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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2012 is a solid golf game with great graphics and nice customizable features. Playing the Master's tournament is fun, and experiencing the new courses, sights and sounds make this is an enjoyable experience. However, EA's greed and complete lack of respect for the people who buy their products is finally starting to take its dreary toll.
As I mentioned before, the graphics and sound in this new installment are the best yet in the series. Everything from the birds chirping, to the wind blowing, to spectators chattering, this game demands to be played whilst wearing headphones. The commentary is one of the freshest changes this year with Jim Nance calling the swing by swing. Whether he's commentating golf, football, or basketball, I've always respected the guy for having a sense of humor, and a fresh and enthusiastic voice on the sports he's involved in.
The new courses are pretty cool as well. You can go to ancient Greece, Africa (complete with lions and tigers roaring in the background), and a few other exotic locales that serve up some nice challenges.
I enjoyed how "Tiger's Moments" and "Master's Moments" are integrated into your career as a player. In the past those things felt more like a side chore that had nothing to do with your skill level or advancement in career mode, but now you must complete these things to make you a better pro.
Using skill points to buy things from the shop remains unchanged, and your golfer will advance nicely into the Master's, provided you make some additional purchases (more on that below).
These positive things are just enough to keep the average golf gamer happy and challenged for a long while. Having said that, nothing much has really changed from last year, apart from a few peripheral ideas that fall flat on their face.
Undeniably, the worst addition of this year's Tiger game is the caddy feature. It offers absolutely nothing to the experience other than having to remove him from the screen each and every single time you get ready to hit the ball. You can disable the caddy from speaking, but that still doesn't mean he disappears from the screen. Every play, he'll be there, waiting for you to sweep by him so you can actually line up your shot. The voice of the caddy is unbelievably annoying, as well. Those of you who have played the Mass Effect games will recognize this voice as that of Kaiden, who more or less sounds like a mentally deficient surfer dude. Even if the caddy was offering sound advice which he doesn't always do you'd turn him off just because of his grating voice. Your caddy gains more experience as you progress in the game, and so his pointers are supposed to get better and more accurate, but the fact is, you just don't need him. After a few rounds of experimentation on the golf course, you'll know what to do without him blathering away in the background.
Those of you who plan to play this on the PS3 and use the Move feature will be disappointed as well. The swinging system is just broken with the Move, and after a few frustrating games of watching my swings be completely off with my movements, I gave it up and played the old fashioned way. Something happens when you pull back to hit the ball where the Move controller just never gets it right. The swinging is almost never accurate, and it ultimately feels clunky and awkward.
The biggest slap in the face when it comes to this game, though, is the requirement to purchase additional golf courses in order to get the full Master's experience. As you go on in your career, you will notice courses you must master in order to finally wear the illustrious green jacket. You can skip by certain courses, but your skill levels will take a hit, and you'll have to move ahead onto something else because a course isn't available. Of course, it's available for a small price that EA has arbitrarily set. Some courses cost three dollars, others seven. That's right: SEVEN DOLLARS. Why the price discrepancy? Are some better than others? Sure, you can buy the "Eagle Pack" for 35 dollars which includes the rest of the available courses (this is if you bought the PS3 collector's edition which charges an additional 10 dollars for five extra courses, giving the illusion that you're getting some kind of deal). Otherwise, if you want to get the truly full experience of the Master's, well, you're going to have to cough up a little extra dough for the privilege of playing a game made by EA.
EA really needs to be careful with how they nickel and dime consumers in the coming years. Are you telling me that advertising a Master's game but not giving you the full experience for 60 bucks (70 bucks if you bought the Collector's Edition) is good enough? Does it mention that these additional courses are not available on the game disc itself? Nope. Punishing consumers for buying your product only to find out they didn't quite get the complete version is unacceptable. You can't justify it. Keep in mind that EA is also punishing people who buy used games by charging them an additional fee to have the privilege of using their servers. EA is becoming insanely greedy, and consumers will slowly begin to take notice more and more as the months wane. This needs to be said! I understand that EA is a business, and businesses need to make money, but not making this clear on the game case is a misrepresentation of the product.
Tiger Woods 2012 is a solid game, but you have to factor in ethics and fairness in this case. You can't make DLC a requirement to enjoy the full experience of the Master's. No matter how fun a video game is, there comes a time when consumers must speak with their wallets, and I, for one, will not be buying another Tiger Woods game until this glaring greed is erased for good.
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Most reviewers will cover the presentation, gameplay, Augusta, etc. Yes indeed, this game is fantastic at every turn. From what I've played so far, I'm thoroughly impressed. Do not expect to pick up this game and start straight draining putts like you did in the EA Sports golf games of the past. It's a (more) realistic challenge.
What I wanted to mention to those PS3 owners debating between the standard and collector's edition version is this : the downloadable courses cost between $4 and $7. For an additional $10, you get 5 extra courses with the collector's edition. In my opinion, it's a no-brainer.
The downloadable courses will host events in the "Road to the Masters" segment of the game. If you're going to be playing this storyline (using your created golfer, this is the main gameplay mode this year), you'll be better off getting the courses on-disc rather than shelling out more $$ later.
May I just add that this is the most enjoyable TWoods game since it was created way back when. Yes, I'm old enough to have had the first TWoods games ... the addition of Augusta National is worth the price of admission ten times over, and add all 4 major championships, the Presidents Cup ... this game has reclaimed the excitement of golf on video game consoles.
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I bought a PS3 with the move controller in January, and have been playing Sports Champions pretty regularly on it (frisbee golf, ping pong, etc) and have been having a blast. I decided to buy TW12 because I love golfing and thought move would work pretty well with a golf game.
It does it's a really great experience to nail incredible shots in your living room you could never pull off in real life. Below are a couple of my observations:
1. The controller is not as long as a real golf grip, so as a right handed golfer I grip the controller and pull the trigger with my left hand and the right one hangs off loosely. For shots up to 80% power, I can swing with both hands like a real shot. To get 100% power on drives and long fairway shots, I take my right hand off at the top of my backswing and let it rip with my left arm only. Caution stretch out before playing, I strained my shoulder the first couple times I played and was worried I was actually going to injure myself.
2. It is much easier to get 100% power on your swing with shorter irons, so be careful if you swing with what would be 60% power on your drive with a wedge, it will be 100% and you will go over the green. Each club has its own 100% power calibration, and the more you play with it the better you will be able to swing for that individual club.
3. Putting was really frustrating until I realized I could stop at the top of my backswing for as long as I wanted, which is really different from real golf. This lets you fine tune the power exactly where you want it (in the disappearing yellow zone) before completing the swing. If you try to take a smooth pendulum type putt swing like real life, it is incredibly difficult to hit the right power. I don't see any other way than to stall at the top until you get it just how you want it and then complete the swing.
4. One of the most challenging aspects of the game, just like in real life, is chipping around the green. It is usually with power somewhere around 40 70%, which is very hard to calculate and execute. It feels great when you get it just right.
5. The move controller is incredibly perceptive of the smallest movements. Slightly turning your wrist as you address the ball will change the clubhead angle in very tiny increments (I don't really know how much this affects the overall shot, but I have fun trying to dial it in perfectly). Also, it records my swing plane, confirming my real-life inside-out swing, and also shows me the angle of the clubhead at impact (so I can see the difference from where it was when I addressed the ball).
6. So far I have just made it to Q school to get my PGA tour card. The game will probably get harder then, with less computer assistance and "smoothing out" of my swing problems. As it stands, I haven't yet hit a horrible hook or slice off the tee, which makes me wonder just how much the computer is compensating me. I'll continue to experiment.
This game is tons of fun. With a little "suspension of disbelief" you can really imagine yourself on the course the topography is really there, looks great, and the ball rolls on it very realistically. Enjoy!
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I am enjoying this game. So far I have played as an amateur, but I will probably crank up the difficulty. At the current setting, I would have to make an effort to cause a drive to go into the rough. The graphics are fine, and the music and commentary are decent (although after only a few hours of play the remarks of the announcers is already repeating a bit too much).
WARNING: Even with the special edition, if one wants to play all of the events in a season, you will have to purchase the "Eagle" set of downloadable courses (the special edition already provides the "Birdie" set). This ran me just shy of $40 after tax. I haven't purchases a Tiger Woods in some time so I am not aware whether one can transfer courses from prior TW games. Anyway, I as not happy that I had to plunk down the additional money.
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My main intentions for writing this review are to counter some of the negative reviews that I don't think this game deserves. Overall, I think Tiger Woods 12 is a really good game. I also have had this game for about a month and half, so I've played it more than enough to give a full review. I don't like to write a review after only a day or two of playing the game.
My review will concern mainly the offline season mode "Road to the Masters". I will add that the last tiger woods game I bought was 2009, but I have played just about every year of Tiger Woods over the past 7 or 8 years. I don't really see a need to buy the game every year, or really buy any sports game every year. First, I did buy the collector's edition because it was worth the extra money for five extra courses. Right after I received the game I also bought the eagle pack which gave me I think 15 more courses. Like I said, I don't buy this game every year so for about $95 I have a lot of courses to play. I know many complain about all the extra costs, but I like the option of having more courses and I know it isn't cheap to use and get the rights to utilize these courses in the game.
So the pros: The graphics are better than any other Tiger Woods game I have played. I know many have mentioned they aren't, but I notice a pretty big difference especially on Augusta. The addition of Augusta was definitely a big factor in me purchasing this game. August plays pretty accurate as I have been to the course. It looks exactly the same and plays similar to what the pros have to deal with. Overall, I really enjoy the way the game plays especially on tournament conditions and playing on tour pro, which I normally play on. I enjoyed trying to make the tour in career mode, although it really didn't take me long. I won the first tournament, qualified for the nationwide tour and then won two nationwide tournaments to make the pro tour. I also like the caddie system in most cases and it is easy to ignore or custom your own shot. Also, the caddie will help you figure stuff out like the wind. Usually what they select is pretty close so you can still customize your shot by taking some of the caddie's knowledge. The chipping and pitching part with the caddie are almost never used though. It constantly tries to make you hit a shot around 46% or something. So you will always either add loft or choke up to get the shot so you can swing around 100%. If they improve the caddie a little more, I actually think it is a nice touch. There are also many different settings you can set so that is a big plus in the game. The focus feature is alright, but I could live without it. Should also be an option to just take off. You can always play without using it. The commentary is pretty good but just like all commentary in games it gets old. I don't really buy games based on commentary so this isn't a negative for me.
Cons: My first issue is with some of the pin placements. Some are on slopes where even if you land inches away your ball will wind up 20-30 feet away. I have played some of the courses in the game and I can tell you that these greens in real life don't have some of these 45+ degree slopes. Also, no greenskeeper would ever put the pins on a slope like that. It starts to ruin the game when your having a decent round and in a fight for the lead and you come to this type of pin and will make a 6 or 7. If I hit a really good shot into the green and am going to make double or more I usually save and restart the hole so I make a par or bogey. Its quite annoying and disrupts the overall flow of playing a tournament. If just for fun the developers want to make insane hole locations then they can, but shouldn't put into the tournament mode. If you play four rounds of a tournament also, the pin selections go easy (1st round), medium (2nd round), hard (third round), and then expert (4th round). In a real tournament this is somewhat true, but usually you have a mix of easier and more difficult pins in a round.
Also, still no playoff. You tie for the lead and you win, but no playoff. It would be nice even if they just told you the other player made a 4 or something on the first playoff hole. I would like to see the option of in last round or playoff you just see a blue tracer or something so at least you can see where your guy landed. I know they can't have every player actually in the game, but I think having a tracer or just a ball displayed for your opponent would add to the excitement.
This is what I would really like to see added to the game. An overswing. It is way too easy to hit it 98-100% everytime and you pretty much always adjust your shots to do so. I would like to see them make you stop your swing at the correct position at the top. If you go past it would affect your accuracy even more in negative way. This would also give you the chance to hit a drive further, but with less overall accuracy. This could be an option for the higher levels. Even on tour pro mode I just hit too many shots straight. My fairway % and greens in regulation % is higher than what is realistc. This would help make the game more difficult on tour pro without having to play on tournament pro. Putting also gets too easy once your guys putting attributes get higher. Putting is difficult when you first start cause your guy's attributes aren't great, so reading and hitting a putt where you want to is difficult. I would like to see some improvement in putting so that it makes it more difficult to hit a 20 footer with little or no break. Once your good, you don't miss many putts unless they have a lot of break. Also, maybe a career mode where you can pick one if you don't have the extra courses and another one if you do. I bought the extra courses but only one or two of these extra courses only come up in my career. I would like to play Pinehurst, Hazeltine, Oakmont, etc. in my career quite a bit. I also don't need to play fantasy courses in my career mode. They are fine if you want to play for fun, but not realistic for career mode. Fix the few glitches. The one I have right now is saying I've only played 20 tournmanets and Tiger Woods has played 35. Well, I've actually played more than 20 but it keeps me at #3 world rankings, and I can't pass him even when I win all the time. Lastly, the computer's scores. I like that you can adjust it, but I want realistic scoring. On normal the computer usually finishes 4 rounds around 8 to 12 under no matter what course or what conditions. On easier courses they should be around 12-15 under and on more difficult ones around 5-10 under. It just seems like 4 under is the best they will do in a round, unless you move the setting up then they will be 8 under every round and 30 under for all four rounds will win the tournament. Just appears to be too much of a gap and not enough realistic play based on the course, conditions, etc.
Overall, I really enjoy this game and I feel I have gotten my money's worth out of it. The graphics are good the gameplay is fun for the most part, and I like all the courses you can get even if not implemented that well. I probably won't be buying next years or the year after unless the game is incredible.
