Tiger Woods 09 Review

It seems there's always a new golf tip to learn. Just ask Larry David. The problem is that they aren't always good. You try many out, only to find that most of them don't improve your game. EA has made some slight tweaks this year to what I think was the best Tiger ever -- Tiger 08 -- but, like those golf tips, they don't improve the game. Luckily, this title still knows how to stroke the ball.

My main beef with Tiger 09 is the altered skill system. The four skill categories (Power, Accuracy, Short Game, and Putting) rise and fall automatically according to your performance. While this isn't new for Tiger (see last year's Confidence system), all this happens because of Tiger's coach, Hank Haney. EA incorporated his digital likeness, and while it's great that Hank got paid (I'm sure golf teachers are like real teachers -- underpaid), there's no payoff for us players. I miss applying my hard-won attribute points over a large variety of categories, as well as meeting and exceeding my potential by beating Tiger Challenge pros. It's like EA changed it just to call it new, when it's actually pared down and less interesting. What really stinks about this new way of rising through the ranks is that Hank's boring skill drills didn't keep my attention nearly as long as last year's drills, which at least gave you some variety. On a similar note, it seems the importance of your equipment has decreased, which was always one of the more fun things about Tiger.

Despite these changes, Tiger is still a well-made game. The addition of a real-time swing indicator is very helpful. No longer are you simply told you sliced the ball after the fact (no duh, I didn't intend it to veer sharply to the right). Now, you can see your shot is offer center while you practicing your backswing. In conjunction with club tuning (see sidebar), this mechanic allows you to optimize your swing. EA has also made small but meaningful changes to the career structure, online play (which allows you to see where your opponents' balls are going in real time), and the amazing GamerNet feature. Each refines Tiger in useful ways -- unlike Hank.

I'm not sure why EA stripped away features that already worked beautifully. I wish this year's five new courses were just the beginning of the additions instead of one of the highlights, but it'll have to do while we wait for a course creator. I guess that's just the way golf is. One day your swing is near perfection -- until it isn't.