Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

System: PS3, X360, Wii	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Tiburon	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: EA SPORTS	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Jun. 8, 2009	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-4; 2-4 (Online)	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Everyone	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

Another major improvement revolves around the Live Weather feature. Live Weather uses information downloaded from Weather.com to get real-time weather conditions for the courses you are playing – truly, playing in the same conditions the professionals are during Play the Pros is quite awesome. While this feature may not be as useful to all players whilst playing at home with friends, the implementation of dynamic weather really can make well-known courses play much more difficultly – it’s a challenge core players will really groove on!

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 screenshot

Tiburon also threw in a gameplay mode called Tournament Challenge. Essentially what this does is allow players to take on real-life scenarios in recent PGA Tour history. Each course has four challenges of increasing difficulty that are unlocked as the previous challenge is bested. This is an interesting way of reliving an historic shot and trying to exceed its quality, but it is definitely the weakest addition to the game. On the other hand, players can now, for the first time in the franchise’s history, take on the U.S. Open. The addition of this Major and its venue, the Beth Page Black Course, is finally giving players more of the “it’s in the game!” we’ve been craving.

Other staple bells and whistles established in previous PGA Tour titles help round out the game. The excellent Photo Game Face generator, club tuning, career stat tracking, and performance coaching all combine to make this the only golf simulation title you should buy – of course, that’s good news, because it is the only one you can buy. As mentioned previously, the visual presentation is nearly identical to what was on offer previously – that is to say, it’s quite excellent. Not faring nearly as well, the game commentary, while realistic, sounds canned and disinterested. ESPN's Scott Van Pelt and the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman are professionals, but I long for a return to Gary McCord and David Faherty.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 shines apart from previous iterations due to the incorporation of both the game’s community and real results from the PGA. Furthermore, dynamic weather, a new putting scheme, and all the best features forged in previous titles keep this franchise moving in the right direction. The only mild missteps I can find with this title is a bunch of in-game advertising in the form of banners that flash across the screen and lots of pauses due to loading (though load-times seem to have been greatly reduced this year). In fact, this game is so good and fresh, I think I’ll likely be picking this one up to replace my copy of PGA Tour 08.

By Jonathan Marx
CCC Editor / News Director

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.3

Graphics
The graphics are almost indistinguishable from previous iterations. In other words, they’re great.

4.6

Control
While controls are familiar across the board, the inclusion of the new Precision Putting mechanic is an important upgrade for the franchise.

3.8

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The sounds, crowd noise, and commentary are solid but nothing special. The funky, electronic beats and rhythms of the background music may not be for everyone, but I found them to be both varied and enjoyable.

4.6

Play Value
The community features and online components of this game will keep you playing long after you’ve maxed out your player character’s stats.

4.5

Overall Rating - Must Buy
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Excitement on Every Swing: Each round will now feel like a tournament stop on the PGA TOUR. Huge galleries, digital leaderboards, and broadcast style presentation add to the excitement and intensity of real tournament golf.

Play the Prestigious U.S. Open: Will The U.S. Open makes its inaugural appearance in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10. Known as one of the toughest tests in golf, Bethpage Black will challenge every player’s golf skills with its extremely challenging course conditions.

Real-Time Weather Conditions: Powered by The Weather Channel, real-time weather now effects gameplay by providing current conditions at actual courses. Putts will roll slower on wet greens and drives will be shorter due to the rain soaked fairways.

Broadcast Style Presentation: ESPN's Scott Van Pelt and the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman form a new commentary team that adds to the new sports broadcast presentation, including hole overviews, up-to-the –minute updates from around the course, and more.

Precision Putting: New option that removes the notion of putter distance and instead requires players to judge the necessary power for each putt based on slope and distance to the cup

Tournament Challenge: Relive key moments in tournament history through an all-new character progression mode.

Take on the Leaderboard: Exciting changes are in store for gamers as Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 features new enhancements for the online tournaments. Get ready to step up and take it to the next level this PGA TOUR season