Normally, a Tiger Woods golf game for Wii - any multi-platform game, for that matter - would take a back seat to the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 versions of the same title. Wii games by comparison are known for graphical inferiority, chunkier animations, and less environmental detail across the board. And while default Wii controls are notably different from any other platform, they're rarely precise. As such, Wii versions of multi-platform games usually aren't as fun as their high definition counterparts.
And that's true of with PGA Tour 10 without Wii MotionPlus; it's a decent but homely game of "twitch" golfing. However, slap in that MotionPlus dongle and the fun factor exceeds that of high-def Tiger 10 (which remains superior in visuals only).
When you first fire up the game, you'll be led through a brief tutorial by Tiger Woods' coach, Hank Haney (also known as the guy trying to fix Charles Barkley's famous train-wreck of a swing in the Golf Channel's "The Haney Project").
Hank first checks that you can actually hit the fairway. Good job. Later, he demonstrates then expects you to repeat an intentional draw around some trees and onto the fairway, then a fade around the trees. It's MotionPlus that enables such exactitude and it does take some getting used to, especially if you've perfected a twitch swing in previous Wii golf games. But wow, what a difference a 'Plus makes.
Next you set up your golfer with the standard "let's play dress-up" hokum of naming, adjusting physical features, donning clothes and picking equipment. Later, as you progress, more accessories, baubles, balls and clubs comes available, some of which offer performance enhancing modifiers like more distance, better accuracy and so on.
Surprisingly, if you're a sucker for pro shop fashions, you can help pad EA's coffers by using real money to buy fake game stuff in the form of name brand clothes and clubs at the EA Store. Funny how a global publishing giant isn't too proud to nickel and dime.
Anyway, once you start your career, you have three options available: Play on the PGA Tour, skip directly to the Fed-Ex cup (the invite-only tournament of pros) or play in "Tournament Challenge" mode, which offers playable recreations of great moments in PGA Tour Tournaments past.
If you happen to be recreating one of Tiger's moments in this latter mode, Tiger himself steps in (via cut scene), walks you through the scenario step-by-step and offers his thoughts and strategies as he handled it at the time. It's a cool little tweak in and of itself, but it also speaks volumes as to Tiger's actual involvement in a game that could have just been a paycheck for bearing his name and face on cover.
Exclusive to the Wii version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is a MotionPlus-intensive bonus game of Disc Golf. Like the real (if niche) sport, Disc Golf has you tossing Frisbee-like discs down fairways, eventually landing them in a basket as opposed to a cup on a green. Aside from offering yet another showcase for the satisfying exactitude of MotionPlus controls, Disc Golf is a rather addictive distraction, especially when played with a group of friends or family members who might not want to partake in the more formal sport of regular golf.
All told, Tiger Woods '10 would be a good Wii game without MotionPlus, but buy the bundled version, snap in that dongle, and the game plays on a whole new level - a level of unmatched excellence, as a matter of fact. It takes but a little time to get used to the more precise controls and it's just amazing thereafter. Seriously, you'll rue all your other games that don't support the accessory.
Of course, if your golf swing is consistently lousy, well, that's your problem. At least Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 with Wii MotionPlus is there to help.
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
