For the last few months, I’ve played a LOT of Tiger Woods 09, as I’ve been engaged in a rigorous exercise/training program where I do a lot of stationary biking, and a non-twitchy game like Tiger Woods is a great way to kill that time. So the release of Tiger Woods 10 Â this week was just what I needed, as I was rapidly approaching my third full season in the previous game.
One of my small gripes with Tiger 09 was the fact that the camera that follows each shot would occasionally show some lame side angle where you couldn’t even see the ball. It happened maybe 1 out of 20 times, so it wasn’t a big deal. But for my first six hours with Tiger 10, the game has taken this to an absurd degree, where almost EVERY shot is followed from some bizarre side angle. Not only is this not a terrible way to show the game from a presentation standpoint, but it also makes it impossible to judge what kind of spin you should put on a shot to keep it from rolling into a sand trap. The camera angles effectively render an entire feature of the game unusable.
So I’d like to congratulate the makers of Tiger Woods 10. For years, you’ve had a great game, but in your ever-continuing struggle to make the game look different from last year’s version, you’ve taken a part of your game that worked perfectly and broken it. Way to go!
Otherwise, Tiger 10 isn’t that different from earlier games. There’s still a PGA tour, the Tiger Challenge has been replaced with “Tournament Challenges,” and there’s a new putting system which takes a little figuring out but actually makes putting easier. More thoughts on the new Tiger later in the week as I whip through the game.
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