Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 – 360 – Preview

For years now, the Tiger Woods PGA franchise has
been one of EA Sport’s most successful franchises, serving as a gateway game for
many, effectively bringing a lot of non-gamers on to consoles. This year’s
entry looks to continue that trend, making it even more accessible to new
gamers. Tiger Woods PGA 2009 is the latest entry to the long-running golf
series, and is shaping up to offer some new elements that will appeal to fans of
the series, as well as some that let players tweak the game to their comfort
level.

One new feature from Tiger Woods PGA 2009 that
was recently announced was the new coach feature, with Hank Haney (Tiger Woods’
actual coach) lending support and telling you areas that you’d need to improve
upon. The new feedback system is a great way to bring newcomers into the fray,
as well as allowing series vets to improve their game.

Another new addition is the dynamic attribute
system. Whereas in previous versions of the game you’d begin at zero and work
your way up from there, in Tiger Woods 09, you’ll take a trial, which ranks you
in all the aspects of golfing and gives you attributes accordingly.
Additionally, you’ll gain or lose attributes as you play, adding a nice dynamic
to the gameplay.

One element that allows you to tweak the game’s
difficulty is the club tuner feature. With the club tuner, you’ll be able to
tweak your clubs, giving them more power and accuracy in exchange for a smaller
sweet spot. Once the sweet spot goes down, however, you’ll have to be a lot more
accurate with your shots, otherwise you’ll mess them up often. It’s definitely a
trade off, but it helps keep the game fresh for those with more familiarity with
the game.

The game will also offer the requisite new
courses, including Wolfcreek in Nevada and a few others, as well as brand new
announcers and new instant challenges like Closest to the Pin and a Putting
Challenge. All in all, Tiger Woods should offer some great features that will
appeal to hardcore fans, as well as accessibility options for newcomers, making
it a great starting point.