A hole new ball game

It's that special time of year once more, when gamers can completely ignore the lovely weather and, instead, lock themselves away with the latest annual release of Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods franchise.

This year it's an especially exciting time as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 pretty much seals the deal, as far as golf simulation goes, delivering something for to players of every age, capability and persuasion.

Golfing USA

Golf geeks have a great deal to get excited about. There are 16 world-class courses here all presented in mouth-watering detail. These include six new courses: Bethpage, Hazeltine, Oakmont, Pinehurst, Torrey Pines and Turnberry. In terms of championships, this year's release crucially includes, for the first time ever, the US Open Championship along with the official USGA rules.

There are plenty of characters to play around with, too. Over 30 pre-defined golfers are available, both pro golfers and novelty characters included. These can differ radically in performance, so if you fancy a challenge, you can choose some of the less accomplished players. That said, most people will want to step into the shoes of Tiger himself and because his stats are far and away the best in the game, it's difficult to see why you'd choose anyone else until you've become a virtual talent in your own right.

There are also two new pro golfers in the roster. Veteran golfer Rocco Mediate, who gave Tiger a hard time at the 2008 US Open makes an appearance as does rising young star, Anthony Kim.

Be prepared!

You may think they spend all their time looking for wacky trews but golf pros take their preparation very seriously and PGA Tour 10 enables gamers to do the same. A new practice round feature allows players to take a stroll around a course ahead of the tournament in order to try out shots from every conceivable angle. Add to that the Club Tuner feature, which allows for the (wait for it...) fine-tuning of your clubs following a practice round, and you need never enter a tournament feeling unprepared ever again.

Other new features include changing weather conditions (unsurprisingly, both wind and rain have a significant impact on shots), a variety of skill levels to suit players of differing abilities and a new tournament challenge, in which you can relive historic golfing moments. There are also fun bonus games, including archery style hit-the-target challenges and a fun head-to-head battle, in which the winner of each hole gets to steal a club from his or her opponent's bag.

Take it online

Online play is a particularly enticing prospect. Quite apart from the opportunity to play other flesh and blood golfers over your connection, there are also other benefits to staying connected. Impressively, if you're a stickler for realism, you can play a game where the weather conditions at any given course are 100 per cent accurate, thanks to data downloaded from The Weather Channel. More fun, though, is the ability to upload particularly impressive shots to GamerNet for others to try and emulate. On the other hand, you can take other player's shots and attempt to better them yourself.

With its fresh courses, new players, improved gameplay, online options and bonus games, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 really is the definitive golfing game on any of the major system. However, if you want to know which console version of the game is the best of the best, you might want to seek out our review of the Wii version of the game, because that particular incarnation contains some pleasant surprises all of its own. No matter which system you own, though, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is videogame golfing at its very best.

GAME's Verdict

• Looks amazing.
• Loads of courses.
• Weather conditions.
• US Open included.
• Online and minigames.

• The easy level is way too simple

Review by: Simon 'Club Foot' Kirrane
Version Tested: Xbox 360 PS3 PC
Review Published: 02.07.09