In Games: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2011 for PS3

The newest release in the Tiger Woods franchise is a mixed bag of improvements and drawbacks.  Some of my favorite things about the series have gone missing in 2011.  For instance, one of the parts of the game that was the most fun was getting sponsored and earning money by wearing your sponsor's gear.  Not only is this gone, but so is the money!  You now use XP for gear, animations AND your skill upgrades.  That's a lot of crap to use XP on and you probably won't ever be able to afford the animations you want without sacrificing your game play.  Another great thing about this franchise that fell short with this release is the ability to create your own characters and have them look like you.  The "Photo Gameface" lets you upload pictures, takes about 20 minutes and then ends up looking nothing like you.  The standard gameface lacks a lot of customization ability.  Overall, the graphics should have come along much further and have not progressed as much as they should have from the last version of the game.

Although there are a few negatives, the game play itself is actually true to the franchise and in fact is really fun to play, even though I get so frustrated I want to hurl my six-axis through the TV!  In 2011 EA Sports has implemented True Aim which makes the game feel much more accurate and allows you to play the whole thing from the first person angle.  The power boost and ball spin are still here, but now require Focus, which you build by not using any power ups and make the game better knowing you have to use this strategically.  The putting is similar, but EXTREMELY touchy and probably one of the most frustrating and rewarding parts of the game.  In golf they say that putting is 3/4 of your game, and that holds true in this game as well.  Probably the best feature of this game is Online play which allows you to play multi player and match games online and build teams with friends or random players.  Honestly, I haven't done this yet because I'm still building my stats, but from what I hear it is awesome and I can't wait!

So overall, there are some drawbacks, but the fun of the series lives on even in 2011!

★★★☆☆