Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 (Wii) Review

But how well does it work? Well, like a lot of Wii games at the moment, Tiger Woods 08 manages to both fall flat on its face and sink a hole in one. The best bit of the game is without question the long game. Taking a massive swing down the fairway with Wii-mote in hand is hugely satisfying. Unlike in previous versions, the game is much kinder. You can swing like crazy and so long as you don’t skew your angles wildly the shot will stay straight and true and fly down the course. Whilst some purists might claim this takes the challenge out of golf on the Wii, those of you that enjoyed the golf game in Wii Sports will be delighted with the tweaks and changes to this version. Simplicity, accessibility and playability are the key words.

Sadly this isn’t always the case. Whilst the long driving game is all fine and dandy, the short game and putting is often atrocious. Puts that should go in roll up about 1cm short on a consistent basis and putts that should simply drop in the hole fly over without even catching the rim. Why? We can’t really think of a reason. Chipping and approach shots to the green are also worryingly tricky. Indeed, having to judge any shot that doesn’t require full power is, put simply, a right pain in the arse. There is no guide, no gauge and no way of telling just how far your shot will go. No matter how many times you try and hit an approach at 60% power, sometimes it will go 80% and others 40%. It really is a massive shame as it leads to a lot of unnecessary frustration in what is otherwise a hugely addictive and enjoyable game.

Elsewhere the problems and annoyances continue. Sometimes the game decides that your back-swing alone is a whole shot and takes a swing at the ball, normally sending it forward with about 50% power and wildly into the rough. Putting sometimes happens with you just about twitching your finger. The saving grace of ol’ Tiger is that when it works it works well and the satisfaction of hitting a perfect shot will have you purring like a pussycat who just got all the cream.

In essence this game is a matter of practice makes perfect. With time your putting will improve, you’ll manage to stop the ball from flying all over the ruddy green and you’ll get to grips with the nuances of the game. The frustrations and the annoyances will still remain, but the more you play the better you’ll get and the more skill you’ll be able to excerpt from the tee and on the green.

As is the case with a lot of EA Sports games, there is a lot to see and do in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, PGA Season mode and the somewhat ludicrously large Tiger Woods Challenge included. All in all there is a lot to keep you entertained, but for us this simply isn’t good enough. This game really does feel like a mash-up of the PS2 version and of TIger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Wii), which only came out a few months ago. There is no online play, no Mii implementation, no improved graphics and no funky Wii mini-games (as seen in EA’s very own FIFA 08). It all stinks of laziness to us and makes for a bit of a disappointing experience.

One of our favourite new additions is player confidence. If you happen to be a hit rubbish at a certain shot and do this on a regular basis, the game will pick up on it. In time, when you come to do that shot that you simply never pull off the Wii-mote will start a-shaking, your on-screen player will get increasingly nervous and that oh so nerve-jangling heartbeat thumping will kick in. Sweaty palm time, so make sure the Wii-mote is strapped in well. Chuck in some fun added extras in terms of multiplayer taunting (you can make fun noises whilst your opponent takes a shot, yay...) and you’ve essentially got 07 with bells on, and not that many bells at all, no sir.