<I>Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 scores big - or should it be scores small? This is golf, after all.
Brimming with depth, surprising bouts of originality, and sharp gameplay, this year's Tiger Woods is well worth the precious time of all golf fans. And even those who are not particularly fans of the sport can certainly find a lot to like here.
Although the gameplay in last year's Tiger game was decent, there were only three selectable courses and a handful of golfers. In hindsight, it almost seems as though it were a demo. Thankfully, this year's version corrects those problems and then some.
Gameplay
Now this is golf. It works like this: you drive from a tee, keep hitting, and eventually hope that your ball finds its way to the bottom of a little cup hundreds of yards away.
As for how Woods 2002 handles this process, well, it's rather clever. EA has done away with the familiar power meter from previous games. Rather, they've chosen to employ the PS2's analog stick. It works like so: pull the stick towards you and your golfer starts into his/her backswing; push the stick away from you and your golfer lets it rip. You judge the strength of your swing by visually watching the golfer's backswing. It sounds difficult, but the control scheme is quite intuitive once you start playing.
For more realism, you can have your golfer either hook or slice the shot by not pulling the analog stick perfectly straight on your backswing. So, mess up the controls slightly and your shot could be far off. Sounds like real golf.
Woods 2002 also employs a completely redesigned putting system. At first I was skeptical, as the new system provides you with a "caddy tip" for each put. It will say, for instance, "One foot, seven inches long, three inches right." It's then your job to move the cursor to those coordinates and sink the shot. Thankfully, the new system does not water down the putting and simply make it easier - the putting is still quite challenging. After all, the caddy tip is merely a recommendation. And besides, you still have to judge the distances it provides the player. You can only improve through practice, much like putting in real life.
Overall, there's little room for originality when it comes to gameplay in a golf game. But implementation is a different matter: Tiger Woods 2002 executes well. It takes the processes of golf and molds them logically to your controller. What else could you want?
Grade: B+
Graphics
The grass looks lush and green, the trees sway in the wind, squirrels scurry about the fairway, birds fly overhead, and the character models are rendered nicely. With little room for flare, EA packed Woods 2002 with plenty of graphical details that round out the package.
One of the coolest graphical touches in the game, however, is one that is rather unnecessary. But who cares? If you hit a shot perfectly, the camera pauses, switches to a bullet-time slow-motion, and spins around your golfer in 360 degrees. Your ball then zooms away with a smoke trail behind it. It's beautiful. And if you hit a shot perfectly with maximum power then you're treated to the Happy Gilmore shot: again, the camera switches to bullet-time, your golfer steps back, takes a few running steps, and whacks the ball.
The game also employs a variety of camera angles that, toggled automatically, lend a surprising air of suspension to more significant shots. For instance, on a par three, if your shot is close to a hole-in-one, the camera switches to widescreen, displays a camera shot from directly behind the pin low to the ground, and kicks in the slow-motion - all while your controller beats like a heart and the sound of a beating heart rumbles through the speakers.
But when it comes down to it, can there's only so much one do with the graphics in a golf game. It simply can't put the PS2's graphical prowess to work.
Grade: B
Sound
"Uhhh...the flag is quivering." This is one of the many quips you hear from the new TV-style commentators in Woods2002. Rather than merely letting the player hear the random shouts of excitement and anger from the golfing personalities themselves, with chirping birds and gusts of wind interspersed, EA decided to use TV commentators for this edition.
And like the commentators in other EA games (Madden, SSX Tricky, etc.), the quality is above average but wears thin after hardcore play. After a few hours, the comments start to repeat. But after playing heavily for over a week now, I'm still hearing some new, and often rather comical, quips. "This should be routine; you could knock that in with your head."
Decent, realistic commentary comes together nicely with the standard bird chirping, wind gusts, and other necessary sound effects. It's golf sound. And much like the graphics, there's only so much that can be done. There's no room for a giant, well produced musical score.
Grade: B
Replay Value
This game is quite deep. Offering a dozen or so professional golfers to compete against in the "Tiger Challenge," numerous records for you to zero in your sites (for instance, one of the records for which you can receive a $1,000,000 bonus is to eagle every par five on the game - talk about a challenge), and a litany of other gameplay modes.
As you complete these challenges, set these records, and win these tournaments you collect money along the way. The money is then used to strengthen the attributes of your golfer. And here EA getss clever on us again: they make the attributes progressively more expensive. Rather than "one unit" costing $500 each time, perhaps the first unit will increase your power from 30 to 31 and cost $500. Increasing your power from 70 to 71 later on will set you back $15,000. It allows for you to jump in and make your golfer decent quickly. But to truly become great and boost those attributes to the max will take some time and skill.
If you're looking for a good golf game, this one will keep you coming back. Plenty of options and a half-dozen or so modes of gameplay provide plenty of depth.
Grade: B+
From two-player split-screen speed golf to bullet-time camera shots on powerful drives, Tiger Woods 2002 goes the extra mile. Adding to the solid gameplay of last year's offering, EA packs this edition with loads of extras and it pays off. Tiger Woods 2002 finally brings a deep, fun, semi-realistic golf simulation to home consoles.
Overall: B
