Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 10 (PSP) Review

Can Sony’s little black box tame the feisty Tiger this year?
So golf eh, well why not! Get out on the green and slap some balls around whilst the weather is so good… oh yeah thats right, UKweather sucks donkey parts. So instead why not curly up with a blanket and crank up the PSP. Tiger Woods is here to ease your summertime golfing woes.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 takes golf fans inside-the-ropes to experience the drama and emotion of tournament golf. In addition, the U.S. Open, a USGA championship, and the USGAs Rules of Golf is available in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the first time in franchise history. As you hear the roar of the crowd from the next hole over, can you handle the mounting pressure while you stand overyour tournament-winning putt? Expanded crowds surround every hole; adding to the tension and excitement of each shot. A first for the franchise, real-time weather is reflected on every course, ensuring the in-game experience matches that of the current weather conditions. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 also features a television broadcast style presentation, which include instantaneous updates and a new announcer team of ESPNs Scott Van Pelt and the Golf Channels Kelly Tilghman.

Graphically Tiger 10 on the PSP is shooting for the same look and feel of its larger counterparts. Gone are the fugly convoluted menus of previous years and in are the swish new stylings of the current gen consoles. The golfers are rendered very well for the hand held system, and theanimation fluid and cohesive. The courses are well designed, if a little sparse in places, and the hills and sand traps snake away from you nicely. There are a few issues with texture shimmerand the odd issue with texture tearing which highlight that the PSP is being pushed to try and recreate all the features from the larger console in this minimised format.

Sound wise the usual gallery of EA trax titles are present and add something to the overall presentation. As to the track selections then I will leave that down to your mind if they are the kind of tunes you like to listen too whilst you golf for me I was kind of meh, but music is subjectively person so you may love it either way you can turn it off if needs be. The crowd noise is a little cannedand flat, no real spark comes through from the crown chants, but it does set the scene well enough and completes the being there sensation. The in game commentary on the other hand does a good job. This is an area that EA seem to be getting right more often than not now. The double act of Scott Can Pelt & Kelly Tilghman work well together and the comments are, more often than not, relevant and inject another layer of atmosphere & authenticity to the proceedings.

Game play is another area where Tiger 10 on the PSP has shifted gears. Gone are the tried and tested old mechanics and in are some new spanky ones. Giving you the option of hitting the ball using the more traditional 3 clickssystem of older golf titles or you can opt to use the analogue stick to emulate the club swing. Tempting as it is to use the old method it pays dividends using the new analogue method. I say new butthe analogue option has been in previous versions it is just that EA have done so much work to sort out the issues with it that it feels like a totally new implementation. Admittedly it did take a good 30 60 mins to get used to the new method but now it is 2^nd nature.

A resurgence of an old feature long ditched in the new versions makes a welcome return. Unique to the PSP version is the Confidence & Risk feature. Successful shots boost your confidence and further improving your ability to play. Start to suck or keep missing the fairway and end up in the rough and your caddy will pop up with a mini-game tocalm your nerves, and they will also warn you when you’re about to play any risky shots. This was used to some degree in older titles but never worked this well. These handy mini games help break up the game and also make the title more accessible to the casual or non-golfing player.

Tiger 10 offers a lot of the features of its elder siblings, all be it in a slightly cut down fashion. The features include EA’s groovey Game Face implementation, the PGA Tour Career, and some new online and Tournament Challenge modes.The tour mode is that same as it ever was, the same as an other tour/career mode so I am not going to bore you with the details you know what to expect, you make a character and make your way up the ranks to become the world number 1 etc.

The new entry here is the Tournament Challenge mode. You undertake varying challenges themed around real world events. The events are split in to Bronze, Silver and Gold challenges available on each of the game’s fifteen courses. You then have a certain parameter to complete a challenge in. So sink a birdie on course X etc. This adds a nice distraction to the full round of golf offered in the career mode.

Finally the last element of Tiger 10 is the newly revamped multiplayer. Many a complaint was made last year about just how broken the 09 multiplayer was on PSP. This year EA have got it right. It is a little cumbersome at times but that is 50% Tiger 50% PSP. Once in a game though it was pretty much plain sailing. You never interact with the other player, you simply see the position of their balls and their progress. There’s a shot clock to make sure you dont dawdle and you’ll take a one-stroke penalty if you exceed the time limit. A down side is that it is only ever 1-on-1 but this is a small quibble as what is there works very well. I will say that there was only about ten or eleven other people playing online when I tested this portion this maybe due to the fact I tested it soon after release though rather than lack of interest.

Final Thoughts:
All in all Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 on the PSP is a great Golf on the Go solution which is exactly what EA would of wanted to make. The tried and tested mechanics of the larger console versions has miniaturised well on to the platform. A few things are still a little off. The ball bounce seems very generous and can sometimes cause the ball to just run and run on the greens and the frustration of lining up tricky shots is immense at times. The graphical glitches are glaring at times and the load speeds are hit and miss. When it comes down to it TW10 offers great value for money for golfing fans, the offline stuff will keep you amused for a long time to come and the multiplayer is robust enough to add longevity to the product.

Find more Tiger Woods PGA Tour Gold ’10 reviews over at Test Freaks!

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