Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
The Blemished Golfing God Returns
Posted August 23, 2010
Despite the endless amount of pointless conjecture about Tiger’s personal life and how it’s affecting his grasp on the game of golf, it just wouldn’t be fitting to roll out another golfer for this massive EA Sports franchise. Going for the last 12 years, Tiger Woods PGA Tour is a staple in the EA Sports lineup and generally in the gaming industry. In this year’s version of the game, EA is rolling out the Ryder Cup mode for something new for players to sink their teeth into. As typical to all previous Tiger games, the presentation is top-notch and holds true to Electronic Arts standard in slick, polished games.
For those unfamiliar with golf, the Ryder Cup occurs every two years in either the United States or Europe (alternating basically). It’s a competition between players from countries all over Europe and players all over the USA; two teams of twelve players each. It’s spread over many matches, each earning different point levels. Electronic Arts built the Ryder Cup around the Celtic Manor golf course, but players can really use any course to play through the Cup. You can outfit your team with various golfers in the game (although there’s not a huge selection) and take control of a different golfer of your choosing on each hole during the matches. For instance, if the A.I. controlled version of Tiger is sinking all his putts, it’s probably a good idea to play as another, arguably weaker, player that’s behind in holes. It’s actually somewhat similar to managing a franchise in that you are looking at a much bigger pictures rather than focusing on a single player.
I actually had more fun creating and building a character in this go-around than in previous versions of the game. There’s something more entertaining in building a player from scratch rather than playing as Tiger. Playing with Tiger is like using the money cheat in the Sims; it simply takes all the fun out of it. There’s also a new stat system in which you build experience during play to spend on increased stats as well as equipment in the store. Obviously, it’s better to build up stats first, but I saw some online players going for the equipment purchases first.
There’s also a more difficult control scheme in this year’s version called True Aim. The visual cues on the screen have been removed and you have to determine how the ball will land after a shot as well as the speed / height that it will travel. The swing is all controlled by the analog stick and makes the game much more about reading the course as well as practicing with finesse. There’s also a new element to consider during a game that limits the amount of player focus you have at your disposal. Player Focus can be used for things like spinning the ball in the air or getting a better idea of how to sink a putt. Making successful shots without using the focus tools builds your level of player focus back up, hence the balancing act.
There’s very little that’s new in online play beyond a team play mode that’s a co-op mode of sorts. You join up with enough players to fill out a Ryder Cup and battle it out in teams for Team Europe or Team USA. Similar to last year, I didn’t have any trouble with lag in online multiplayer; likely attributed to the pacing of the game itself.
There isn’t a tremendous amount of new material to be found in this year’s version of Tiger. I dare say that if you have the previous year’s version, I would be hard pressed to recommend upgrading for the Ryder Cup alone. But if you haven’t upgraded in a couple years or this is your first entry into the series, this version will definitely give you your money’s worth with the Ryder Cup and much improved control mechanics. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 looks, sounds and plays extremely well on the Playstation 3 and is definitely worth your time if you have any interest in golf.
Discuss This Game on Our Official VGT Forum Thread
For those unfamiliar with golf, the Ryder Cup occurs every two years in either the United States or Europe (alternating basically). It’s a competition between players from countries all over Europe and players all over the USA; two teams of twelve players each. It’s spread over many matches, each earning different point levels. Electronic Arts built the Ryder Cup around the Celtic Manor golf course, but players can really use any course to play through the Cup. You can outfit your team with various golfers in the game (although there’s not a huge selection) and take control of a different golfer of your choosing on each hole during the matches. For instance, if the A.I. controlled version of Tiger is sinking all his putts, it’s probably a good idea to play as another, arguably weaker, player that’s behind in holes. It’s actually somewhat similar to managing a franchise in that you are looking at a much bigger pictures rather than focusing on a single player.
I actually had more fun creating and building a character in this go-around than in previous versions of the game. There’s something more entertaining in building a player from scratch rather than playing as Tiger. Playing with Tiger is like using the money cheat in the Sims; it simply takes all the fun out of it. There’s also a new stat system in which you build experience during play to spend on increased stats as well as equipment in the store. Obviously, it’s better to build up stats first, but I saw some online players going for the equipment purchases first.
There’s also a more difficult control scheme in this year’s version called True Aim. The visual cues on the screen have been removed and you have to determine how the ball will land after a shot as well as the speed / height that it will travel. The swing is all controlled by the analog stick and makes the game much more about reading the course as well as practicing with finesse. There’s also a new element to consider during a game that limits the amount of player focus you have at your disposal. Player Focus can be used for things like spinning the ball in the air or getting a better idea of how to sink a putt. Making successful shots without using the focus tools builds your level of player focus back up, hence the balancing act.
There’s very little that’s new in online play beyond a team play mode that’s a co-op mode of sorts. You join up with enough players to fill out a Ryder Cup and battle it out in teams for Team Europe or Team USA. Similar to last year, I didn’t have any trouble with lag in online multiplayer; likely attributed to the pacing of the game itself.
Graphics
- I get the feeling that raising the level of detail in the character models, particularly the faces, isn’t much of a priority these days at EA Sports. They don’t look bad; there’s just little to no improvement over last year’s look. (I did try the digital camera support for putting my face in the game, lots of fun!)
- That being said, there’s been some improvements in the way clothing hangs of the players and moves in the direction of the blowing wind. The courses look slightly more detailed as well. I didn’t see any problems with player animations either. The game runs smoothly and load times are definitely better than the previous versions of Tiger that I’ve played.
- The only other graphical issue that I should mention is strange camera angles at times when approaching the green. It often took me a few minutes to line up my shot correctly when getting one of these wonky angles.
Audio
- I didn’t get the feeling that Scott Van Pelt and Kelly Tillman really brought range to the commentary, specifically during heightened tension of an emotional loss or enthusiastic joy over a tough, game-changing putt. They called the game just fine, but their one-liners grew tiresome after a few rounds of golf. It must be tough to record enough voiceovers for a type of sport where the predominant sound is actually the announcer over the on-field action.
- The sound effects, namely low-level crowd murmurs, clubs slicing through the wind and various weather effects, are certainly well done. But there was likely little to improvement upon from the previous year.
Conclusion
There isn’t a tremendous amount of new material to be found in this year’s version of Tiger. I dare say that if you have the previous year’s version, I would be hard pressed to recommend upgrading for the Ryder Cup alone. But if you haven’t upgraded in a couple years or this is your first entry into the series, this version will definitely give you your money’s worth with the Ryder Cup and much improved control mechanics. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 looks, sounds and plays extremely well on the Playstation 3 and is definitely worth your time if you have any interest in golf.
Discuss This Game on Our Official VGT Forum Thread