Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08

Me and my brothers and uncle got this for my dad for x-mas, along with the Wii to play it on, so comparing it to Wii Sports golf was pretty convenient. At first, Tiger Woods was a visible failure. Its interface is hideously convoluted; a forceful first-time tutorial is nearly impossible to get through; and there are even graphical issues, especially when text is on the screen. But Tiger's real strength comes out with continued play, in some pretty impressive depth.

The gameplay system is one thing. Tiger gives you a lot more options for clubs, shooting times, and strength of the shot, with more possibilities for lie, wind, slope, and what forth. Different golfers even have different strengths, though nothing I've seen so far seems able to beat John Daly's superhuman drive. And there's a confidence system that allows you to build up players with experience if you so choose. I gotta say, though, the coolest thing about Tiger is the courses. A slew of real-life golf courses, from Sawgrass to Pebble Beach, have been put right in the game; so not only are there a ton of holes to play, they're all based on real pro golf situations.

So in the end, while there is a definite learning curve, even for real golfers - enough that it's hard to make a case for Tiger as a "casual-friendly" game - the rewards for a true enthusiast are pretty nice. If only EA cared about polishing their games.

Progress: Gave Up