Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 Demo Impressions - RaychelSnr's Blog

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RaychelSnr's Blog

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 Demo Impressions Stuck

Posted on March 7, 2013 at 04:57 PM.

(5)

The Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 Demo released earlier this week and in between play sessions of the MLB games, I managed to get some playtime in with the demo. Here are my initial thoughts:

The graphical styling is hit or miss. The Classic Moment graphics were way toned down and, to me, they looked ugly/muddy. The graphics seemed way too underexposed even for heavy rain conditions. The entire game seems much darker, and that really hurts the overall look in my opinion. I feel like the mood of the game just doesn't match up with the sport its trying to portray -- but some have seemed to like the look. Admittedly there were some gorgeous moments within the demo, but I just am not digging the look compared to previous years. To each their own I suppose?
Simulation mode, at first blush, is incredibly tough and unforgiving. You'd definitely want this for the mode, as breaking par will be a challenge for most. Hardcore sim Golf fans are likely going to love this mode, as it offers a big step up in the challenge department.
On the default difficulty (more my cup of tea admittedly), I found the gameplay a good balance of risk/reward for the more casual players.
Its amazing to me how Tiger has gradually reinvented itself over this generation from an arcadey golfing game to something much more akin to a simulation.
The new broadcast presentation has some cool moments, but overall I still don't feel it is quite to a level we want it at yet. Definitely better, but still lacking in many areas.
Quick tournament mode, where you just jump into the final round to try to win a major is a great addition. As a time crunched guy who sometimes just wants to play a round of golf that means something other than just beating my own personal best score, this is a great addition.
I think Tiger definitely still doesn't fully portray tournament tension. I want something more tension filled for sure -- maybe the full version will offer this and we just don't get it yet in the demo? Entirely possible!
The camera angles are a bit, well, I don't know -- they're fine for a video game but I feel they don't give you that 'golf' feeling. One of the things I always enjoy about golf is hitting a little white ball a long way, you don't get that feeling as much with Tiger. That's not to say the camera angles in the game are bad, they're not. Just more options for users wouldn't be a bad thing.
Driving the ball is definitely an exercise in patience. You have to hit the ball well and you have to make sure your 'swing' is good or else you will miss the fairway. This is a great thing, and something I really feel the game has come a long ways towards.
Putting is nowhere near automatic (yet), and I really feel that initially the game has struck a good balance. But I'm also barely missing a lot of putts so with some practice this could easily change.
Live tournaments are pretty sweet. Much like the challenges in SSX where you compete online but still somewhat in a single player fashion. I like this type of online competition because it gives you humans to play against without the need to schedule simultaneous online time.
It feels as if the game is harder, but I don't think it is going to be impossible to master. I'd expect there to be a few people who simply tear courses up over time.
Swinging in the game is improved from '13 for sure, as getting the right swing is a patient driven task. Overswinging will result in your ball flying well past it's intended target. For those who haven't played the game in a couple of years, you have to pay attention to everything from your stance all the way to the wind.
It's easy to see the gameplay has taken another step forward for sure overall. This game plays quite well when you are out navigating a digital course.

The Outlook

Right now, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14feels like a game that has a lot going for it with remaining legacy issues that will undoubtedly mar the experience for some. The core gameplay feels better than ever and the simulation mode is well done from an initial first blush.

If I were making a decision on buying the game before any reviews hit, I'd be weighing how much gameplay means to me, along with better game modes and options versus what appears to be a presentation packaged that has improved but still behind competition in other sports. Ultimately, that decision should be made after trying the demo for yourself.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 launches March 26, 2013 on the XBox 360 and Playstation 3.