Tiger Woods 07 System: Xbox Release Date: Oct 12 2006 Rating:

“EA Sports Tiger Woods 07” is just like the man it’s named after – the best ever. The series has always proved supremacy over all golf games and the only challenge is to beat itself, and it did.

This game offers more levels, more golfers, new game modes and the most realistic golfing experience that will make you hesitate going to the course to fulfill your golf fix.

New breathtaking levels are one of the many improvements to this game. Some are real and some are fictional, but they are all visually stunning. The players in the game look amazingly real and creating a character after yourself is so realistic it will scare you. The difficulty settings allow experienced players to make every aspect of the game more difficult. The right analog can be used to put English on the ball like in a game of pool. Pressure moments make sinking the putt to win the tournament harder as the controller vibrates, but oh so rewarding.

Although it seemed impossible, the game-play has improved as well. There are new mini-games to add to the replay value of the game. One-ball is one of these new games where you and your opponent play with – you guessed it – one ball. Instead of the typical strategy of hitting the ball in the fairway to set up your next shot, you want to hit the ball in every bunker or deep wooded area on the course to make things more difficult for them because they play the ball wherever you left it. The only rules are that you have to hit the ball at least half the distance to the pin; you can’t hit it out of bounds or in the water, and the winner is the one that puts it in the hole.

All the tournament modes are like real-time events, and the PGA tour is still available in this game as well as the new team tour mode. In this mode, you have to create a team to ultimately dethrone Team Tiger as you work your way through the game to unlock the characters and levels. This mode forces you to share experience between your teammates which keeps your character’s skill level even with your opponents so that you cannot dominate the game and forces you to always play at your best.

The most overly criticized aspect of this game is the new putting format. Instead of your caddy telling you exactly where to place your cursor in order to drain the most difficult putts, you actually have to think and figure it out for yourself. You’re given the height of the green and some annoying white dots moving around a grid to show you the shape and speed throughout the green. Although this can be frustrating at first, with enough practice it can be mastered.

The skill challenges in “Tiger Woods 07” allow you to improve your golfer without having to participate in tournaments. It’s a good way to prepare for some of the challenges in each tournament.

Overall, “Tiger Woods 07” is an amazing golf game. But, it is still just that – a golf game. This game can’t be directly compared to other great titles, but it is great for what it does.