If it wasn’t for Sports games, I probably would not have a 300 dollar set of Golf Clubs perched up beside my television. Thanks to Golf series like Tiger Woods and Mario Golf before that, I have fallen in love with the sport and I try to find any opportunity to play it. Now, thanks to Wii-Motion Plus and the latest edition of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Wii, I can enjoy the closest representation to the real thing whenever the weather is not cooperating.

Gameplay

This year’s big focus for Tiger Woods is the inclusion of Wii MotionPlus support. Past Tiger Woods games for the Wii were fairly good representation of the sport, but did not give gamers the 100% genuine feel of actually swinging a set of golf clubs. With Wii MotionPlus, the Wii-mote now acts justifiably to that of a real golf club. If you angle your Wii-mote in a certain direction, you will see the position of the club’s face change. The amount of power in your backswing and your follow through will also factor into each shot. With the added realism in your swing, you can either purposely or accidentally add a Draw or Fade to your shots which can either cause you to curse at the screen or pump your fist like Tiger does on Sunday.

Because of the realism of the sport is increased, so does the difficulty. Those who lack golfing experience will automatically get frustrated with the added extra care required when taking their shots. At the same time, those who love the sport will appreciate the subtle changes one can make. It’s not necessary to play Tiger Woods with Wii MotionPlus, but once you experience the game with it, you will certainly never go back.

The other key addition to the Wii edition of Tiger Woods is the new Disc Golf mode. In cities across North America, this easy to pick up and play sport has taken over and it’s no surprise that it featured here. Disc Golf is similar to real Golf; you have your three types of Discs (replacing your clubs): Driver which can travel as far as 150 yards, your mid-range Disc which goes up to 75 yards and your Putter that has a range of 20 yards. You will need to carefully place your shots in order to reach the target under par.

As with the regular golf modes, Disc Golf also utilizes the Wii MotionPlus. When using it, the hand that is on the screen accurately mimics your actions. You will again see a lot of precision with your throw. You can play this mode with or without the ‘Plus’ add-on, but like the rest of the game, you will get the most satisfaction with it rather than without it.

The only down-side to the Disc Golf is that it is strictly a mini-game that can be played with up to four people. While it’s great to play with friends and matches should not take very long to play, I can only expect a more full-fledged feature in the future to offer some sort of career mode.

Call your friends over for an entertaining match of Disc Golf

In terms of on the course changes, the newest edition is the Precision Putting feature also adds more realism to your swings on the greens. This addition is also featured on the HD consoles, but Wii MotionPlus offers the better experience. Now on the green, you need to judge the right amount of back swing prior to hitting the ball. If you put too much power, you will certainly over hit your putt. In order to get that perfect shot, you need to not only do well on your back-motion, but your follow through must also be accurate. Once again, this realistic portrayal of the real motion will only get Golfing fans giddy.

On the Online side of things, there is more than enough to keep golf fans busy. Along with the standard Daily and Weekly tournaments, the new ‘Play the Pros’ feature will have you really wanting to do your best. ‘Play the Pros’ allows you to play alongside the regular stars on the same courses they are playing that week. See how well you can do for in-game prizes and virtual bragging rights. The only down-side to Online is that the later you start, the more you are behind the 8-ball in comparison to other players. I was playing a round at Bethpage Black and people were finishing rounds with -22 and I was finishing slightly under par. If you want to compete again the rest online, you will really need to hone your own created character or master one of the pros.

The courses and golfers in Tiger Woods are quite good. The courses are proper representations of the real thing with nice looking bunkers and water hazards. The only downside to the courses is that the crowds do look a bit on the bland side. None of them have any personality to them and react all the same. In general, the amount of time you’ll actually spend looking at them will be minimal.

This year also features the inclusion of dynamic weather conditions. When connected online, you will be able to play the courses as they are at that moment. If it’s raining in Banff when you play, you will play in the rain. The game actually plays differently with the weather but unfortunately nothing else changes. Neither your golfer nor the spectators react to the weather; you never appear wet nor do those watching bother to hold umbrellas.

I am a huge fan of ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt; I download his daily Podcast and think that he is one of the best personalities over at the World Wide Leader in Sports. Here, the interaction between him and The Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman is horrible. There is no chemistry between the two and the comments they give are rarely interesting. The series has suffered for some time with the lack of a great commentary team and that trend continues here. The only positive side is that Hank Haney voice is only sparingly used.

The in-game effects are well done. When raining, the thunder sounds are very pronounced and the bird chirpings and other sounds stand out well. If you listen closely you can hear more than one bird call and even a few times you can hear planes flying out in the distance.

There are 27 courses to unlock and over 30 real and fictitious characters to unlock as you play through the games career mode. Golfing fans will have plenty of reason to go back and improve their created character to the max. The game still features plenty of great modes to play with alone or with friends so getting bored with what is offered here will be a difficult task.

In career mode, a cool addition is Tournament Challenge. In this section, you will be given a task that you must complete that mimics a real life golf scenario from recent years. These can be something as simple as completing a number of holes in X amount of strokes or less or hitting three straight fairway shots totaling over 600 yards. These challenges will give you cash to spend on your character, experience points and will be helpful practice for you.

As already mentioned, thanks to the Online features and Disc Golf, you might never need to play another golf game, let alone another sports title, for a very long time.

Conclusion

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is my absolute favourite golf game I have ever played and a must own for fans of the sport and Wii owners. In order to really appreciate the game at its fullest, you need to purchase the Bundle with the Wii MotionPlus add-on or obtain it some other way. You can still enjoy the game without the add-on, but you will not be getting the best experience and will envy those who are. Once you start playing it with it, you will wonder how you played any other golf game in the past. Thankfully the weather is nice right now, so playing Golf indoors isn’t necessary; once the Sun sets and the colder weather hits us later in the year, you will be glad to have this game on your shelf.