Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07

Reivew:

Although golf may seem like a boring and "slow" sport to some people, it couldn't be further from the truth for gamers who choose to play the "Tiger Woods" series.  The series has become increasingly popular these last few years; and with the newest addition of "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07" on the Playstation 3, the series is, no doubt, going to gain even more popularity.

Right from the beginning, you will be amazed at the performance of the game. The loading only takes a few seconds and when it is done you are given a large amount of different options to choose from. The main play option of Tiger Woods is that of Career Mode, in which you create your own custom golfer and begin your own prosperous career as a pro-golfer. The other modes include: match play, alternate shot, battle golf, best-ball, stroke play, skins, and practice. Each type of match has its own guidelines and rules, bringing something to the table for everyone.

One of the funnest matches to play in "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07" is battle golf. Battle golf is basically match play with an entertaining twist. During this type of match, you go about playing a golf game as you normally would, but the twist comes in after each and every hole the winner gets a special treat. The "special" treat is the removal of an opponents club; which means that any club he/she has in their set can be removed and he/she will no longer have access to it. It’s an awesome feeling and sometimes a funny outcome when your opponent has only a few clubs at his disposal, while you still may have all of yours.

Creating and developing your own unique golfer is definitely one of the highlights of the game, as you get to design them to look like whatever you want. You are free to design him/her right down to the very last detail, you can even model your golfer after yourself. Not only that, but you can actually choose what type of reactions they have on the course. Obviously, if all you got to do was design a character and just look at him/her, the game would quickly lose its appeal. But luckily, there’s much more to do with your created character than just looking at him/her, which is what makes career mode so great.

Career mode allows you to take your character through many different tournaments and match-ups, allowing you to face-off with some of golfs most well known golfers, such as Tiger Woods, John Daly, Justin Leonard, Mike Weir, Jim Furyk, and many many more. Of course, in order to compete with these pro-golfers and become the best, you’re going to need to create one heck of a great golfer. However, creating a superstar golfer is not that simple.

After all, Tiger Woods did not become the great pro golfer he is over night; he was born that way! But that’s beside the point. The point is, your golfer in career mode is not born that way and will need plenty of training and practice to reach his peak as a golfer. You will do that by taking your character through many different mini games, which will develop your character's individual attributes. Your characters different attributes that you must improve on are: ball striking, driving accuracy, putting, recovery, power, power boost, approach, and spin. After each mini-game you participate in, some of those attributes may increase. However, that will depend on your overall performance during each mini-game, as well as what the mini-game's main focus was on. Your starting character is going to suck in the beginning, period; but with the more mini games played, he will grow in talent and become an all-star golfer in no time.

Many people think they can just keep training and training and then hit the campaign trail blazing through the competition with ease. Well, that’s not the case. You will only be able to train a certain amount of times before each and every match. This makes it so you can't "beef" up and then "slaughter" each one of your opponents on the course.

Attributes are always great, but they can't replace the feeling of picking up and trying out some great new golf gear. That’s exactly what your golfers can do from time to time. Simply stop by the pro-shop via the career menu and you can browse through all the clothing and equipment that can be purchased. It’s always nice to see the purchased equipment being used by, and displayed on, your character; but that is not the only reason equipment is worth buying. New equipment will also present your golfer with skill bonuses, which will give him/her an edge on the golf course. So not only does the new equipment "look" great on your golfer, the equipment is actually working its magic behind-the-scenes to increase your golfer's attributes.

The PS3 console port of "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07" not only has great single player modes, but players can challenge others online via an internet connection. If you ever get bored with career mode, then online play should be your next destination. The most common online matches will be those of stroke and match play games, but there will be many other game types as well; such as battle golf, alternate shot, three-hole golf, skins, etc. Players may either participate in unranked or ranked matches, which is now a common thing to see in most online games. If a gamer thinks they are "pro" material, they will go for ranked games to increase their record and stats. However, those who feel somewhat less confident in their skills will play unranked games, as there will be much less pressure involved.

In terms of graphics, visuals, and sounds, "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07" scores huge. Each course looks absolutely amazing and the small touches (like the birds flying over head, waves crashing on the shoreline, and/or the fans running up and down the fairway trying to get a better view) really makes you feel like you are actually taking those shots out on the golf course. The details of each of the characters are extremely well done as well. It is a shame that there are only 12 courses on the PS3 version of this game, but each of them is quite breathe taking, to say the least. Not only the graphics are great, but the commentary seems to have been well implemented as well, with the announcers commenting on each of your shots, praising you for good shots and criticizing you for the poor ones.

No matter how you want to look at it, "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07" for the Playstation 3 is a quality game. If you’re not a big fan of golf games, this might be the PS3 game that changes your outlook on them. With a large selection of match options, personalized character creation, outstanding visuals, excellent audio, beautiful courses, great online play, excellent control scheme, and so much more, What more could a golfing fan, and a gamer want?