PlayStation 2

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001

N'ayant pas encore de concurrent sur Playstation 2, Tiger Woods comblera parfaitement les amoureux du green par son côté sérieux mais fera aussi découvrir les joies de ce sport aux novices grâce notamment à sa rapidité de prise en main.

Leaning on the selling power of its namesake, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 limps its way through a mediocre round of golf that's less fun than its proud PGA predecessors, and doesn't even dent the PS2's graphical capabilities. Worst of all, you must hit the ball with analog controls. Gone is the tension and timing of hitting the X button. The fairways look good, but the tree and grass textures are simply ugly, especially from mid to long distances, and Tiger's nasally voice-overs don?t help the experience.

All of the elements of a cool game are here. The sounds are very authentic (although there is a lot more cursing when I play), the graphics are worthy of the PS2, and the controls…Well, the controls are something else. I can see setting up a shot for a draw or a fade, but being able to do it while the ball is in the air is a little like shooting fish in a barrel. Not only that, but there’s no way to change the swing mechanism. You have to use the analog control. That in itself is enough for me to frown. This coupled with the fact that if you don’t make a perfectly vertical movement with the stick while swinging, you’re either taking a mulligan or you’re so far in the rough you need a machete to get to your ball. On the plus side, there is some nice voice work done, and the different challenge scenarios will keep things interesting for you should you tire of the Tour mode. Unless you’re a Tiger fanatic, I’d give this one a rent then leave it alone.

Overall, this game falls way short of my expectations and makes Swing Away look even more appealing.

There is very little reason to revisit this game. It still plays a decent version of golf, but when 2002 (not to mention later games as well) did everything so much better, it's hard to go back. This may appeal a bit more to those who enjoy more realistic golf, but the wealth of features offered by other games in the series adds a lot more replay value for the money.

The most frustrating aspect of this game is not its general mediocrity, but that it is so close to being a genuinely good golf game. It has all the makings, and with some minor tweaking of the controls and a bit of graphical cleanup, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 could have been an exceptional title. The competition is lean on the PS2, with the only other option being the superior, albeit cartoony, Swing Away Golf, also published by Electronic Arts. But if golf isn't golf for you without those PGA masters and true-to-life courses, then Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 may meet your needs.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 aurait pu être la nouvelle référence du golf sur console avec un système de swing original et des graphismes nettement améliorés. Au lieu de cela, le nouveau titre de EA Sports est assez décevant et ne propose que 3 malheureux parcours pour 6 golfeurs. Le swing est certes original, mais devient vite imprécis et énervant et la réalisation laisse un peu à désirer sur plusieurs points. Il n'en reste pas moins que le souci du réalisme est bien présent dans ce titre qui devrait contenter la plupart des amateurs de simulation de golf sur console.