If you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best. Or in this case, you have to compete against the only golf video game on the market.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
Platform: Playstation 2, Gamecube, PC, Gameboy Advance, Xbox
Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Publisher: EA Sports
In EA Sports' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, players can compete on some of the best golf courses across the globe. From the TPC of Scottsdale to Pebble Beach, players will get the most realistic simulation of what it is like to play as Tiger Woods, as well as a variety of other famed PGA tour professionals such as John Daly, Justin Leonard, and Jesper Parnevik to name a few.
The game includes many of the popular signature extras that EA Sports has grown on in recent years. The festive game soundtrack features tracks from artists such as DMX, Automatic Black, and Stagga Lee, setting the game up has become more entertaining for players. And if you are an avid user of EA games such as NBA Live, MVP Baseball or John Madden NFL Football, then you could create what is called an EA Bio, which earns points and unlocks hidden prizes in each game.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is loaded with new features that will keep players busy prior to beginning their own personal career. EA is most proud of their groundbreaking EA GAME FACE. The new program lets players create their own face and body to compete with, and they have hundreds of options to work with. Players can customize facial hair, eye shape, tattoos and character celebrations to name a few.
After all of the hoopla leading up to the game, you finally hit the links for a round of golf.
The game is very similar to past Tiger Woods games. You can control spin and direction of the ball after the swing, and the courses are all greatly detailed. The technical team at EA did a great job in capturing the likeness of each PGA pro, their swing and mannerisms.
The game becomes extremely frustrating once you get the ball on the green, however. In the game, you have your caddy with you to give advise on green speed and distance to the hole. If I've learned one thing from countless late-night reruns of Happy Gilmore, it is that you can never rely on your caddy.
Unless you lay the ball up within ten feet of the hole, you can almost guarantee yourself a two-or-three put situation. The caddy is intended to assist in measuring where to aim on the green and approximately how hard you should putt the ball. Let this be a warning to all: The caddy is seldom correct, and there is no way to accurately measure what a foot or inch is.
It is very easy to fall out of contention in a tournament, which brings a realization that no matter how much the folks at EA try to make their golf franchise the next NCAA Football, it is a golf game. I only wish that in the GAME FACE that they would have included a character celebration for snapping your clubs and throwing them into the forest.
In all, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is the best golf game on the market - and is one of the only available. Online play makes the game a little more competitive, as there are online tournaments everywhere. For as realistic that the game is, it is equally entertaining and frustrating; but that's golf.
If you enjoy the game of golf, whether you are a 7 handicap or more like myself (give or take 27), you will be able to appreciate the 2004 version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour.
My final grade?
A very solid B for realism and entertainment options.
Reach the reporter at damien.tippett@asu.edu.
