Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (PlayStation 3)

Manufacturer: Electronic Arts Inc. Part number: 15429

CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 5 reviews

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CNET editors' review

Reviewed by Aaron Thomas
Review date: 08/29/07
Release date: 08/28/07

The Tiger Woods series has long stood atop the charts as the best-selling golf franchise year in and year out. There's typically very little to distinguish one year's version from the next, but the games have always played well, and, judging by the sales numbers, people have been happy with the incremental upgrades. But even those expecting minimal improvements are likely to be disappointed with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08. There are some new features, but many of them don't work. Also, there are a fair amount of frustrating bugs (particularly in the Xbox 360 version) that give the game a rushed feel. Even the game's most noteworthy feature, the analog swing, doesn't work as well as in previous years.

Putting is now easier than ever.

TW 08's game modes are almost exactly the same as last year's. New to the PS3 and 360 is bingo, bango, bongo, a head-to-head mode where you are awarded "bingo" for being the first on the green, "bango" for being the closest to the pin when you reach the green, and "bongo" for having the best score. It's OK, but as the lone new play mode it's underwhelming. Online play is largely unchanged--even the lag issues and glitches are back for another go. Career mode hasn't seen a whole lot of change, but what is different is better. You can now choose how long you want standard and major tournaments to be, which is nice for anyone who doesn't want to go through four rounds on the same course for one tournament. Thanks to the addition of Westchester, TPC Boston, Cog Hill, and East Lake, all FedEx Cup courses are in the game. Throw in Harbour Town and there are now 16 courses--a healthy amount, but still far fewer than in the last-gen versions. There are 21 professional golfers in the game, eight of which are new: JB Holmes, Justin Rose, Camilo Villegas, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Paul Casey, Paula Creamer, and Natalie Gulbis. Of the amateur golfers, many, like Pops Masterson, are returning favorites, but there are also some new faces, such as soccer player Wayne Rooney, to play with and against.

Once again you start your career as either a rookie Tiger Woods or a created golfer with limited skills. You can improve your skills a little by performing well in events, but you'll want to take the skills challenges, which are largely unchanged, to improve them quickly. The idea is to simulate a golfer getting better by practicing and gaining experience, but it feels artificial thanks to the level caps, which are the same for each skill and go up only when you beat certain tasks in the Tiger challenge. Not only do all golfers end up playing the same (because you tend to level their skills up evenly), but the process is cumbersome--especially if you play the series every year. Because your golfer will stink to start off, you won't stand a chance at winning a tournament event. Making you play with such a lousy golfer feels like a contrived, last-ditch effort to make the game challenging. Speaking of artificial challenges, the CPU's tendency to go from making miracle shots to blowing absurdly short putts depending on how close the match is seems more pronounced than ever.

Because your golfer isn't much better than the average weekend hacker, you'll spend your time playing the Tiger Challenge until you've gotten the skills and the equipment to take on the tour. Rather than consisting only of 9- and 18-hole challenges against other golfers like last year, the challenges are typically shorter and more varied. There are long drive contests, par-3 challenges, and challenges from the rough and sand. It's certainly more interesting than before, but the sheer number of events means that the challenges still become tedious because there isn't all that much variety to them.

If you can get it to work, the game face can be pretty entertaining--even if the result doesn't always look much like the picture.

A few changes have been made to how the game plays on the course--some good and some not so good. The best addition is the return of the "3 button press" mechanic from early in the series. At any point in the round, you can push the right analog stick in and the meter comes up. You press one button to start the swing, press it again to set the power, and press it a third time to determine accuracy. This works well, which is a good thing considering what EA did to the analog swing. It's extremely sensitive, so the slightest push to the left or right will send your ball sailing into the rough, or, quite frequently, out of bounds. The sensitive stick is most problematic on the Xbox 360, but it's still an issue on the PS3, just to a lesser degree. This is an issue even when using a golfer like Tiger Woods, but it's a huge problem when starting out with a created golfer--they'll hit the ball everywhere and don't have the power to make up for mistakes.

Another change, this time for the better, is how you add a draw or fade to your shot. You just tap a button to instantly teleport to the landing zone (you can hold it down to slowly zoom), and then add a fade to the shot by pressing left bumper or L1 to move the target to the left, or add a draw by pressing right bumper or R1 to move the target to the right. This works great and really pays dividends when you're hitting off the back tees and are forced to make more creative shots. Putting has gone largely untouched, but now you can check your aim and power by pressing a button to zoom out above the green to see the path the ball will travel. You can't make any adjustments while using this view and you can use it only once per shot--but it still makes putting too easy. It's no problem at all to drain 50-foot putts; in fact, you'll do it so often you'll come to expect to make them nearly every time.

(Originally posted on CNET Reviews)

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 5 reviews

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4 stars

Not an Improvement from '07

by chuckamuck on September 5, 2007

Pros: Some nice graphics

Cons: Stuttering motion, bad swing controls, club music, etc.

Summary: The '07 version of Tiger Woods was so much fun that I was really looking forward to the improvements and new features that '08 would (hopefully) bring.
This is a
...

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Summary: The '07 version of Tiger Woods was so much fun that I was really looking forward to the improvements and new features that '08 would (hopefully) bring.
This is a major letdown. Gameplay feels less smooth; there is motion stutter; the swing control is now overly sensitive, making it much more difficult to hit a decent shot; the EA Trax music is way too clubby for a golf game; and the on-screen graphics have less style/class and are harder to read than last year's versions.
I'm sticking to the '07 version and like the other reviewer on here, I hope that they get it right in '09.

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2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 stars

Save your money

by ermaho2 on August 30, 2007

Pros: There are no pros

Cons: almost everything.

Summary: The graphics look terible, i.e. the grass looks like carpet, not grass. There's a muddy look to the whole thing. The sound is really poor....what happened to ...

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Summary: The graphics look terible, i.e. the grass looks like carpet, not grass. There's a muddy look to the whole thing. The sound is really poor....what happened to the great surround sound of the 07 version? Photo game face is a farce as is the 3 click swing. And those same cracks from the commentators??????????? They need new material. A MAJOR disppoinment........advice: Keep playing 07 (which is fun) and hope that 09 will be as much fun.
Updated
On top of the negative feelings about this edition, EA didn't even bother to make it 1080p, they kept it at 720p....maybe that's why it looks so lousy.

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2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
4 stars

Many frustrating bugs

by Howmanga on June 21, 2008

Pros: many good courses

Cons: bugs bugs and more bugs

Summary: EA is getting complacent with regards to the Tiger Woods franchise. I have played every Tiger Woods PGA Tour game for PS2/PS3. While the game has improved some in ...

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Summary: EA is getting complacent with regards to the Tiger Woods franchise. I have played every Tiger Woods PGA Tour game for PS2/PS3. While the game has improved some in playability (I like the putt preview), there are many really dumb bugs just are so frustrating. The game testers must have been playing something else. Let me see if I can recall all the ones I have found.
1) Game sometimes gets confused on whether a shot was made or not. The ball clearly does not go in the hole, but then the commentators will say how great that shot was, the score for the hole is shown, and then the console freezes forcing a power cycle to recover.
2) Was not awarded the trophy for completing the Tiger Challenge with all gold.
3) Never received Tracking Tiger trophy for beating Tiger's 28% winning percentage after going 2+ seasons without a single loss.
4) Suddenly went from 100% game completion to 20%. Lost all progress in third season. Lost all season mode trophies. Tiger Challenge went from 100% to 0% completion.
5) Game claims I shot a course record of 3 at Pinehurst No. 2.
6) When going from single controller play to two, player 1 must reload their profile over the one already loaded in order to play against the second player.
I may have missed a few others, but those are the biggest ones. Some poor game design issues exist as well. If you play really well in a tour event, the entire field will respond by improving their scores the next round to match yours even if the hole placement and playing conditions are more difficult. Oh yeah, that's realistic.
I would recommend buying this game if you can get it used, but be prepared to be annoyed by the poor AI and really dumb bugs.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 stars

Don't Do It! Play golf instead!

by elwood.mc on July 29, 2008

Pros: Graphics? But not much else

Cons: Way too much time & effort required, don't need work need fun

Summary: I think you can learn and play real golf faster than you can learn and compete at this game. IMHO there is way too much time and work involved and ...

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Summary: I think you can learn and play real golf faster than you can learn and compete at this game. IMHO there is way too much time and work involved and you still won't be competetive on the "Tour". Hello, it's a video game not real golf. Man, if shooter games were like this one you'd die during the opening credits every time.

Very poor design in some areas. Long putts are as easy as short putts? The area for good square contact should be larger if you are 6" from the cup as opposed to 60' but that is not the case.

I'm sorry I picked this game.

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8 stars

really good game that occasionally steps out of bounds

by cjlehnert on November 9, 2007

Pros: Great Graphics, cool courses, career mode

Cons: out-of-bounds on many holes is outrageous, player development

Summary: I am a golf fanatic. I would play everyday if I could afford it. This game is certainly not like playing real golf but the experience and the courses certainly ...

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Summary: I am a golf fanatic. I would play everyday if I could afford it. This game is certainly not like playing real golf but the experience and the courses certainly give you a feeling of being there. The graphics are fantastic. The game has some great game modes. I really like the Tiger Challenges as a welcome change of pace to playing in a tournament or practicing. I have two complaints about this game, one small and one big. The small complaint is the player development in career mode is poor. You develop unrealized/potential talent that as you play in tournaments and make decent shots. However, you don't benefit until you accomplish a feat like winning a tournament or beating a pro in the Tiger Challenges. At least this is how I think you do this, the instruction manual is not very descriptive on how to achieve this. All I know is, I won a Major Tournament and my potential went up from 32 to 100. So now my created golfer is unbelievably good. Knowing exactly how to upgrade your talent would be nice, but this is only a small complaint. By larger complaint is with the way the game designates course boundaries. Unfortunately the game will often times label you out of bounds even though you might be a yard or two off of the fairway in the rough. Or it labels you out of bounds if you drive into the trees in between two holes. Unless the course designates these areas as out of bounds the ball should be playable. I seriously doubt a course would label the area between two holes as out of bounds if there is no hazard there. This blunder costs you strokes, which can seriously hurt your score. I was playing St Andrews and drove the ball a foot into the "tall" rough, which is approx. a yard off of the fairway, and I was considered to be out of bounds. However there was no hazard there and the next hole was on the other side of the tall rough. Frustrating.

Other than these two cons this is a really good game. The playable courses are cool, although I wish Augusta were on there. I recommend this game to anyone who loves golf, it won't disappoint. (So long as you stay in bounds)

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