Tiger Woods 09 All Play

[jonathan_phang]

Has anyone else managed to pick this up?

I got this in the middle of the week and only really managed to give it serious time this weekend. I have to say that I am very impressed, so just wanted to give my thoughts:

I'll start from the beginning. There is the usual EA fare in terms of the menu presentation and its all well laid out with lots and lots of content. This really is worth the money in terms of sheer amount of things to do. You can just jump in and play a one-off round, and about 10 variations of different golf types, over and above the usual four-balls, strole play and skins that most people know.

There is also a 'golf party' mode which is meant basically for a laugh, and just as a mess about with mates. Here, you get to pick a selection (5, 10 or 15) of little mini-games and you get points based on how well you do... winner is the one with most points. Its not so serious and there are some cool ones in there too. I havent managed to play with mates yet, but gave it a quick go with the wife, and she didnt mind it, and did well, so I guess they got the All Play part of it right.

The game mode I'm really getting into is the career mode. Its huge, and is 50 tournaments long, and you can set how many rounds each could be, from the standard 4, just down to one. You can create your own avatar to play as, and the level of control is actually really quite good. Once you get into a few tournaments, its really compelling and you can quit at any point and return to that hole later, which is a nice touch, in case you need to leave. It really is very addictive.

The swing mechanic (Which, lets face it, is the main pull) works really well and is easy and quite intuitive to do, although I do think that its quite difficult to pull off shots that aren't 90% -110%... You dont have to swing with all your might, so you arent going to be aching unless you play lots, which I have now, and I am hurting

Putting was an absolute nightmare for me to begin with, as mentioned by message board posters on games review sites, but after you get the mechanic, its a lot easier. I was initially trying to do a proper 1-to-1 putting stroke, just like the swing mechanic, but then realised that what you do is pick your trajectory and speed (Based on where you point to the green) and then you can pull back as slowly as you want until a power bar is around the power percentage you want, then you just follow through quick to hit the ball. It doesnt feel that intuitive to begin with, but after yoiu get it, it just clicks in your head. I guess that it enables you to correctly pick the strength of your putt more than the 1-to-1 mechnanic?

Anyway, there is also an online component and this is done using EA nation, so you just create a login and you can browse lobbys and search for friends, all without friend codes - its done really well. I have to say that I have had trouble joining a game, and but not sure if there needs to be some config on my router, as there was a mention in the manual of certain ports being used, so maybe I need to portforward or something...

So all in all, I'd say that it is good purchase, and easily the best thing that I have bought for the wii for quite a while. I'm not even a massive golf fan, but if you are, then I guess the draw (no pun intended) would be even greater. Lots of modes, tons of customisation and content and a fun mechanic mean that this is definitely worth the £30 it costs.

If anyone else wants to try the online, send an invite to JonnyPhang and we can try to get a game going. Anyone else has thoughts on the game??

JP

[nibb211]

not a serious golf fan but thought i would give this a go as it looked good fun for the wii and my first impressions so far are a good game in all good fun with friends

[geraintl]

looking to order this game soon, is it anygood?

[pjuk]

Can you see other players on the course whilst you are taking your shot? It would have been nice in TW08 if you could have seen your competitors.

[jonathan_phang]

Can you see other players on the course whilst you are taking your shot? It would have been nice in TW08 if you could have seen your competitors.

When you play online, you dont have to take turns on a hole, you just play as normal, but you can see the ball trails of other players on the same hole.

[pjuk]

Nice...I don't remember that in 2008 Shame I spend too much time on making my character than actually playing the game!

The controls in 2008 were sometimes a bit shaky especially if you used the advanced mode. Are there any significant control chnages or refinements in 2009? I'm guessing once Wii-motion-plus comes out I'm guessing Tiger Woods 2010 will be pretty much the perfect golf game.

[PodgePapin]

I really like this game, but the putting side can i find really let it down. I have had a few important shots go wrong because the putting was to short even though it was the preview shew me it was right, and i know what your thinking... it also has ahappened to my couson, so its not just how i palyed. The only other other downer on a otherwise great game is the trainer. I have got 2 shots that i sliced a shot behind a tree, and the good thing with the trainer is you get to play certain holes again in the career to boost confidence, heres the problem, i have 3 shots from behind the tree to comple the hole again. Fine, but no matter how i take the first shot from behind the tree he says it isn't good enough and have to take it again. After all that i did that much training to get better my swing has got worse! lol

Anyway, if you like golf games and can put up with the odd annoyance with the putting swing, get this one.

[PodgePapin]

Has anyone else had trouble with online play?