Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2004

Don’t you just love it when your favorite sports game just keeps improving every year and adding new features that make a fun game just so much more enjoyable?  The Tiger Woods PGA Tour games are just one of those games that manage to keep gamers interested enough to keep coming back for more.  With Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, EA Sports once again delivers the type of golf game we expect from them--only this time the extras are just too juicy to ignore.  Grab your favorite putter, sports fans, the green in this game is just too fun to pass up.

Last year’s game brought a new breath of fresh air in terms of the controls, its silky smooth analog stick swing made for an agreeable style that gave the game an arcade-like feel without surrendering the sense of realism found in most EA Sports titles.  Well the analog swing is still here and still as comfortable as ever considering that its been tweaked slightly (notice I said slightly since EA Sports had the good sense not to mess with perfection).  Yet this year the game introduces a number of interesting new features, but I’ll get to that a bit later.

The game modes are still just as plentiful and all of your favorites are back once again.  The Traditional Games mode is back again (Skins, Stroke Play, Match Play and Practice) only now there are a few additional modes to accompany them.  There is Best Ball, Alternate Shot, Fourball and Stableford.  Fourball teams you up with a partner to go up against two other players while Alternate Shot has you trying to match a shot using a single ball.  Arcade Mode has four different game modes: Battle Golf, Long Drive Challenge, Skillzone and Speed Golf.  Battle Golf, the new game mode, has you playing against a rival as you battle to remove a club from their bag by winning holes.

New to the series is the PGA Tour Season Mode this is, I must add, a most welcome game mode.  The PGA Tour Season Mode puts you through ten consecutive seasons and goes through various tournaments gaining sponsorship as well as money.  Thanks to the Xbox’s internal clock and calendar, you can set up real-time events--really, this is one of the most creative uses of your Xbox hardware. World Tour mode takes you around the globe taking on pro challengers for the real big bucks. You can also place a friendly wager to make things a bit more interesting.

Yet the new feature that really stands out is the EA Sports Game Face.  That’s right, you can create your own golfer using an interface that has a multitude of options available to design a very detailed character.  The design tool is so meticulous that it is very possible to create a golfer that looks a lot like you--as a matter of fact, my created golfer even sports my current hairstyle.  Here’s hoping that this feature finds itself in other EA Sports games in the future.  There are also a large number of extra fantasy courses and players (one of which is television and film star Cedric the Entertainer).

Still, it’s all about the golf and PGA Tour 2004 is still one of them most gratifying golf games control-wise.  The precision analog swing is still available once again and it does make for some pretty smooth swings.  A part of me wishes there were an option that would allow you to modify your swing but what’s featured here is still the best.  You also have total control of positioning so you can go on your own instincts.  There are new features in this department as well, most notably when you’re putting close to the hole.  A yellow grid comes up that accompanies the dotted lines that give you an indication where the ball will roll but the grid offers a more precise idea of what type of shot is needed.

Gamers will certainly be amazed how much Tiger Woods actually looks like Tiger Woods during the game.  Really, these recent PGA Tour games have showed us some beautifully rendered characters (both fictitious and actual real-life pros such as John Daly).  Aside from these extremely well detailed characters, the golf courses look amazing and anyone who has ever seen Spyglass Hill or the green at Pebble Beach will see that it’s been recreated faithfully.  The environments practically breath with life as trees sway and birds take flight overhead.  A wonderful job yet again.

As for the sound, it’s what you might expect from a golf game.  There are often times when total silence is what keeps you company and there’s hardly ever a real presence of being outdoors.  It would have been nice to hear more birds chirping or the sound of foliage rustling with a breeze or even the stifled cough of an observer.  What you do get is the sound of your iron smacking the ball and the audience either applauding or sounding disappointed.  The commentary is excellent, though, and the two-man team wonderfully calls it like they see it and this gives the game its televised event feel.  The tunes are a mixed bag of rap (DMX and Roscoe) to the alternative sound (Rooney with its half Oasis and half Beach Boys sound is the best of the bunch) and it all seems to work fine here.  If this isn’t your kind of music you can always use the tunes you have in your Xbox hard disk.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is, simply put, the most pure and addictive game of golf available on the Xbox to date.  We’re talking about a game with smooth controls and a wide variety of game modes that will keep gamers happily busy for a really long while.  The game’s new additions--especially the downright remarkable EA Sports Game Face feature--are just the icing on top of an already sweetened cake.  Buy this game is you want to experience a golf that is true to the sport itself.

Gameplay: 9.2
This is the type of game that will have sports fans saying “What! It’s 3AM already?”  With a multitude of game modes, challenging courses and the best golf controls found in a golf game ever, it is too darn easy to get addicted to this game.  The new game modes are also welcome additions and add even more to the replay value--especially PGA Tour Season Mode that uses your internal clock for real-time matches.  When it comes to simulated golf, this game does it right. 

Graphics: 9.0
The amount of detail found on each golfer is astonishing and everything from facial details to their movements seems natural enough.  Even your created golfer looks amazing out there on the green!  As if this wasn’t enough, the courses practically breath with life--even the fantasy courses just look astonishing.  This certainly is one good-looking Xbox golf title.

Sound: 8.8
It would have been lovely to hear detailed sound when it comes to background noise.  The game doesn’t really capture that outdoors ambience as if you were right there on the putting green, rather it feels more like a televised event in that the majority of the sounds are centered on crowd cheers and a golf club smacking the ball.  The commentary is the real winner here with their witty banter at the most convenient of times and their quick analysis of the game in progress.  There’s also a pretty cool mix of tunes in this game that range from rap to alternative rock--if you don’t like it you can always play your own customized soundtrack.

Difficulty: Hard
EA Sports keeps it real when it comes to the challenges and this is the result of a game that strives for an authentic golf experience.  While the game mixes in a pleasant dose of Outlaw Golf-styled arcade control, the game abides by the rules of realism to make for a really challenge game of golf.  Like the real thing, actual pros play at different levels and thus make for some interesting pro challenges.  Just forget about taking on Tiger Woods--the guy is just too good even in video game form!  My advice to gamers is to listen to their caddy . . . those tips really help.

Concept: 10
Really, it doesn’t get any better than this when it comes to extras, bonuses and newly added game features.  Returning Tiger Woods players get awarded extras such as signing bonuses, extra spending cash and new items in the Pro Shop.  The newly added EA Sports Game Face feature is one of the most deepest create-a-player seen in a game since the PS2’s WWE SmackDown: Shut Your Mouth.  You can practically create yourself or some bizarre-looking mutant.  And, with the addition of a Pro Shop, you can dress up your character anyway you see fit.  Toss in a number of new game modes and you have a game with so much to see and do.

Multiplayer: 9.0
While regrettably an online mode has once again been left out of the game, the game allows up to four players to play through many of the various game modes.  The game just seems more fun with four players and battling it out in the game’s Scenario Mode or any of the Arcade Mode challenges make for a great alternative when its too rainy to golf for real.  Yes, the multiplayer modes found here more than makes up for the lack of Xbox Live play.

Overall: 9.2
This is one of the most addictive games of golf that will surely be a fan favorite for those returning gamers of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise.  Forget about the fact that this game looks really good and has a mountain of game modes that hardly ever get tiresome.  Forget about the fact that you can design a golfer in your very own image--even down to the gap in your teeth or the size of your head.  It’s all about the golf and PGA Tour 2004 does it right once again.  Really, do yourself a favor and pick this one up right away, sports fans.