Tiger Woods 10 Review

Electronic Arts is back with this year's installment of the Tiger Woods Series with PGA Tour 10. Since this series is really the only true golf simulation game out on the market and the fact that there is one every year it needs to be reviewed in a different way than most games. Because there is no competition we don't even know what a better golf game would look like. You're really either a fan of the series or not, so all you can ask for is that they improve the game from last years. Well did they?

The core gameplay of Tiger Woods 10 is basically the same as previous years. You'll spend most of your time creating your player and going through various seasons trying to win tournaments and maxing out your stats. You can also use Gameface with your USB camera or Playstation Eye to create a more exact version of yourself, which is a very fun tool. After each round you get the option of doing some practices that your coach Hank Haney thinks you should work on. This will give you an extra boost for your next round. There is also an incredibly large pro shop full of licensed merchandise that gives you stat boosts as well.

Another aspect of your career is tournament challenges. You relive various famous performances from some of the world's most famous golfers on different golf courses including the newly added Bethpage Black, the course the U.S. Open was played on this year. These not only unlock those courses for use in exhibition play, but also unlock items in the pro shop.

You're more than likely to get bored of career mode after you max out your stats and play through a couple of seasons. This is where online play comes in. Probably the most fun is the online tournaments. There are a few different choices here, but the best and least time consuming are the daily tourneys. You basically just pick the one you want to do choosing course and skill level, then play the round. Your score is posted to the online community and at the end of the day the person with the best round wins the tournament. Some of these allow you to post as many rounds as you want, taking only your best score, which will probably have to be incredible if you want any chance of winning.

The controls are similar to previous games with the left analog stick being your method of swinging. You can also choose to have the three-click system if you like the classic swing style. You can also tune your clubs to help counter your draw/slice and add spin and distance to your shot. Another great aspect is the new putting system. No longer do you have to choose different putters for different length shots. You use one putter and slide a yellow bar to determine how powerful you want your putt to be.

The last addition to Tiger Woods 10 is the live weather system. EA hooked up with the Weather Channel to allow you to play courses with the current weather in that particular location. This is a cool new aspect, but doesn't really add any more value to the game.

The new additions are nice and all, but Tiger Woods still has its drawbacks. The gallery of fans is limited. If I'm playing the final round of the U.S. Open in the final group with Tiger Woods there should be thousands of people lining each hole to watch every shot. However, this is not the case. You only see limited number fans on your tee shots and around the green which takes away from what the atmosphere should be. Also Electronic Arts still hasn't improved the graphics engine. The courses and characters look nice for the most part, but it's time that they use the power of the PS3 and Xbox 360 to their advantage.

Pros: Realistic Golf Simulation, Improved from 2009, Putting System, Live Weather, Online Tournaments, New Courses

Cons: Same Graphics, Poor Fan Support, Made up Major Tournaments (E.A. Major Championship)

Score: 8.5/10 - If you're a fan of the series then you'll definitely want to pick this up, but if you are just a casual fan then there is really no great improvement over the 2009 version.