activating the Gamernet after the shot was played, you can set it as a challenge for anyone to attempt, earning you some XP in the process. Should you destroy another player’s challenge, you get some lovely XP as well, which makes for a competitive and fun little addition as you play.

As you can tell, a lot has gone into this title and the developers have really pulled it off. They have taken a good title that was getting stale and mixed it up to produce a massive improvement to the series.

MULTIPLAYER: There are some great additions to the multiplayer this time around. You can play with your friends with the different types of game (match play, stroke play), as well as play these via match making. One of the main challenges for the multiplayer aspect is the live tournaments. These are quite taxing, as you compete with others around the globe, but with some of your aids taken away, for example, no focus meter or spin. These are enjoyable, but only attempt these if your skills are amazing and you are hitting a number 1 handicap.

The big multiplayer draw is to compete in The Masters live tournament, and it has to be said that it is bastard hard, as you have no focus meter, no targeting ring, nothing. This is essentially playing golf as it’s meant to be played, albeit at home on your sofa. It should only be attempted if your skills are maxed and you are playing on the hardest difficulty. That said, it is a fantastic idea and, although hard, rather enjoyable. The whole multiplayer aspect is very well planned and thought out, with plenty to do and is generally a very enjoyable experience.

LONGEVITY: This title has so much to do that it will keep you occupied for months. The career mode has a nice length to it (once you purchase the DLC), and with the other single player modes, you’ll probably have it cracked after about a week of solid video golf, but with all the live tournaments available, you will probably keep this game as a rainy day title. If you’re very competitive and love this franchise, you’ll be smashing your balls down the fairway for a long time, or at least until Tiger Woods 13 comes around the corner.

VERDICT: With its immense attention to detail in almost every aspect, beautiful visuals, enjoyable modes and a greater gameplay challenge, this is the version of Tiger Woods that you need in your collection. Although it can be infuriating at times, it is usually because it’s your own damn fault. If you put the time, effort and patience into it, it will reward you with an altogether enjoyable golfing experience. Short of just buying some clubs and getting out there for real, with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, getting good at golf will take you hours instead of years.

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