EA returns to the PGA with an inconsistent, frustrating simulation and struggles with its identity. Featuring the finest interactive presentation in the sport of professional golf, the on-course action, while beautiful, delivers conflicting results.
At licensing, EA wins and scores at the Masters and key courses like Pebble Beach. Presentation counts, as did the first day of the Masters with opening tee shots from Jack Nicklaus and others. Quiet commentary meaningfully discusses each hole during flybys. Gorgeous views line the fairways and every individually rendered blade of grass is visible, even on the fairway. Each hole is lined with realistic looking spectators, but their lack of reaction when hit with a ball removes immersion.
Prestige comes at a price – this is a daunting golf simulation. Fairways and greens seem stuck at their hardest/fastest setting. The analog stick’s swing works logically, but results vary, with little feedback on what sent a downstroke towards the trees. Each shot takes into account forward and back swing speed, length, loft and wind. That’s true of sports, since any of them can cause a botched shot, but EA’s PGA Tour doesn’t allow you to see what’s going wrong in the moment.
When the ball is in the air, a small window shows the movement of the analog stick, and any deviation from left to right (no matter how small) means a drastic slip. This becomes more forgiving as you level, no matter how small the gain. Greens provide a useless guide showing the best ball trajectory but no indication of what that line represents to aid in aiming. Even on a light shot, if the swing deviates a little from power or straightness, it will miss, short putt or not.
Elements from EA’s discontinued Tiger Woods series remain. Of particular note is the ability to press a button for power during the backswing and add spin as the ball flies skyward, a totally unrealistic option. That’s the crisis facing the EA Sports PGA Tour, caught up in the studio’s arcade-like legacy while competing with golf sim rival 2K Sports.
When building a career (the only long-term single player mode), the underwhelming character creator limits your options. Only generic heads and an awfully small selection of clothing items fill the menus, with the latter being expanded via the in-game shop.
From there, it’s all about competing in tournaments, playing majors, and moving up the ranks. Earning XP is quick at first, but the final stages in each stat take far too long, and the currency accumulates just as slowly. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour is encouraging players to spend between $5 and $50 in in-game cash on new jerseys or a +3 Club Power Boost to speed up this process. Combined with the slow progress, the pressure to spend feels obvious.
Training challenges offer sponsorship and XP, but it’s clumsy and boring. Each usually takes a few swings – say, a driving accuracy test – then back to a loading screen, then to the menu.
Graphic beauty can occasionally cause problems. A fan’s body blocked the swing meter prior to a crucial Master’s tee shot. Tall grass does the same, even if it’s translucent. Performance becomes a guess because the meter doesn’t show up, making the already brutal difficulty unfair.
Leveling allows for additional swing types, such as B. Power drives to ease the challenge. These fit EA’s brand, much like Madden’s X-Factors, but like hitting the backswing buttons, they come across as like underdogs in a golf game. While some shot types make sense, it’s illogical that many of them need to be unlocked in the first place; Imagine going to the PGA with no basic knowledge.
EA Sports PGA Tour captures the intricate nuances of golf. However, the systems struggle with what a user can reasonably decipher from a mere analog stick, making for a frustrating experience. A game torn between competing with the realism of rival 2K or staying closer to its own arcade roots, EA Sports PGA Tour lands its first drive of this new round in the rough.