The Tiger Woods series has been well-received for many years, but recent versions have become the only simulation golf title on any console. Each game in the series has managed to improve in one or more areas, and the most recent game in the series, released in late August on almost every platform imaginable, has continued this trend. The game has made many improvements over the last year, both in gameplay and presentation. However, as with all games, for every improvement, there is some other area that can be improved. For Tiger Woods 09, those areas include the graphics and animations, though the biggest detriment to the game is the new commentators. It was the main reason I did not buy this game after playing the demo. After playing three holes in the demo, I could not imagine myself having as much fun with this game as I had with past games, because the level of interaction between the commentators was clearly not the same as it had been in the past. Sometimes, change can be a bad thing.

To be clear, Tiger Woods 09 is a good game. Improvements have been made to the overall presentation of the game, along with online play, the ability to tune the user’s clubs to his or her liking, and the added benefit of being instructed on which part of his or her game still needs improving. The presentation of the game is very clean, with all the information one might need at his or her finger tips. Online play was heavily criticized in Tiger Woods 08 because rounds would take too long to complete, but in this year’s version EA Sports has added "online simultaneous play," allowing up to four people to play a round at the same time, all while seeing each other’s shots show up on the screen in the form of different-colored ball trails. The "club tuner" also adds a new element to the game, allowing each player to customize his or her clubs to allow for a more personalized feel to them. Finally, the inclusion of Hank Haney, Tiger Woods’s personal coach, is a nice touch to the game. It enables the player to receive feedback on four different aspects of his or her game: power, accuracy, short game, and putting. Haney will then tell the player where his or her strengths and weaknesses are, and suggest ways to improve specific areas.

There are still aspects of the game that need to be improved, however. For one, the graphics are very detailed, with player faces being spot-on for many golfers, along with a large improvement to the appearance of a reflective water surface -- which looks beautiful. It seems that the same graphics engine has been utilized since the first game was released on current-generation consoles, however, with slight optimizations being made to each game. I believe it may be time to develop a new engine, though it may be too time-intensive to incorporate into next year’s game. If this is the case, hopefully EA Sports is working on a new engine for Tiger Woods 2011, because the current engine has been used for long enough.

Another minor issue with the game crops up during the swing animations. There appears to be a slight hitch between the player’s swing and the moment contact is made with the ball. In some cases, the club is a few inches away from the ball when contact is made. I assume this would be a fairly minor fix, but it is jarring to see something like this when everything else in the game is meticulously re-created to give a more realistic feel to it.

The only major complaint I have with this game is the commentary. The duo of David Feherty and Gary McCord has been a staple in past Tiger Woods games, and their absence from this year’s version is very disappointing. It wouldn’t have been so disappointing, though, if the new commentary team EA Sports brought in, consisting of Kelly Tilghman and Sam Torrance, actually had some life in their voices. It’s a bad sign when the course introducer has more excitement in his voice than the actual commentary team. It’s too bad, because the previous duo would constantly play off of each other with their comments, either congratulating players for hitting a good shot, or telling them to "get out their bucket and spade, this one’s going in the bunker."

The new team acts as if they are commentating on the same game from different press boxes. There is no back-and-forth banter, as was the case with Feherty and McCord, who were constantly bickering with each other about a player’s last shot. Was it completely faithful to something you may have heard on The Golf Channel on any given weekend? No. It did, however, make the game more fun, which is the point of a video game. If someone wants perfect realism, he or she need only turn on the television.

Without a dynamic commentary team, it feels like the user is missing a part of the package. To me, it seems like EA Sports was attempting to make the game as realistic as possible by bringing in new commentators. All they managed to do, though, was take a potentially great game and make it just another good game. I would much rather listen to two exciting commentators, than to listen to these lifeless announcers who make it agonizingly difficult to make it through a round without muting the game. In some cases, realism doesn’t add fun to a game. I believe this is the case, at least concerning the commentary, with Tiger Woods 09.

Many people will probably tell me that if I have such a problem with the commentators, I should just mute them. While this argument certainly has merit, I believe it takes away a large part of the fun factor in the game. I have mainly played the previous games with my friends, and while we enjoy competing against each other, another fun part of the game includes being ridiculed by the commentators for poor shots. It adds another level to the game, something that one would never find in a hyper-realistic golf game, and certainly would never hear on television. Also, if I feel that it is necessary to mute the commentators in order to fully enjoy the game, then the game is not worthy of a purchase because commentary is very important to me. When someone mutes the commentators, that person is admitting that the game is not as good as it could have been. If that’s the case, why should he or she purchase the game in the first place, unless the positives greatly outweigh this certain negative aspect of the game?

Tiger Woods 09 is, again, a good game. Improvements have been made to numerous areas of the game, including presentation and graphics, and many new features have been implemented as well. An aging graphics engine, some awkward swing animations, and a downright dull commentary team, however, keep it from achieving a level of greatness. Unfortunately, the decision to bring in a new commentary team has cost EA Sports my $60. While that alone will not bankrupt the company, one wonders how many other consumers decided to do the same with their money?