As a kid, I spent many Saturday mornings enrolled in golf school. It was never one of my strong suits and I eventually retired from the sport at the ripe old age of 12. Now, I’m coming back! Sure, it’s a golf video game, but Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 presents the most realistic experience ever before seen on a virtual course. Great care in detail has been spent by Electronic Arts trying to capture the sport authentically. Certain parts of Tiger Woods 07 are whiffs, but the game as a whole is an entertaining title that golf enthusiasts should play.

One of the first parts (and arguably best) parts of the game is character-creation. The sky is the limit when it comes to making your own unique character, whether it be a spitting image of you by augmenting subtle features or a monstrous atrocity with a face not even a mother would love. You can buy many things from the pro shop including new clothes, jewelry, and clubs to add to your character’s golf bag. Besides how your player looks and sounds, you can select between a wide variety of swing-types. This really adds to the uniqueness of the character. When you start playing with your created character, you don’t have much to work with. You will need to gain skills by completing training mini-games like competing with other golfers for best shot and race-the-clock, where you must earn a certain amount of money for successful shots under a specified amount of time. Whatever mini-game you choose will affect the type of attribute that will increase. Playing putting contests will boost your short-game skills while long-distance competitions will boost your long-game skills. The game has also integrated a significant portion of gaining skills in tournament play. If you win a pro tourney, your attributes will also increase. There is a also a range to practice distance shots, but I only spent a few minutes playing before I got bored.

Swinging the golf club is controlled by pulling the left thumbstick down and flicking it back up in the direction that you want the ball to go. The “shot stick” is intuitive enough to pick up any variations of execution including fades, draws, hooks, and slices. As any golfer knows, where your ball is on the course will affect how the ball travels. Playing from the fairway is a lot different than playing in the sand traps. The lie indicator determines the percentage of distance the ball would take under usually circumstances. This is important in deciding the right shot to swing because the automatic club and shot setup is not always the best choice. The right thumbstick is used as a “loft stick” to position how the club will hit the ball, which will determine the height and distance. To add power to your shot, press the A-button multiple times on the backswing. Once the ball is in flight, you can add spin to the ball. Although this becomes especially useful when the ball lands on the putting-green and spins closer to the whole, it is very unrealistic (manually controlling the golf ball in the air is something the professionals have yet to accomplish).

The aiming system is comprised of a large circle covering a sizeable portion of the green that can be adjusted depending on the type of club used and the directional pad. But don’t be confused, this circle does not necessarily guarantee your ball will end up somewhere within the vicinity. You need to adjust for multiple factors including wind and environmental barriers (trees, bushes, etc). When putting, a large grid will appear over the green showing you how the level it is. You will need to adjust the direction of aim to account for changes in slope. At first, it is challenging in determining the best way to hit the ball but you’ll quickly learn the advanced techniques of the short-game. One of the real pains of the game is after taking a long shot or putt, the screen narrows indicating the ball will be perfectly placed. The suspense is short-lived in some instances, for example, when not only did your ball not land near the cup but you were so mesmerized by the wide-screen view that you forgot to add spin to the ball!

The game features a variety of modes and matches. These include the normal Stroke Play, Match Play, Skins, and Best Ball that we are all familiar with. In addition, the developers have included four brand new game modes. Greensome is a two-on-two game where your team plays the best ball each swing. Bloodsome is another two-on-two game where your opponent chooses the ball you will use, most likely the worst shot available. Both of these game modes are dependent on having good teammates. There were numerous occasions I was stuck playing with a buddy who couldn’t make a straight shot if his life depended on it. Battle Golf is a two-player match where the player with the lowest shot count wins the whole … and then removes a club of his choosing from his opponent’s bag (or adds a removed club back into his own bag)! This is easily the most fun mode Tiger Woods 07 has to offer. Imagine a tee-shot on a par five and the best club you have is an 8 iron. It’s rare to be in such a position, but you get the point. The most challenging and frustrating mode is One Ball. Your opponent and you take turns shooting one ball to the cup. Ultimately, only one of you will get that hole. Strategy is the key in where to position your shot. Every shot, the player must hit the ball inside the “Circle of Trust” or risk “Betrayal” where he would lose his turn. This becomes a devastating blow if you get close to the hole giving your opponent two shots to make it.

There are many professional golfers available to play as and play against. Of course, Tiger Woods looks and plays absolutely fantastic. Last year’s E3 press conference from Electronic Arts demonstrated what was possible in character likeness and reaction. Virtual Tiger Woods was shown to the astonishment of the crowd with his patented-grin. Just like I hoped, Tiger looks just as he appeared in May. Mike Weir, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, and John Daly are also playable, but none of them look (or play, for that matter) as good. Annika Sorenstam, the LPGA legend, also makes her first appearance ever in a golf video game. Besides the pros, the developers have thrown in some wacky characters to unlock including an old-timer named Pops Masterson and a linebacker-sized player named Big Mo. Tiger Challenge utilizes these characters early on in a competition to beat all the top golfers in the world and eventually Tiger Woods himself. Training your player is very important, so practice the different mini-games offered to gain attributes. The difficulty settings you choose vary quite a bit. Easy mode, for example, makes even the most seasoned professional play stupid to the point of absurdity. One time, a game against Mike Weir completely went awry as he hit three balls into the water back-to-back-to-back. I was also able to sink a hole-in-one and a couple birdies the first day I started playing. I’d like to think that is all skill, but the PGA has yet to send me an offer.

Tiger Woods 07 offers 12 real courses including Pebble Beach, Bandon Dunes, Glen Abbey, and Firestone Country Club. There are also a few developer-created courses to add to the variability. The lack of any kind of golf course creation, however, is very disappointing. With the power of the Xbox 360 and the nature of the game itself, I question if the course-maker was cut out somewhere along the development process.

Gameplay value is added with online play on Xbox Live. Three out of four attempts to connect to a game failed, but once you are in you will find a good match with quality opponents. There are even daily tournaments to join. Once the game is done, however, you must navigate back into the multiplayer screen from the main menu which gets frustrating. One bonus feature of Tiger Woods 07 is the inclusion of different ESPN media functions. You can read top sports news from ESPN.com and listen to live ESPN radio clips straight from your Xbox Live connection. I liked EA’s attempt to jazz up the sports franchise, but the ESPN integration is rather scant to be considered a valuable feature (ESPN radio only plays in menu mode). Picture-in-picture was also added where one cameras follows the ball while the other camera is on your character to gage their reactions. It looks pretty cool despite the repetitive one-liners that come out of their mouths (If I hear “get on the fairway, GET ON THE FAIRWAY” one more time, I’ll take a sand wedge straight to my subwoofer).

Like I said before, the developers have spent a lot of time and effort making the characters look great. The courses also look and play nicely with only a few iffy graphic choices in the environment. To add to the realism, spectators line the fairway edges to watch the masters at work and give them their support. Besides walking/running to your ball location in between shots, there is no real interaction. They will stand straight with arms at their sides. If you are about to swing and position yourself aiming right for the fans, you will see them squirm and cover themselves. Even better, hitting them will elicit a negative reaction such as rubbing the newly-created swollen spot or down-right fainting. The spectators don’t vary much in character modeling and can be pretty plain. At least you never feel alone when playing.

The sound is less impressive, mostly because of the less than stellar commentary performances by David Feherty and Gary McCord. They often give out their opinion of a shot before it’s even close to deciding how the ball will end up. If you think this is just expert analysis with just some kind of advanced forecasting, you will be shocked and confused when their comments are directly opposite of how the ball plays. Sometimes good shots get negative feedback while bad shots are met with positive remarks. The sound effects vary from heavy wind to chirping birds to rustling trees, which are great to listen to in surround sound.

Unlike a lot of golf video games that emphasize crazy gameplay elements to make a stale game fun, Tiger Woods 07 presents golf in an authentic fashion. It really is the way this game was meant to be played. It has some shortcomings including lack of a course editor, online difficulties, and sound issues, but any golf enthusiast (or sports enthusiast for that matter) would be wise to try this title out.

Gameplay: 8.4
The old way of pulling back the thumbstick to hit the ball is still the best. I don’t care for the unrealistic ability to add spin to the ball in mid-flight and the AI of opponents can be silly, but I am generally impressed with the gameplay.

Graphics: 9.0
Tiger Woods looks absolutely fantastic. The other characters come out nicely as well. Spectators, unfortunately, don’t follow in step.

Sound: 7.0
Character voicing generally sounds good although they are repetitive, but the commentary work is pretty rough. Sound effects do add to the ambiance of the game.

Difficulty: N/A
There is such variety in how the game can be played. Unfortunately easy mode is too easy while harder modes can be impossible.

Concept: 9.0
Tiger Woods helped revive golf; Tiger Woods 2007 may just have done the same.

Multiplayer: 8.8
It’s great playing against your buddies in Tiger Woods 07, especially in teams of two. Seriously, give it a try. Online play stumbles a bit though.

Overall: 8.5
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007 is the most realistic golf video game I have ever experienced. Sure, there are some issues that affect the overall game performance. But there is nothing quite like playing golf in high definition…well, unless you go outside and play the real thing (but who has the time).