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Time to test drive the ever-charming Tiger Woods’ latest title. Undoubtedly the king of golf to the mainstream audience, Tiger Woods has helped golf’s image broaden a bit from the typical, retired, white man game it was previously known as. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, the game, has a similar broad scope as the game is much more arcade oriented than you would expect.
The main mode in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, as with other games in the series is the PGA tour mode, in which you go through the PGA tour in hopes of winning. More interesting is the legend tour where you’ll compete against a number of rather amusing and comical characters before being offered to chance to be able to play against golf legends like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, among others. The addition of the legends will surely be pleasing to fans of the genre but seem just a tad bit out of the place in the aiming-for-mainstream game. There is also a legend scenario mode where you’re given a variety of challenges for cash and medals, which can also be won the legend tour.
You’ll use these coins to Tiger Proof a course, which is basically editing it just a bit, i.e. changing the size of the green, but you are never given complete control over the course. The game includes fourteen total courses, some of which are based on actual locales while others were designed by the developers.
The golf gameplay in the game is surprisingly easy to get to, a feature that is surely appreciated by newcomers to the series. More serious fans will be able to unlock harder difficulties which adds wrinkles to the gameplay to make it a tad more difficult but if you’ve mastered Tiger Woods 2004, chances are that you’ll be able to do the same here even in the most difficult modes. A large portion of the reason why is the inclusion of Tiger vision, which shows you exactly how to get the shot. The feature can only be used sparingly, though.
One of the more popular features in last year’s game was the create-a-character system which included a wide variety of variables to create truly unique characters. This system returns this year in Game Face II and gives you even more control over the characters. Additionally, the game includes a swing editor to have even more control over the character’s appearance and personality.
Both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game include online gameplay. You are able to play against another player or participate in tournaments. The usual set of features – scoreboards, friends list, voice chat (requires broadband for PS2) – are supported. We didn’t experience problems in the online gameplay in either version. The Gamecube doesn’t include online support but does include four-player multiplayer, which is also found in the PS2 and Xbox versions.
The game’s visuals are satisfactory, nothing too great. The courses are all rather detailed for the most part, although some of the foliage is a bit on the simple side. The character models are realistically, and animate in a lifelike manner. The game tries to add a bit of flash to the game of golf with broadcast-style camera changes and it works rather well. None of the console versions support progressive scan but the Xbox version is sharpest. The Gamecube version follows, although the textures are a touch more vague. In order to accomplish this however, EA Sports needed to split the game into two discs and switching between them in undefined points is a bit annoying. The PS2 version has textures about equal to the Gamecube version but suffers from a bit of aliasing.
The game’s soundtrack is fitting to golf and relaxes you while you prepare for the next shot. The sound effects are rather vivid, though, and some seem out of place, but overall it isn’t anything major. The commentary in the game is provided by David Feherty and Gary McCord, who keep up well although some of their jokes fall flat. The Xbox version supports the typical Dolby Digital, while both the Gamecube and PlayStation 2 versions follow up with the expected Dolby Pro Logic II.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 is a great game of golf with enough depth to please simulation fans while making things accessible to newcomers to the series. The game’s Game Face II feature is quite fun and will take up a few hours of players’ time on its own. -- Jake Wilson, PGNx Media
---- Nov 3, 2004
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