Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters Review (PS3)

[DivotMaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by kerosene31

Putting is much, much harder (not something I asked for). Meterless putting is something I knew of only a few people wanting, now it is the only way to get a realistic game? Meterless putting is lunacy with a tiny thumbstick. 10 feet on the green is tiny millimeters of pressure on the stick. I could go out on a PGA Tour Green for real and do better. True aim in TW11 is way more realistic for approach shots. Even tournament difficulty makes aiming approach shots easy. We're back to the magic aiming camera even if I pick true aim. They forced meterless putting on me, and removed my favorite part of the game.

I guess we'll simply agree to disagree. Glad you have TW11 to keep you happy and I have 12 to keep me happy. We each win....

[lnin0]

Why will no other publisher pick up the golf mantel and try to knock Tiger down already. Golf must be seen as a no profit genre or else someone would have challenged the struggling Tiger series by now. I miss Links!

[rangerrick012]

I don't like that people look at this score and say that this is a bad game. It's not a bad game, just that EA made a terrible design decision by not giving users the option to shut off the caddy. You can still disable the caddy and set up shots on your own by hitting B on the 360, but it's unfortunate that you can't shut him off completely. But the reviewer kept going back to the caddy when the fact is that you can set up shots on your own, even though his suggestions are still staring you in the face. In the end it's up to you as a gamer to hit the shots, the caddy isn't swinging the club for you.

The career mode is the best that it's been in any TW game and a step in the right direction. Online play w/ daily tournaments (even though people shoot obscenely low scores) is ok. Presentation is an issue in most EA games save for FIFA or NHL.

Quote:

In case you are wondering, you can still post ridiculously low scores at the US Open, some greens feel like mini-golf, and if you simply focus on power and putting you'll dominate in this game.

Play on tournament difficulty and see how many low scores you post at the US Open. Also the options to tweak AI scoring in career mode are another addition (which were not even mentioned by the reviewer).

It just feels like the review was a bit overly nitpicky and negative, and let the caddy take away from any enjoyment he could get out of the game. I agree w/ some of the concerns about it still being a bit lifeless, but I think this is another (even if small) step in the right direction, especially considering the fact that they actually added a goal oriented career mode. I'd give the game a 7.5-8, but think that it's unfair that people will look at this relatively low score and not give the game a shot for themselves.

[kerosene31]

Quote: Originally Posted by GamerzIgnite

That's a prety bad analogy since in golf the caddie tells you how to aim. No he doesn't put is hands on you and line you up, but we are talking about pro golfers here who know how to aim their own body...so a caddie might as well be a lot of the times. I like the feature but agree it could be toned down a bit in some manner. I did turn the audio off instantly...which is ironic because I think the sysmte would work a lot better if it was more audio heavy without the direct visual lines and whatnot.

I've been harsh on the caddy. My biggest beef with it is he gives me a shot out on the fairway (which I often find they are too risky for no reason on drives), so I want to move it a tad to be safe. I can't. So, even if I wanted to give the caddy a shot, I can't even adjust the aim. If I could I could probably actually use it more.

Ok, so I turn the caddy off, and now my aim is 3 holes over to the right. Fair enough, I chose to go alone, but now I have to bring my aimpoint all the way back. All this interface just got in my way.

I never gave the demo a fair shot (I just quit and deleted) when it first came out. I tried to give it more patience last night and I found it less annoying. I guess I don't mind that they give you a shot to make, but if only I could adjust the aim on that shot a bit. In my short experience with the demo I found the caddy aiming to be fairly bad. Anytime I did it myself I did better.

I played the demo more last night and got more used to it. I might actually break down and get this. The graphics are amazing and it seems most of the TW11 live tournaments are gone which is the only mode I play.

Does anyone find the caddy useful? Again I'm only on the demo right now but anytime I let the caddy take the shot on tourney difficulty it usually ended poorly.

[lesscan]

@ rangerrick012 - Speaking for the demo only (thats all ive played) you can turn off the Caddy Feature

[rolltide1017]

I think some of you do not understand how a PGA Tour player and caddy work together. A few people have said they have played in tournament with caddies and the game gets it close. That maybe your experience but, on the PGA Tour, it is quite different.

I'm not trying to one up anyone but I worked for the Golf Channel for 5 years and have heard many recordings from mic'd golfers and caddies that don't always make it on the air. The stuff I heard was more of a discussion between caddy and player. Yes, the caddy has all the yardage and course info but, the player isn't clueless about that stuff either. These guys are pretty familiar with these course so, the caddy makes suggestion, they discuss options and the player may decided to go completely with the caddy's thoughts or his own; or they may come up with something entirely different based on there discussions.

It is not as black and white as some of you make it sound and it is nowhere near as black and white as the game makes it. In the game, the caddy doesn't stop at suggestions, he aims it exactly right, adds the correct amount of fade or draw, adds the right amount of spin and chooses the right grip. That isn't even close to what happens in real life with a caddy. I think it would have been much more realistic if the caddy just verbally made his suggestions in the game. He would just tell you some thing like "it looks like a 4 iron about 8 yards left of the pin and a little draw. Maybe a little back spin but not much, we should be attacking the pin with that shot." That would be closer to real life IMO.

[rangerrick012]

Quote: Originally Posted by lesscan

@ rangerrick012 - Speaking for the demo only (thats all ive played) you can turn off the Caddy Feature

You're right, and that's another gripe I have with this review. He didn't make it clear that the user has the option to disable the caddy at the start of every round and use their own custom shots. Even though his suggestions are still there staring you in the face, which is what I wish EA would patch the option to get rid of. But the review makes it as if you have no way at all to hit the shot of your choice, which is not the case at all. OS usually gives good solid reviews, but it just seems like this one focused too much on one bad aspect of the game and let it cloud his judgment of the game as a whole.

As a matter of fact, going back and looking at the review again, he didn't even mention the fact that users still have the option to set up their own custom shots w/o using the caddy.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Quote: Originally Posted by DivotMaker

I guess we'll simply agree to disagree. Glad you have TW11 to keep you happy and I have 12 to keep me happy. We each win....

Hi Kerosene!

I'd like to chime in and elaborate on Divot's above reply.

I kept TW11 because it's so brilliant with True Aim..and I bought all the courses so I have a big investment there too. LOL But, while there are valid points made about the True Aim camera and system being better in 11 (I agree), TW12's putting on Tournament Mode is ***-hard but it's always challenging and rewarding, to me, in a positive way.

So, the tougher (more realistic) scoring, Masters, overall polish, and graphics upgrade make TW12 worthwhile and (at this time) preferable for me over TW11. But you know what? It's a personal choice, and if you prefer TW11...man I won't argue. That game is a classic to me, and to many of us. It's not going anywhere from my collection because it DOES play differently than 12 does.

If I feel like I REALLY got robbed on missing putts because it's a game and it's inconceivable I would have missed that in real life, I'll save and re-do the hole. It is what it is.

Also...let's not forget there may be a patch coming that will address some general issues for people...which brings us to.........

Quote: Originally Posted by kerosene31

Does anyone find the caddy useful? Again I'm only on the demo right now but anytime I let the caddy take the shot on tourney difficulty it usually ended poorly.

I despised him in the demo and wished him dead

However, in the full game, I've come to appreciate his contributions more...and like pros do I disregard his suggestions if I feel like it, which is pretty often. But around the green I utilize his advice frequently. And his suggestions don't guarantee I'll sink a putt by any means (I play on Tournament Mode and so no putting circles or landing zones).

So for me, the game plays realistically using the caddy because in Tournament Mode he's not holding your hand THAT much, especially on the green which will make or break your scores.

PS: I have yet to shoot a round under par on Tournament Mode, caddie or no.