Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09

10 Review to this product

• 

  Orion
  September 17th, 2010 on 11:36 pm

  Rating

  This review is solely going to focus on putting as that seems to be a big issue for many people, something I don’t understand.

  Just to give you’ll a background, I’m playing TigerWoods O9 after mastering HotShots Golf on my PSP and if you’ve played it you will know that putting in HotShots is much harder than on any of the Tiger Woods game iterations. This is why putting in TW09 has been second nature for me. Here is what you need to know to get good putts.

  - You have to focus on reading the green. You get only one putt preview (something I honestly think should be done away with entirely. It still makes putting pretty easy, at least for me since I’m used to games like HotShots golf where you have to read the green to make good putts). Here are some tips/suggestions on reading the green:

  - Don’t try to make rule of thumb approximations such as, if hole is X inches higher then I should up my power by Y%. It just doesn’t work well enough beyond a certain point and it won’t allow you to improve your game.

  DETERMINING POWER FOR PUTT:

  - First focus purely on the longitudinal slope of the green, i.e. the slope along the direction of the putt so that you can try to figure out how hard you need to putt. Move the putting arrow back/forward till the shadow lines up with the hole. This means that for a perfectly flat putting green, this is the amount of power you need to hit the shot so as to just make it into the hole. Now focus on the putting lines to read the slope of the green in the direction of the hole. If it is sloping downhill, then you need to lower the power of the shot, so bring the arrow closer towards yourself. Depending on how fast the beads are rolling uphill/downhill you will need to approximate how much more/less power to add on. This is hard initially but you will just have to practice to get a better feeling for this. You do have the putt preview which will help correct any initial errors in your power approximation. More on that later.

  - While determining the correct power to use, make sure to take into account changing slopes of the green. For example, the initial section from the ball to midway to the hole might be sloped steeply downhill with the rest of it sloped uphill. In this case you have to remember that the downhill bit will add significant speed to the ball which the uphill component may or maynot be able to compensate for. The best way to guess in such cases is to (as mentioned before) place the arrow on top of the hole, then eyeball the uphill and downhill component and try to guess whether the uphill/downhill slopes balance each other out (in which case you can leave the power as is) or if one of the 2 components is stronger relative to the other, and by how much. Again exact power amounts will be harder to judge initially but at least try to get good at estimating whether you need more or less power than the default (default being the power reading for the arrow placed right on top of the hole).

  DETERMINING AIM FOR PUTT:

  - Assuming you’ve done all of the above, you should have some guess for the power to use. Now focus on the lateral slope of the green. Again, it will take practive before you can make very good initial guesses. However here are a couple of tips that should make things easier.

  –The lateral slope of the green has less effect closer to the ball, and more effect near the hole. The reason being that when you hit the ball, it is travelling at a much higher speed. Because of this higher momentum it is affected less by the lateral slope of the green. However as it approaches the hole and slows down (I hope it is slowing down! If it isn’t you didn’t approximate the power for the putt very well) the ball is affected much more by the slope of the green. This is very important to keep in mind as we have a tendency to assume that the lateral slope at all points along the putting line have the same amount of effect on the ball.

  – If you are putting downhill (ie with reduced putting power due to the downward slope) the ball tends to be affected much more by lateral slopes. This is because in downhill slopes, you reduce the power and gravity and the slope of the green plays a stronger role in getting the ball to the hole. On the other hand, if you are putting uphill, you will notice that the ball is less sensitive to lateral slopes since you are powering the ball at a high speed (At least through the initial segment of the putt). In such uphill putts, the trajectory of the ball is much more sensitive to the lateral slope near the hole as the ball slows down when it reaches it.

  PUTT PREVIEW:
  
  So after all this, you know roughly how to read the green and make a guess on where you need to aim with the arrow (which indicates your guess for power and direction). Now hit the putt preview button to see what this putt would look like. IMPORTANT: Some sites mistakenly say that the putt preview shows the putt for the direction you chose at 100% power (and not the power you set with the arrow). This is NOT TRUE. It is a true putt preview for the given direction and power guess that you made by placing the putting arrow. Now it is a simple matter of looking at the result, then going back and tweaking the power by moving the arrow to the front or back, and moving the aim left or right to compensate accordingly.

  - Remember, for putting (much like in real golf), it is most important to nail the power. You don’t want to send a putt going 20 feet past the hole, even if you missed the hole by an inch (laterally). Practice will improve your putting, but till you get really good, you can still make a lot of PARs by focusing on getting the putting speeds right.

  - Lastly, when you have very steep lateral slopes in the green, it is harder to read the green separately in terms of X and Y (ie lateral positioning and Power). If the lateral slope is very steep downhill from left to right, then even if the front to back slope is zero (ie the green seems flat front to back), the steep slope from left to right will impart more speed to the ball as it is riding its way down the slope of the hill. In these cases you need to be very careful with getting the putting power correct, hit uphill into the slope, and then let the slope gently roll the ball back down the hill towards the hole. Putt preview is key in these cases so that you can compensate for the power an aim. Try to just get it close to the hole, if you get it in, its a bonus!

  PUTTING TECHNIQUE:
  
  This is fairly simple. If you need to hit 75% Power, then just hit B, slowly raise the wiimote back till the powermeter fills up 3/4ths of the way and then bring the wiimote down quickly. The power meter bar is scaled linearly so with a little practice and mental math you can easily figure out exactly where a particular power percentage lies. Don’t rush the putt, gradually bring the wiimote back till it fills the bar exactly where you want it and then make the putt. Not a smooth action, but it is a limitation of the wiimote not being sensitive enough and it is the only way to make putting work given the current hardware.

  Phew, that was long. It really is simpler if you just give it some time and practice. Most of this is second nature to me. I’ve only been playing the game for a couple of weeks and I usually take a maximum of two putts to get the ball into the hole (Almost done with Tiger Challenge and I haven’t lost a challenge in a while). For me, the putting system has always worked great. I never thought/felt that it was broken. I think that is more an artifact of people being used to EA making putting wayyyy too easy in the past so that even beginners expected to be 14 under par in one round of golf.

  There you go, I hope this helps you improve your putting game. It really is a great game and tons of fun. I especially like the online component as it works quite well. Have fun!
• 

  Reagan J. Zogby
  September 18th, 2010 on 5:01 am

  Rating

  I agree with all of the pro and con comments made by the other reviewers. This game is an enjoyable alternative to the shooters that are out there. The graphics are great. I had a group over for Labor Day including two avid and excellent golfers, one who had played Pebble Beach. They got into a stroke play game that had the women watching and enjoying.

  The game is easy to pick up and learn. Unlike watching golf on TV, you get to follow the trajectory of the ball and see what happened prior to the ball coming down. The career path is fun and pulls you in from the start. In short, the game is well laid out and no where near as complicated to learn as a game such as Madden 09.

  I purchased this to have an alternative in my game collection to shooters and something that could be played at gatherings. That meant easy to learn and something watchable to those not directly involved in the game. The game has a good amount of variety to provide a lot of play time. If you measure the value of game by the number of minutes of play time you get from the game without it getting old, you will definitely get your money’s worth.
• 

  David P. Castellani
  September 18th, 2010 on 1:23 pm

  Rating

  The first thing you’ll notice is the complete graphics overhaul from 08 that completely immerses you a truly Hi-def golfing realm with the most detailed and beautiful courses you’ll ever witness designed down to a “Tee” to their real-life counterparts. I was blown away by the 08 to 09 screen-shot comparison, needless to say 09 blows 08 out of the water hazard. And when I say overhaul, EA really went out of their way to make this a Golf Graphical masterpiece and that’s not even touching upon Tiger’s rep for uncanny ability to produce drug-like addictive game play that can only be subsided with therapy.

  As typical to recent Tiger tradition, this game uses the thumb-stick to simulate your swing; pull back and push forward as straight as you can to take a flawless swing. The further and longer you pull back on your backswing, the higher percentage of power will be applied to your shot. If you pull or push slightly to the right or left with your thumb-stick motion, you will end up slicing or hooking your shot in varying degrees depending on how bad you shanked one. Last year’s gameplay suffered because it was so finely tailored to your thumb-stick motion that you had to be insanely precise and accurate with your swing in order to have a decent day on the golf course often leaving your blood boiling in frustration. Holes-in-ones and chip-ins were a rare-breed. 09 relaxed a bit and is more forgiving with the thumb-stick swing and accuracy. What I really like this year is that it displays your thumb-stick motion with lines (one for backstroke & one for follow-through) on the ball icon at the bottom left to show you exactly what you are doing right or wrong which allows you to re-adjust if needed for your next shot. Brilliant. This same ball icon also shows you how much extra power you put on your swing (Tap A during you backswing to add power to your shot), the percentage power of your shot (how far you took your backswing) and the spin on your ball (Tap A while ball is flight and a direction).

  For the first time since Tiger’s debut, you do not have to start from the bottom of the attributes barrel; no more starting at the beginner level and move your way up from scratch. Depending on how well you perform in the intro-training mode with Coach Haney will determine your initial skill level. If you played Tiger before (which I’m sure most of reading this have), your skill should be nowhere near the “Beginner” level. If you are Tiger vet like myself, you should start the game at somewhere in the “Pro” or “Master” level. If you are new to the game, don’t panic as this game teaches everything you need to know with Tutorials with Coach Haney and, trust me, leaves plenty of room for improvement. What is also new, and you may dislike or like this feature, is the fact each attribute (four total) and your overall skill level can increase or decrease (*new) depending on how well you played the previous course. In previous versions, you could only improve upon attributes. This year, if you play crappy, expect your attributes, where you executed poorly, to go down. Further to boot, Coach evaluates your performance at end of a course or play and gives you the appropriate attribute training sessions on areas where he feels you need improvement. Choose to train or not, it’s up to you — Coach is just trying to further improve your game. This new skill concept certainly draws this game closer to real golf (even Tiger has bad days) and makes for almost an endless challenge.

  The four attribute levels, compressed from previous versions, are: Power, Accuracy, Short Game and Putting. Also, you will have an Average Skill (an average of all four attribute skill levels) rated zero to ten (0-10). If you are smashing drives straight, look for your power and accuracy to increase. If you’re shanking drives into the woods, look to botch your power and accuracy skill.

  Also for the first time (I love new features), you can tune your clubs. Not happy with your accuracy, increase the sweet spot of the club ultimately giving you more control but sacrificing power or vice versa. You can also tweak loft, spin, fade and draw. Tune club mode puts you on a driving range, allowing you to tune the club in question and then immediately test it out on the range. Too much draw, no problema — tweak it until that baby is hitting straight. Do you need to counteract your slice with a slight draw – here’s the spot to do it. More power less control, yup. Do you want more loft on your short game irons to place the ball dead accurate near the cup, you got it — tweak and tune your clubs to match your style.

  Character creation and customization: One of Tiger’s strong suits lie with player progression and customization. Nothing new, with tiger this year as last, you have an infinite number of options to create a character so that your avatar in the game almost identically matches your real life counterpart right down to the mole on your forehead. You can use the infamous Gamernet to upload your picture and face-capture your mug in a 3D rendering onto the game. Further customize your mug and player by inputting style of hair, clothes, height, weight etc. Game play, depending on how you play, will give you credits towards accessories, clubs and clothes to purchase to further develop your character .

  Commentary: With a new face comes a new voice, 09 has changed a long tradition by switching commentators. The hilarious mockumentary and savviness offered by McCord and Faherty are out and will certainly be missed. Their refreshing, witty dry humor made you laugh and shone light even if you were having a bad day on the course. I won’t deduct too many points though because it seems those guys were around Tiger for a long time and hearing different voices, at least at first, is refreshing but obviously not as humorous. Kelly Tillman and Sam Torrance are up to bat now and although uber-savvy in the world of golf lack in adding any new depth, excitement and humor. All is not lost, they offer great commentary, history, advice and still let you know when you are awful.

  “New Courses and Golfers-Test your skills on new courses, including Gary Player Country Club in South Africa, Wentworth Country Club in England, and more, while international stars Se Ri Pak, Darren Clarke, and others join the competition.” Amazon.com. Yes Yes and Yes!

  Update: After Coach Haney’s initial evaluation (one for every attribute: Driving, Accuracy, Short Game and Putting), he will give you an initial rating with a maximum rating of 4 (out of 10). No, you won’t be able to be a perfect 10 at the start the game regardless of how well you perform in training. After all, what fun would that be. It leaves room to truly master your game. Play a round in a tournament or take on the Tiger Challenge to increase your attributes. If you’ve played Tiger before, it won’t be long before you reach an average skill of 8 or 9. If you are close to 10, you’ve mastered and had a flawless streak. The challenge is to be within a certain distance on consistent basis. Even if you are scoring low, if you’re not target, your rating will indeed suffer. If your game needs some work, you’ll be a 7 and if are a rookie to the series, you be at the 6 or below. The great thing about Tiger, whether new to it or not, it gives plenty of opportunities to improve and more importantly makes you keep coming back for more.

  Tiger Challenge has been overhauled and its welcomed change. Instead of a going through a Dynamic Challenge Tree where you select which direction to go in, this time you have to earn enough points to face the boss (PGA Star) of that stage. Each stage as 8+ challenges that you can play to earn points to face the boss. Once the boss of that stage is beaten, you move onto the next level until you ultimately reach Tiger Woods himself. This makes it more linear than the previous versions but it still fun and challenging nonetheless. If anything, Tiger Challenge is a fast way to earn cash to purchase new clothes and equipment.
  
• 

  Tod Kehrli
  September 19th, 2010 on 10:16 am

  Rating

  This version is an improvement over TW08

  - Navigation through the Tiger Challenge is way better
  
  - Overall swing is better, especially draw and fade
  
  - Online play allows a full round that doesn’t take hours to complete
  
  - Good new courses

  I would disagree with complaints about short game and putting. It took me about 30 minutes to figur out the new putting and now I putt as good as ever. With the short game, as your sklls imporve in the game, yor precision with short shots improves. Just like real golf.

  I think EA is getting better with the WII interface and it shows with this verion of TW.
• 

  To Be Simple
  September 20th, 2010 on 9:44 am

  Rating

  I have played dozens of golf games dating back to golf on the Commodore-64. Some games have been completely pathetic, while others have been relatively good. I bought Tiger Woods 09 for the Wii basically because I like to try most every golf game that hits the market. My expectations for this game were actually fairly low, as EA has not exactly put out killer software for the Wii.

  Having put in over 30 hours with Tiger Woods 09 I can safely say that this is the most fun console golf game I have ever played. Not only is the game incredibly deep with an absolute ton of modes of play, but it also sports a great online component. The developers really did a good job of making TW09 a truly fun multi-player experience.

  What makes Tiger Woods 09 such a great game is the control. The 1:1 swing mechanic can be tuned in a variety of ways. It takes some getting used to in terms of shot strength, but once the user gets it down the game is butter. As far as putting is concerned, this is the best putting system in a golf game, no questions asked. Yes, the putting system may seem confusing at first, but after spending some time with it the user will realize that putting in TW09 is as close to real-life putting yet seen in a golf game. Everything from the clearly visible slope on the greens to the depth of resources the putting system provides to the user makes hanging out on the green a joy.

  As to be expected, the graphics of the Wii version of Tiger Woods 09 are not as detailed as those of the 360/PS3 versions, but they are still not too shabby. I particularly like the way the undulations and elevation changes on each hole are depicted.

  Finally, EA smartly included an “All-Play” level of difficulty that allows inexperienced or less-skilled gamers to be able to be competitive. Of course, there are standard and advanced difficuly levels as well. This allows someone who has never played the game or is not very good to be able to play with a seasoned TW pro and still have fun without being blown out of the water. I like to play on the hardest difficulty level, but when someone comes over to the house they still have fun since they can play on the easier mode.

  Overall, Tiger Woods 09 is exactly the type of sports game Wii owners deserve. It wonderfully takes advantage of the controller technology, offers a ton of modes of play and customizations, and has a high fun factor. Get this game and spend some time learning to play it properly. You will not be sorry.
• 

  nesnman
  September 20th, 2010 on 12:14 pm

  Rating

  After the major disappointment with Tiger Woods 2008 I went back to the 2005 version of the game. 2008 was hard to play and not much fun. But I’m happy to say that the 2009 Tiger Woods game is great. The way it looks, the way it plays is so much better then 2008. I will allow others who are better at writing reviews give the details. I can just say I didn’t like 2006 , 2007 or 2008. I did like 2005 and this is better then 2005. A major improvement.
• 

  Professor
  September 22nd, 2010 on 1:17 pm

  Rating

  Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All Play for the Wii is an excellent golf simulation. I have read the complaints about the putting. Listen, putting was far too easy on ealier iterations. Putting on Tiger 09 can be mastered, but guess what? Doing so takes effort and practice and touch and hard work–just as putting in real life does. The satisfaction from becoming skilled and consistent is just what a golf game should demand. In like manner, mastering the full or partial swing takes time and effort. Good, golf is a difficult and demanding sport,a humbling experience. Tiger 09 for the Wii is terrific, a golfer’s delight, if not a gamer’s delight. Buy it, master it, and experience the satisfaction for learning how to do something difficult very, very well.
• 

  Charlie Putnam
  September 22nd, 2010 on 7:15 pm

  Rating

  I have been waiting for a golf game that was yet fun, well its here. since the last computer golf game there has not been a good counsel game until now. you will enjoy this game. I just wish I had a fast ISP so I could play online.
• 

  Craig L. Johnson
  September 23rd, 2010 on 9:38 pm

  Rating

  This year’s game is improved over 08 in just about every way. The graphics are noticeably better, providing a very immersive experience. I hated the sensitivity of last year’s thumb stick; made the game very frustrating. No longer, this year’s game handles brilliantly and provides the player with instant feedback when using the thumb stick. The new courses are great; however, the number of courses remains the same as last year. If you like the Tiger Woods golf series you will definitely enjoy this game. Note; I own both the Xbox 360 and PS3 – tried both demos before buying the game and saw no noticeable differences between the two. I favor the PS3 controller and don’t worry about running the unit for long periods; therefore I chose the PS3 version of the game.
• 

  kram59
  September 24th, 2010 on 11:58 am

  Rating

  This game isn’t perfect. I have almost played every golf game ever developed, since “Links” (Some of you old timers will know what that is.)
  
  This game is very good. Even though my dude doesn’t seem to look like me. (They allow you to add your own face to avitar.) Good mechanics, good graphics, (Of course I play on Playstation Three and have a 50 inch HD TV so I am spoiled. I like the role playing aspect of it and the fact that you can’t save your game untill you complete the round. Otherwise of course one could play every hole till the got a birdie and then save and go on to the next hole.(Make sure you allow enough time to finish else you have to replay the whole 18 holes.) I don’t think you can go wrong buying this version.
  
  the Alaska Dude