Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 (Xbox)

Whatever professional problems Tiger Woods had over the past handful of years have seemingly dissipated, and with them goes any doubt that Woods is once again the premier golfer on the planet. Part of the "problem" with Tiger's game during his difficult times, according to the pundits, had been attributed to his new swing which, they said, fundamentally changed his approach and thus damaged his game. Interestingly, the very golf game to which Tiger lends his name has seen a similar change in its swing system as well. Yet unlike the real Tiger, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 doesn't seem to be reaping the full benefits of this switch just yet.

Another year, another golf game from EA Sports. This time though, Tiger has some control tweaks you need to know about.

To be sure, the biggest news in Tiger 06 is the control changes, which, when you first hear about them, sound like a fairly substantial shake-up of the golf mechanics we've become acclimated to over multiple iterations. First and foremost there is the inclusion of the right analog stick, known in EA speak as the "shape stick." Players can use the shape stick to influence the flight and spin of the ball in a number of ways, including adding topspin or backspin, drawing or fading the ball, or various combinations in between. The shape stick manifests itself onscreen as a handy golf ball icon in the lower right-hand screen and a small cursor that you aim with the right analog stick. It's very intuitive: place the icon to the right side of the ball and the ball will fade right; place it to the left side of the ball, and you'll draw the ball. How far you push the icon to either side will determine the amount of influence you put on the ball. The gamebreaker also makes its way into Tiger 06. Though, unlike in games like NFL Street, use of a gamebreaker doesn't result in a guaranteed eagle from 200 yards out. It simply enhances your shot, adding distance to a drive or accuracy to a long putt. You can also use the gamebreaker against an opponent and drain his or her gamebreaker meter once your meter is full.

Another area of tinkering by the Tiger 06 developers has been with the putting controls. First, the greens look different this time around, thanks to some dynamic color-coded "beads" that travel along the green grid lines, accurately illustrating green breaks and slope. Second, putting power is now dictated by putting "zones," for lack of a better term, indicated by a blue arrow icon on the putting green. This icon indicates exactly how far the ball would travel if the putting surface were perfectly level. Obviously, few green surfaces are that accommodating, so it's up to you to judge whether to set that "zone" icon short of the hole (for downhill puts) or long (when you're putting uphill). You can use the shape stick for putting for more or less spin, but for the most part, judging the correct "zone" is more important than ball spin in the short game. In fact, it doesn't take you long to figure out that judging distance is the only requirement to sinking putts in Tiger 06 (more on that in a bit).

The caddy system of last year's game, which provided you with fairly explicit instructions on exactly where to place your putt, is gone and replaced with something called the ideal putt camera. Press a button and you activate the camera, which shows you the ideal path to take for your putt. Things aren't spelled out to you as explicitly as they were with the caddy, but it's still a big crutch to lean on for tough putts. Finally, last year's Tiger vision cone, the use of which essentially resulted in a guaranteed successful putt, has been (thankfully) removed.

There's no denying that these new controls do exactly as advertised. Putting a heavy fade with topspin on a tee shot is simply a matter of placing the icon at the correct point on the ball and letting loose with the lumber. However, because the same shot power and spin boost controls that were found in last year's game return in Tiger 06, you'll find very little, if any, need to use the shape stick. Just like last year, you can still find a lot of success in the courses in Tiger 06, even if you choose to ignore the shape stick altogether. To be fair, when playing with "tour" difficulty enabled, the boost buttons are out completely, so the only way you'll be putting spin on the ball is with the shape stick.

This problem is most evident in the putting game. One-putts aren't just common in Tiger 06; they're an epidemic, despite--or perhaps, because of--the new putting system. The ideal putt camera isn't really an improvement to the old caddy system once you learn its trick. At the risk of spoiling things, here it is: consider a short putt with a slight left-handed break as an example. When going through the ideal putt "flyover," you simply pick out a background object--a bush, a tree limb, a rock--which is on target with the line suggested by the camera. Once you're back to the normal putting view, you simply find that background object, aim your putt accordingly, and swing away. As mentioned earlier, if you can judge the distance of your putt correctly, the angle should be a piece of cake using this method. Even with the camera disabled, however, long putts simply don't seem to be as much of a challenge as you might expect.

The putting game looks a lot different this year, but it's still too easy for its own good.

It's easy to see the well-meaning intent behind the new controls in Tiger 06. The team wanted to add some challenge to the game, which, for all its successes, had been rightly criticized over the years for being too easy. Unfortunately, despite the tweaks, we're left with a game that seems to possess practically the exact same amount of challenge as last year's game. And while things like reactive Tiger Proofing (which alters a course's characteristics to become more or less challenging from hole to hole as you progress through a round) is a nice touch, golf's universal theme--the ongoing battle between the player and the infinite obstacles of a golf course--seems to be a bit lost, and it ends up playing second fiddle to the battle between your created golfer and other competent competition.

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