My review on Tiger 12:
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters is a pro golf simulation game developed by EA Tiburon and published by EA Sports in April 2011.
When I purchased Tiger Woods 12 Masters edition my anticipation for the game was amazingly high as were my expectations. For years now golf fans have been pleading and begging EA to put the most beloved and adored golf course of any golf fan into their yearly installment of the Tiger franchise and this year they finally did that. To start off the menu and load up screens have a surprisingly classy finish to them both musically and visually obviously pertaining to the tradition that is the Masters. This addition has made the game a lot more enjoyable as opposed to years prior when rap and hip hop music were a mainstay with the franchise and just seemed completely out of place. Tiger 12’s player creation zone is still as in depth and immersive as ever and the photo gameface option still exists allowing you to create a player as close to or far away from your actual appearance as possible. There are literally endless possibilities when creating your golfer.
After you have figured out the way you want to look when you enter your golf career you find yourself moving into uncharted territory and preparing for the Road to the Masters. For the very first time you will have to climb through the ranks of the Amateur circuit as well as the Nationwide Tour before putting your skills to the test in Q School where you have to earn your PGA Tour card to be able to compete in the PGA tour events. An experienced TW gamer will find themselves burning through these scenarios rather quickly even at a higher difficulty setting and while these are a welcomed addition to this golf game they do need to be fleshed out quite a bit more as they are over in pretty much the first couple hours of gameplay.
Once on the PGA tour you will be challenged to perform well in the tournaments leading up to the Masters and try to crack the top 100 golfers in the world in order to obtain an invite to the Masters or you can choose to pass all nine Master Moments to earn an invite as well. Most I would assume would like to work their way through nine of the most historic moments in Masters history to obtain that invite, reliving such moments like Phil Mickelson’s amazing shot from the pine needles on hole 13 in 2010
or Jack Nicklaus’s remarkable -6 run on the back nine to become the oldest man to ever capture a Green Jacket back in 1986.
Playing through these moments is beyond enjoyable and while I wish there had been even more moments to play through you can’t help but appreciate this addition to the game. When you have mastered each moment you also get commentary from Jim Nantz on some of the history at the Masters including Magnolia Drive and Nelson Bridge as well as one of many pins which are awards gamers earn for completing such tasks like 250 career birdies, 5 tournament wins in a row and of course mastering all 9 Master moments.
When you get down to the core gameplay it is still far too easy even if you take away some of the arcade-esque features of the game like power boost and spin control. To shoot a -18 at the Masters is almost unheard of though Tiger did manage such a feat many years ago but to shoot -40 and upwards at other major golf tournaments is just down right impossible. While such low scores affect the value of the game it is easy to look past it when considering the amount of fun that can be had. The new addition of the Caddie helps the more and more realistic look of the game but detracts from the games mechanics and will probably be disregarded by most of the experienced TW’s gamers who will most times opt for the custom shot.
The new grip and choke mechanics help open up a vast majority of shot selections and help keep the game fresh and interesting while goading you into taking some high risk high reward shots. For gamers in a rush the all new Fast Golf feature allows you to quickly make your way through a round and if you just don’t have enough time to finish the round you started your able to save mid-round games in the single player mode which is another welcomed addition.
The actual courses look stunning with a lot of attention paid to the detail of each hole like bunker, tree and water hazard placements the breaks on the greens and the overall look of each hole. Additions like dynamic time of day, which sees daylight and the position of the sun change dramatically through out the course of your round, as well as 3D grass further help the realism of the game and I found myself constantly saying how much each hole looked so close to the real-life version with none being as great as Augusta National. Nothing is more thrilling than getting through Amen’s corner with an unscathed scorecard and while the core gameplay is easy as stated earlier, any kind of lack of concentration can make you pay in this game.
It takes awhile to build your player up to the level that some of the pros are at but it shouldn’t take too long before your able to drive certain par 4’s in one and to start dominating golf courses. The EXP system is different than in years past allowing the player to only spend experience points on player growth rather then spending them on new clubs or clothes and other such accessories, all of which just have to be unlocked through certain game achievements to be obtained.
The single player mode can be enjoyed for quite some time and makes you want to complete many of the seemingly impossible tasks but if you want to enjoy the game through the eyes of a pro then there are 20 professional golfers to choose from including new faces Zach Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, the Molinari brothers and Rhys Davies as well as mainstays Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Palua Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Chris DiMarco and others. Also swing your way through 16 courses including 5 new courses – TPC San Antonio, Atlanta Athletic Club, The Royal Melbourne Golf Club, The Dunes Course Costa Navarino and of course Augusta National.
Add to the solid single player campaign a myriad of online and offline multiplayer options as well as the Presidents Cup and the replay value of Tiger Wood’s this year is as endless as ever.
Most Frustrating: The fact that you still have to pay for courses that are only included in packs and not with the original game. I had to skip out on a few courses in career mode that force you to buy them if you want to play them. Considering that I had already purchased these course packs for last years installment I did not feel the need to purchase them yet again and I think that the franchise is milking their audience a little bit too much. Once you have bought these courses on a previous edition you shouldn’t have to pay for them again and again.
Most Satisfying: The fact that gamers can finally enjoy arguably the greatest golf course in the history of the game.
8.5/10