Game Modes

Being a Golf game you will be surprised with how many different ways you can play a round of Golf, you have the usual Campaign style modes where you compete on the PGA Tour (courses consist of Westchester Country Club, TPC Boston, Cog Hill, and East Lake to name but a few), this involves you starting off trying to break into the top 100, where you then have to work your way up the ranks to become the FedExChamp. Wining a match will bring you money and this money can be spent in the pro shot to beef up your arsenal of Golf clubs - the better the clubs the better you can do.

Then there is the Tiger Challenge where you have to go head-to-head against the top golfers with a chance to prove yourself as the top dog.

For traditionalists or avid Golfers you have the standard modes of play, such as Stroke Play, Match Play, StableFord and Best Ball for example.

EA have also introduced into the games some fun Arcade and mini style game, involving Battle Golf and Capture the Flag, which allows you to take it turns trying to hit the Golf Flags in order to capture them.

So in a nutshell there is plenty to get your teeth into for your single player experience. Of course if you grab a buddy you can go head to head against each other in some of the game modes, which is definitely the way to play, as there is nothing more satisfying than beating your friend at a round of Golf and watching the excuses fly.

Controls

Tiger Woods 08 is more of an Arcade style game more than anything else because though it appears on the outside that the controls are complex - if you read the manual that is - they are actually pretty simple to use and it’s what makes the game fun to play. After all if you have come back from the pub on a Saturday night the last thing you want is a game to cause brain meltdown with a complex control system.

As well as the analogue control system EA have thrown in a new Confidence feature which keeps track of your previous success with a club and the better you play the more accurate your targeting circle becomes (used in the game to place where you want your ball to go).

However we played all the time with the old skol 3 click system so once you have lined up your shot and have pressed the R3 button (right thumbstick). You then have to press the X button to start your swing going, then another press to determine your power and then a third press to gain your accuracy.

It take a while to master but this takes any of the complexity out of the game.

Before you take the shot you can get a preview of where the ball is likely to go and the new putt preview system that EA have introduced will allow you to see a preview of where the balls path will go on the green. All-in-all all these preview modes makes it simple to get into the game, but this will also put some people off and we question the putt previews accuracy (especially in online-game play), so its best to trust your own judgement.

Graphics

We played this on a normal CRT TV and a LCD screen (with HD) and though the latter was the best option the old style CRT screen still showed off the graphics to good effect. Tiger Woods is not the most aesthetically pleasing game we have seen but EA have tried their best to make it as realistic as possible.

So Tiger looks like Tiger, he walks like his real-world self and even has the same expressions. The Courses look a touch bland mind, but there is only so much you can do with a Golf course to make it look graphically stunning.

In the background you have the spectators which occasionally can get hit by the Golf balls, but most of the time they are like card board cut-outs, you seem to see the same style of spectators no matter which course you are on.

Before each match starts you get a cool flyover, showing you where all the sand traps and tough places on hole will be, so this is pretty cool.