Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Review

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is the latest iteration on the franchise from EA Sports. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 was the first to appear on Wii and took advantage of the motion controls for the first time. The one thing since the start that many people would talk about was the motion control aspect of the game and how it wasn't quite 1 to 1 motion and didn't feel like you were playing golf. That aspect has been refined each year and more and more you began to feel like what you did translated to an actual real result on screen. This years version of the game comes shipped with the new Motion Plus peripheral, which gives you more precise motion and better control over your on screen actions. As a result for the first time you really feel like what you are doing is making an impact in the game. If you naturally rotate your hands to the left your shot will have a bit of hook to it. If you tilt to the right you are going to slice the ball. This can also be used to take advantage of shots where that type of movement on the ball is required. The more you twist your hands one direction the more the ball will hook or slice in that direction. It makes for the most accurate golf simulation to date for a home console.

Visually the game looks stunning. Each of the game's 27 courses, seven of them new to the series, are rendered in amazing detail. The water effects on lakes and oceans is quite breathtaking. The level of detail each year continues to go up and become more amazing to behold each time. The differences in the courses areas of fairway, rough and water appear much as you would expect them if you were actually visiting the courses in reality. On the other hand the golfers themselves still suffer a bit from the lack power on Nintendo's system. While each golfer is easily identifiable and there is a large amount of customization available they still appear jagged and rough. Hair on each of the golfer's, especially the female's, is quite stiff and doesn't look natural. It's the one area where the graphical capabilities of the Wii really show their age. It's easy to look past those flaws though because you are focused more on the courses and what actions you are taking and not looking at the golfer's themselves.

In terms of audio quality, the ambient sounds and noises that you would expect are all there. Wildlife sounds are present in every course with bird's chirping, waves crashing and even some rustling of the vegetation was noticed during play. If you are looking for a laid back, relaxing atmosphere there aren't many better places to look than a golf simulator. You can also add to the feel and get the sensation of participating in tournaments by turning the crowd on and getting the noise you would expect to hear during a golf tournament on TV. The announcer's in the game seem to have gotten a bit of an upgrade from previous years and don't get as annoying as they have in the past. Also, it was noticed that they were not as insulting as they've appeared to be in the past, which is a plus, especially if you have younger kids who enjoy playing.


Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 featured a much improved online system this year. It's still built off the EA Nation system which is integrated over all the Electronic Arts games. The systems are all very similar and if you've played on EA game online then you know exactly what to expect. You have a friends list that you can use to invite friends to play a round of golf with you and if you randomly play someone online you then have the option to add them to your friends list afterwards. The same messaging system is in place as well. New for the game this year is the inclusion of tournaments. You can now participate against people worldwide in daily tournaments, weekly tournaments and even against the pros. All you have to do is log onto to the live tournaments section of the online system and click on the current tournament. It will tell you the course and settings that in place for that tournament and you play a round of golf and submit the score to the server. It's all very seamless and can be quite addicting. Playing against the pros is an interesting experience. If there is an event live that week that is located at one of the courses on the game, the pro players scores from the actual tournament are uploaded and you can compete against the pros to see how you stack up. Random matches against up to four players are almost as quick as single player events; all the participants play simultaneously.

Another new feature that is a welcome feature is the dynamic weather system. You have the option of using actual weather conditions at the courses with information from the Wii's Weather Channel. So if it's raining at St. Andrews today when you load the game and play a round of golf at St. Andrews it will be raining in the game as well. It's just one more feature that brings a small bit of reality to the game and immerses you that much more into the experience. You also have the ability to purchase additional clothing not available through regular play at the online clubhouse. Also new to the game for the first time in the franchise is the ability to play at Bethpage Black, the U.S. Open, the USGA Championship and the USGA's Rules of Golf which you can view between holes to learn the smaller details of golf you might not have known.

All the mini games from previous events are included and are much like they've been in the past. Get up to four people together in your living room and have a golf party. You can compete in challenges such as target practice, playing a round with rings suspended in the air, a game of T-I-G-E-R and more. They're a fun little diversion if you aren't in the mood for a full round of golf. Also included this year is a new disc golf game. Like the name implies, you play a round of golf with discs rather than the usual club and ball. The Motion Plus peripheral adds amazing depth and feel to the movements and it's as simple as throwing a frisbee. You have three discs to choose from for your shot; long range, approach, and a putter. You can play a round of disc golf on any of the available courses, but you will be playing from a shorter distance than you would normally. All in all this feels more like a proof of concept to see how well a frisbee golf game would work and how well players react to it. It's a quality version of the game and you may find yourself more attracted to this than the actual golf game itself.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is by far the best experience in the franchise and the Wii version stands head and shoulders above the rest for the immersion factor alone. Fans of golf should not pass up the experience. The new courses, better motion control, online experience and simple fun of the game of golf shouldn't be passed up. If you have friends or family who are intimidated by the game, the All-Play feature from last year is still available, but they may find they really like the disc golf game and it would be a simple introduction to the game and you can ease them into the full experience from there.

Final Score: 5/5