Masters: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
DEVELOPER: EA Sports
FORMAT: XBOX 360
RATING: HHHII
After the lurid tabloid kiss-and-tell comes another way to make Tiger Woods lick his wounds. Fortunately (depending on your tastes), you get to keep your clothes on when you tangle with Tiger in Masters: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, but then again, this isn’t the type of game that will get you hot and sweaty.
That is so because golf is, well, golf. Undoubtedly, it is a game of skill and nerve. You will get a dramatic introduction to these facets of the sport when the pressure is on and your hopes as a professional rest on the velvety touch you need to apply to your putter. Because these moments are so few and far between, you can literally feel your avatar’s tension as he makes his shot. There’s that dull ping and the gentle slope and curve of the ball as it homes in on its target. Silently, you’re praying for that comforting rattle as the ball kisses the bottom of the cup. Will it sink? Moments like these make sport TV’s most riveting spectacle.
In between, however, is where the fans are separated from the casual gamer. After the initial novelty factor wears off, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 just feels like one long slog. There’s no pace to the game and even though you are up against some of the biggest names in golf, it’s not as if you’re rubbing shoulders with them. They are simply names on a scoreboard – playing badly too, if your difficulty setting is on easy.
But if your sporting cathedral is called Augusta National, or St Andrews, then Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 is going to be pure heaven. There are more courses than you can shake a stick at, all meticulously tailored to match the manicured beauty of their real-life counterparts. It is like winning a PGA Tour card without ever leaving your couch.
And Tiger Woods? Well, maybe Tiger’s hiding out in the woods, waiting to pounce. Bar the groupie vibe of the introductory video – a saccharin, cloying paean to the golfing phenom’s greatest feats – you don’t get to see much of the man who so recently was the master of the majors.
Ultimately, this game is about you, your battle with the various courses and yourself. You are the architect of everything you become in this game.
Go get ’em, Tiger. - Tonight