Stick to the fashion show side of Tiger Woods 2004 and that's what will happen. We can't overstate the importance of investing in driving length and precision, approach shots, putting, recovering and even luck, because it's all very well stepping off the cover of Rolling Stone to play your tee shot, but if it flies into the jungle and your recovery skill is malnourished, there isn't much you can do about it except lose. Newcomers won't have a clue as to the relative benefits of the various bits of golfing apparatus (we barely did at that), and old hands won't want to divert income away from bolstering those player attributes. Yes, it's very nice being able to upgrade your clubs, shafts, glove, shoes, shirts, trousers, etc, and purchase new celebratory animations - perfect for Happy Gilmore fans who want to ride the bull whenever they sink a putt - but we have to wonder how valuable most people will find this. However, after a few hours we decided we didn't like the shop. ![]() And with plenty of cash accumulated, it's back to the shop to invest. If you play really well, you'll even find that clothing and equipment companies want to sign deals with you, offering massive cash incentives and bonus amounts for every shot you play bearing their logo. Each match is worth tens of thousands of dollars, with bonus cash rewards for hitting the green in the regulation number of strokes, sticking to the fairways, lurking under par and performing feats of golfing magnificence, like finishing with an eagle (two spare strokes), chipping in from the sand, hitting the flagpole from off the green, or scoring that fabled hole-in-one. (Yes, you'll still find yourself unlocking "Tiger's Dream 18" hole by hole.)Īs with 2002/2003, victories mean earnings. ![]() And this time, instead of ascending the ranks one by one, it's possible to pick and choose your adversaries from a small selection each time, unlocking more dots with each successive victory. The most traditional choice is the World Tour mode, set on a world map with lots of little dots highlighting upcoming matches. Obviously the next step is to get our budding superstar out on the Links, and in keeping with previous games there are. (After all, in the game world we have no need for sports cars and fancy divorces, so ploughing the money back into golf is obviously the key.) In the end, we managed a fat Busta Rhymes look-alike with a Fu Manchu moustache, and spent a good half an hour designing a logo for him with a Paint-style tool a couple of menu screens over. More than just a wacky name and a pre-rolled character model, My Tour offers much more control over your golfing identity, allowing you to adjust the height, girth, colour, hairiness and left or right-handed alignment of all manner of body parts (watch out for a Sims: Golf expansion, eh?), with a massive Pro Shop to plunder for outfits, clubs and other equipment. With that out of the way, we set about defining ourselves in My Tour. Halfway between a wedge and a putt, the chip allows you to target an area on the green and tiddlywink the ball a few inches into the air in its direction. Our first mission was to convince the game that we could play it at all by vanquishing the unskippable tutorial, which introduced us to all the shots we already knew - tee shots, approach shots, punches, flops, putts, etc - and one new addition, the chip. Given the sedate, take-it-in-turns gameplay of multiplayer Woods, it's difficult to understand why it was cut out at the 11th hour for the European release, and we're not happy about it.įortunately (for EA), it didn't take long for us to lose ourselves in an array of new options. ![]() Having spent a couple of hours at E3 playing (and thrashing) some poor soul piped in from EA's Redmond HQ via Network Adapter and USB headset, we were looking forward to this immensely. What else has EA got? Splinteredįor veterans, the most crushing disappointment about Tiger Woods 2004 is the lack of promised online options. Newcomers are certainly most welcome, and should be warned that this is no tap-tap-smack PC golf sim, but a more organic version in which players use analogue sticks to swing clubs, and furiously mash the shoulder buttons like a Curling scrubber to add spin.īut after hours spent lining up putts, chipping out of devilishly placed sand traps, and cursing the hurricanes of Royal Birkdale as our massive drives swept perilously close to a nearby loch, we were left wondering whether simply upping the number of courses and throwing in more events would be enough to lure back owners of 2003 and even 2002. Although the 2004 edition of its stick wiggling and button mashing golf series appears at the start of the Christmas rush, flanked on either side by a collection of what must be worryingly saleable alternatives, it's a good place to start. Feel like spoiling a good walk? EA can help you.
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