Hoping to capitalize on the public’s enthusiasm for Wii, Electronic Arts plans on extending its stable of franchises to the system starting with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07. Redesigned with the Wii Remote in mind, this retooled port of the critically successful golf simulation aims to go beyond the miniscule motion-controls of the Sixaxis; rather, new swing mechanics based on the sensitivity of the Wii remote hope to reinvigorate the game. We had a chance to go hands-on with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 yesterday evening only to experience more bogeys than birdies.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 will feature several modes—most held over from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions—including a lengthy career, multiple challenges, mini-games, and local multiplayer. As with previous installments, career mode will serve up the bulk of gameplay with five seasons of PGA tournament play. Transported over to Wii, each of the modes essentially stays intact with minor adjustments to accommodate the change in hardware. Career mode remains as fully featured on Wii as it did on other platforms; alterations have obviously been made to multiplayer, dumping online functionality and resorting to local play instead. Reduced from the bevy of game types included in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions, you’ll have choice from 8 arcade games and 12 different multiplayer types on Wii.
Where Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 really differs from previous version is in its controls. As in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, you can view the current course using the shot camera by holding down A. Moving the directional pad to the left or right will position to the shot circle, while tapping up or down will switch between your available clubs. Improving upon the interface, you can actually grab onto the shot circle with the B button and move it around the course simply by movements of the Wii remote. Presses of the 1 and 2 buttons alter the shot type, making it possible to execute standard or lob shots.
Swinging is done by pressing the B button and then mimicking the action. You’re welcome to practice shots by toggling the minus button for practice mode. Depending on your level of skill, your shot might hook or slice if you twist your hand during a swing. When you finally do take a shot, you can rapidly wave the Wii remote in an effort to correct any hook or slice. Since there’s no power gauge for shots, you’ll have to estimate how hard to swing your club. Unfortunately, we had an incredibly difficult time figuring out exactly how to get the desired amount of force behind the ball. Sometimes swinging the Wii Remote hard resulted in a powerful shot, while other times it barely nicked the ball. More tuning is definitely needed to address the unpredictable variations in power when swinging.
It goes without saying that jumping over to Wii takes the visual quality down a notch. The superb high-definition graphics of its counterparts is all but lost here; at the very least, the game is capable of running in 480p, which means you can bump up the quality if you own the right cables. A slight hit to the presentation is alright, especially since Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 on Wii will feature more courses and players than previous editions. Whether these additions, along with changes to accommodate the Wii remote, will be enough to justify picking up the game is yet to be seen. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 doesn’t look like it’ll be an eagle hitter, but it could very well come in at par later this spring.
