Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 Preview

Only the most dedicated golf fan is going to be tempted to buy a Tiger Woods PGA game every year. Which is why, year after year, the highly imaginative developers at EA Tiburon take a big swing at coming up with some new approach or hook.

Trouble is, golf is a way, way simpler game than, say, soccer or football and lacks the lure of new rosters. So the innovations vary from pretty cool (last year's long-awaited addition of Masters course Augusta) to really kinda dumb (remember '3D grass'?).

In Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 we have an edition which could be as interesting and fresh as anything since the three-button mechanic was replaced by the analog swing.

First, we have motion-controls, the most intriguing of which is undoubtedly Kinect. IGN will be showing full details in a video preview in a couple weeks, but you can be sure that it makes use of movement and voice-operated menu controls and, for the first time, offers a convincing use of body mechanics to play. This game does for fat lazy dudes what Dance Central offers to teenage girls - a chance burn off some energy in front of the TV screen in a fun way. It's an absolute alternative to a rained-off Sunday afternoon foursome. To be clear, this is a long way from playing golf on Wii Sports.


For traditional controllers, there's a new UI that attempts to sweep away sub-menus and allows the player to make any kind of shot choice at the point of addressing the ball. A 'halo' like swirl surrounds the player describing the swing plane. Your swing is all about following the arc, or for more advanced golfers, deviating from the plane to create useful alternative movement. Players can swing inside or outside the curve to create draw and fade.

There are also multi-directional HUD controls for addressing the ball at point of contact and tempo and power have been modified to give the player full swing control on softer of harder shots. (In earlier iterations, how far you pull back the left thumb-stick had little effect on shot power, only how hard you pushed forward.)

Last year's introduction of the helpful caddy is back as well as post-shot iconic analysis of your swing. The putting meter has been placed at the club-head's point of contact, so players are no longer forced to watch a corner of the screen to sink the ball.


This real-time control and lack of menus does not mean that specialists shots are missing. Punch and chip shots are all controllable at point of swing. In fact, part of the joy of the game is exploring potential variants on a straight shot, something which makes golf games today so much more challenging than they were in days of yore.

All EA Sports' games come with new gizmos and gadgets outside the central gameplay experience. This year it's all about creating 'Online Country Clubs' that allow you and your pals to go up against rival gangs. There's also an opportunity to relive significant moments from Woods's career, (this idea skirts perilously with a certain infamous South Park skit.)

For golf nuts it's entirely possible that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 may be a valid potential purchase, even if you bought '12 or even '11. For the rest of the world, the Kinect addition might just create a great party experience.

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