The latest entry in the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series on Xbox is finally upon us and, thankfully, it continues all of the things that made the game so fun for the last couple of years. It packs the same great gameplay along with more courses, more golfers, and more modes than ever. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is a solid game all around and is highly recommended.
Quick Hits
- Title: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
- Platform: Xbox
- Publisher: EA
- Developer: EA
- ESRB: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Golf
- Pros: Great gameplay; lots of courses and golfers; create-a-character
- Cons: Not a dramatic change from last year
Features and Modes
Tiger 07 offers a ton of different modes to keep you occupied. Match play, stroke play, skins, practice, four-ball, and the new bloodsome and greensome matches. And there is a nifty new mode called one-ball where you and your opponent share the same ball and alternate shots. The idea is to give your opponent the toughest shot possible within the target area. Whoever makes the putt wins the hole, so you try to make it as difficult as possible to do so. You can play many of these modes online via Xbox Live, and the experience is fairly smooth and fun. There are also single-player career modes, including a team tour where you build a team of golfers and travel around the world earning upgrades. There is also a full PGA Tour mode that includes 29 events. Tying all of these modes together is the create-a-character feature where you can customize a character and then get them new equipment to boost their stats.
Gameplay
EA
The gameplay in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is as solid as ever. It doesn’t play any differently from last year’s game, but when it played so good to begin with there is no reason to change too much. You use the left analog stick to swing your club and putt. You can also use an alternative control scheme where you use the right analog stick to add draw and fade to your shots. Both control methods work equally well, and it really depends on your preference as to which one is better. If you are already a Tiger-caliber pro, you can adjust a series of sliders to change the wind, green and fairway speed, swing difficulty, and more. This way, you can customize your experience so it is as difficult or as easy as you like. Couple this with the 21 different courses and 21 different golfers (along with your custom created player) and you have a lot of ground to cover with a lot of different play styles.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is a nice looking game. The courses look good and are nice and green and lush looking and the characters feature nice facial details and good animation.
The sound is also well done. You hear environmental sounds on the courses such as planes flying overhead or the ocean crashing onto the beach, which really help to immerse you in the game and put you on the green. The commentary team of David Feherty and Gary McCord do a good job of keeping the experience light and not too serious.
Bottom Line
EA
Overall, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is easily the best entry in the series for the Xbox. It features tons of courses and golfers, lots of modes, and wraps it all together with some of the best golf gameplay around. It can be argued that it isn’t a different enough game from Tiger 06 to make it a worthwhile purchase, but it seems to me that the new courses should be plenty to keep you hooked all over again even if the game plays pretty much the same way. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is a great golf game that will keep you busy for weeks, and is highly recommended for fans of the series as well as golf in general.
