We've had thirteen games in thirteen years. Eventually that kind of iteration is bound to catch up with a series. While last year's Tiger Woods was another solid entry, it was one that started to suffer from a little franchise fatigue and lack of new ideas. This year, EA Tiburon have definitely tried to re-inject some vigour into the series, but it naturally suffers from the same issues as last year. Then again this is no surprise, at its core it's still the same solid golf game.
Gameplay:
If, in the last five years, you've stepped out onto the course in Tiger Woods, nothing will majorly surprise you here. The showpiece, the direct analog controls, still feels terrific, even if all too familiar. You're still pulling back on the analog stick for your backswing and then flicking it forwards to send the ball flying through the air. Needless to say, the controls still feel spot-on as they always have. However, in an attempt to keep the formula from becoming stale, they've introduced Golfer Focus.
At the beginning of a round your focus meter is full. You'll then use up focus by, for example, putting a little more power behind your shot, using putt preview, putting spin on the ball after you've shot, etc… Admittedly, what you're doing isn't new but you're limited in how much you can abuse those aids, forcing players to get a better feel for the game. The whole thing is then cleverly balanced by forcing you micromanage your meter because the only way to get more focus is to not use focus for a stroke. It definitely feels more like shuffling the deck than printing a brand new pack of cards, but it's enough of a change to make this year's release feel unique enough.
Graphics:
Here, it's less hard to make allowances to minor tweaking and iteration. Let's be honest, the visuals here haven't had an overhaul in a long time and it shows. We've come up with better ways to do grass, rain, animation, water, trees, backgrounds, the crowd – actually nearly everything in Tiger Woods 11 could have been done so much better. But, this is all down to the limitations of the same engine we've had for years. You get the feeling that they've pushed what they've built on, as far as they could. Not that an outdated engine should excuse outdated visuals.
Sound:
Commentary is a key aspect of televised golf, but the slow nature of the sport means actual commentary is very off-the-cuff and dynamic. They'll often go off on tangents and eventually stop talking about golf altogether. It's why we love it. There are some real personalities behind those voices. Here however, not so much. They'll repeat themselves early and irritate soon after that. Then again commentary is always a tricky thing to get right in games.
Otherwise the sound design is acceptable. From the swoosh of the club, the sound of iron hitting ball and the agonising thud of the bunker - it's all pretty spot-on. Then again, it has always been pretty spot-on.
Longevity:
The problem with Tiger Woods' games, and it's always been the problem – they're ridiculously addictive and you get the feeling that EA Tiburon has known that for a while. They must be approaching the point where they've put every single idea they've ever had into the game. Tons of courses to master, a plethora of championships to win and stats to level up – there is no shortage of content. Even if you did somehow burn through what's on the disc, DLC courses are already available.
Newcomers to the franchise will have even more to do, if only because how complex the game has become. The layering and layering of new gameplay features has created a very daunting game for those new. Luckily, the game opens up with an optional tutorial that talks through the new additions and goes back over the basics. Despite being a dedicated Tiger player for the last handful of releases, I found this ‘refresher course’ quite helpful although, it probably left me feeling to big for my boots.
As soon as I created my custom golfer I was back to feeling lost. That is until you get over the hump after grinding out your stats for the first 10 or so tournaments. Once you get past that unforgiving grind, you'll only get caught out on the occasionally tricky green. The lack of a retry hole option meant that once you've hit that irritating hole, you'll have to just rush through the rest of the 18 to cash in on the XP you've earnt so far. It meant that a lot of the time I was just passively playing out of the rest of the course to get to the next event where I could challenge at the top – that is until I hit another tricky hole. However, the game has always rewarded persistence and eventually it becomes incredibly rewarding, even if it feels artificially so.
Those who are particularly sadistic, and happen to be really good at the game, can take off the training wheels with the True Aim feature. Here you have to know the game inside out. You can't use the aids nor can you preview the distance of your selected club. It's ruthless, but incredibly challenging to those who are up for the higher difficulty.
The online half of the game is also worth checking out as long as you've got friends willing to put the hours in. Ultimately though you are only looking at your name on a leaderboard after each hole. That's not particularly a bad thing, that's how tournament golf is played. However, it does mean that a group of friends who you can chat to and naturally be more competitive with is almost a requirement.
If head-to-head multiplayer isn't your thing then the plethora of GamerNet metagames make a welcome return. Even when you're playing offline you can take that excellent chip from outside the green, upload it and challenge other players to recreate it. You could really spend hours just watching other people's audacious clips and trying to better them. Then again, all these modes are so fully fleshed out, offline or online, you could spend hours in any one of them.
Overall:
This is the 13th entry in the Tiger Woods franchise and it isn't the worst by any stretch of the imagination. But, while some of the ideas brought to the table freshen up the formula a little bit, it still feels like another revolution rather than reinventing the wheel. That will probably come next year when the inventible Kinetic support is added. For now though, Tiger Woods 11 is just another entry in a slightly fatigued series. Granted there is a lot to do, and probably not enough hours to do it all in. However, there are only so many years where you can play a slightly better version of a predecessor.
| Review By: Sam Morris - Overall Rating (out of 10) |
| Gameplay: |
7.5 |
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| Graphics: |
5 |
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| Sound: |
7 |
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| Longevity: |
9 |
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| Overall: |
7 |
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