Tiger 12 News Post

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

05:07 PM - April 6, 2011 by RaychelSnr

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters is the latest iteration of EA Sports' golf series that has prominently featured Tiger on the cover for the better part of the last 10 years.

While the series has seen some controversy, EA has stood by its man so far. However, EA decided to hedge its bets somewhat by taking Tiger off the cover of most versions of the game this year, replacing him instead with the most prestigious course and tournament in golf.

Beyond the debut of Augusta National and the Masters in video games, there are also new golfers and the usual selection of new courses and our old favorites. But does all of this equal a great game of golf? The answer to that question depends on what you want out of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters.

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

Game: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The MastersReader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 15 - View All

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters Videos

Member Comments

# 21 rangerrick012 @ 04/07/11 11:35 AM

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.

# 22 Lieutenant Dan @ 04/07/11 01:17 PM

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.

# 23 DivotMaker @ 04/07/11 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rangerrick012


	You're right, and that's another gripe I have with this review.

While I can appreciate the effort and time that went into this review, I find myself disagreeing with numerous aspects of the review in which I see things completely differently, especially when it comes to the lack of "simulation like play" and options. I'll post more later when I actually have time to respond to the things I disagree with. And I am especially disappointed in the score and find it overly harsh compared to many other reviews from other gaming websites.

# 24 Zalf @ 04/07/11 03:34 PM

I personally would score it 1 to 1.5 higher but I think this is in the bubble of scores to expect for this game. Having spent a good amount of time with this game and past TW games I would expect a lower score from sports focused sites like OS.

TW is judged in comparison to past TW games. There are no other real competitors to compare it to and there aren't really any other non-team sport games to compare it with. So when you look at scoring from a point of view of a purchase decision that is the only comparison to make.

OS being focused on sports tends to look at thing from a more sim pov. From that point of view the real addition is Augusta. That is big for some of us but not all. Gameplay wise most of us sim players took a pretty big hit. Yes you can get a tough sim game if you play with the move and like or at least tolerate meterless putting. Those are two big ifs(one impossible for 360 owners) for many of us. So when you look at that vs last year it has to be a big scoring hit for the sim player.

To me, caddie is a wash. He doesn't do anything for me and I would turn him completely off if that was an option, but I can deal with the part of him that I have to see knowing he adds to the game for others.

So gameplay took a hit for the way I prefer to play. Augusta and better use/pricing of DLC ends up making it a net push. A net push is aggravating when all they had to do was leave the option to play TW11 style true aim to create a large net gain. Just leave it alone and it borders on being a great edition instead of one that ends up just being good.

# 25 DivotMaker @ 04/07/11 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zalf


	Gameplay wise most of us sim players took a pretty big hit. Yes you can get a tough sim game if you play with the move and like or at least tolerate meterless putting. Those are two big ifs(one impossible for 360 owners) for many of us. So when you look at that vs last year it has to be a big scoring hit for the sim player.

Can't say I agree at all especially the bolded part.....

# 26 Zalf @ 04/07/11 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DivotMaker


	Can't say I agree at all especially the bolded part.....

If I don't play without a putting meter I don't have anything close to true aim in 11. That is huge.

# 27 DivotMaker @ 04/08/11 12:43 AM

The meter-less putting is brilliant and very challenging IMO. I hated it at first, but now I feel it is the best putting interface I have ever seen in any TW game. Sorry you don't agree....

# 28 Jordanfan23 @ 04/08/11 09:58 AM

Great review but I would give this game at least a 8.0 or above. The caddy is often wrong, and while there are times I take his shot advice, 80% of the time I manually set-up the shot and if I do use the caddy, it is more around the green or on it.

And with the addition of Tournament difficulty, the game can play very challenging.

# 29 DivotMaker @ 04/08/11 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peigone


	Can you set up your own custom tournament season/career? Can you select any course to play in any tournament? Can you use multiple courses in one tournament? Can you add and use user-created courses in your tournaments? Can you set the purse, the number of rounds and the cut? Can you preset the weather, the course conditions, and the pin placement difficulty in each round of each tournament? Can you create CPU PGA golfers and edit their abilities, and add them to your tournaments? Can you preselect the size of the field and the specific golfers you want competing in each tournament? All those features and options were available in past TW games. With the right edits and mods (like my updated CPU golfer file), we were once able to customize season/career mode in a way that makes the current status quo look like a kiddie's Mickey Mouse golf game in comparison. This isn't the best career mode ever in a TW game, not even remotely close.

You did not have most of those options in ANY TW console game. Comparing the closed environment of the consoles versus PC Golf games regarding features of this nature is ludicrous at best.

# 30 DivotMaker @ 04/08/11 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peigone


	As a customizable sports game, TW on the console is to "game options," what the IRS is to your pocket money: gone, goodbye, and never had it in the first place.

I'll agree to disagree. While I would like more options in the console sports games, not having them in this version doesn't hurt the experience I am receiving. Sorry you feel differently.

# 31 DivotMaker @ 04/08/11 11:08 AM

I am not defending EA or anyone. I am defending my opinion which I do not agree with yours. You have done nothing but slam this game with every single post and quite frankly if you hate the game so much, why do you bother posting about it? I think we all understand where you are coming from without the incessant criticisms, many of which are from a PC sports game to console game perspective and there is not a single console game I know of that has anywhere near the same customizations options as the same game on PC. Now if TW12 were a PC game, I would agree with you.

# 32 DivotMaker @ 04/08/11 11:18 AM

Feel free to troll on as it seems all you are here for is to dump on the game and now make it personal.

# 33 rangerrick012 @ 04/08/11 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peigone


	Can you set up your own custom season/career? Can you select any course to play in any tournament? Can you use multiple courses in one tournament? Can you add select user-created courses to play in your tournaments? Can you set the purse, the number of rounds and the cut? Can you preset the weather, the course conditions, and the pin placement difficulty in each round of every tournament? Can you create CPU PGA golfers and edit their abilities, and add them to your tournaments? Can you preselect the size of the field and the specific golfers you want competing in each tournament? All those features and options were available in past TW games. With all the user-created courses, CPU golfer mods and options that used to be available, we were once able to customize TW season/career mode in a way that makes the current setup look about as deep as Mario Bros. golf on the Gamecube. This isn't the best career mode ever in a TW game, not even remotely close.

I don't agree w/ Divot on a lot of things when it comes to TW, but I do agree w/ him that the way you bash this game from a PC gamers' perspective instead of being rational and realizing that many of the the things you are asking for have never been present in console TW games in the past is ludicrous.

And yes, I do stand by my opinion that this is the best TW career mode I've experienced. Sorry if you disagree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by peigone


	Yes, it's ludicrous for anyone who is set on defending at any cost the ridiculous lack of customization features on the console version of the TW series. What you fail to point out -- given doing so would void everything you just wrote -- is that customization features in sports games have been a staple on the consoles for a dozen years. Play any 2K game for example. Or how about the PES series? It's not ludicrous to expect EA to put these features back in the series. What is ludicrous is defending their reluctance to do so, year after year.

Does 2K allow you to set a salary cap? Build a stadium? Create a schedule down to the minute detail? Sure these games have customization features, and I agree that some of them do surpass TW in that area. But it's very much an apples to oranges comparison. Your distortion of the facts in numerous threads when it comes to TW on the consoles compared to TW on the PC continues to be wrong IMO. I appreciate your passion for the game, but to continue to harp on what this game doesn't have instead of appreciating the game for what it does have (do you even have the game BTW) just seems wrong.

# 34 kerosene31 @ 04/08/11 12:52 PM

I'm not saying it is right, but many of those features have disappeared from many sports games since the 360/ps3 generation.

Tiger isn't the only game to lose a bunch of features this generation.

# 35 rangerrick012 @ 04/08/11 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerosene31


	I'm not saying it is right, but many of those features have disappeared from many sports games since the 360/ps3 generation. Tiger isn't the only game to lose a bunch of features this generation.

Exactly, and some of the things he's talking about (complete customization of schedule, create a stadium, etc) are only feasible on the PC for all games. Compare the customization options for the PC version of NBA 2K11 to those of the console version. It's one thing to argue that these things should be in, but when certain things have never been in for the console version of ANY game is a flawed argument.

And for what it's worth this years game does add more customization than in the past when it comes to AI scoring, allowing DLC in career mode (even if it's not a perfect solution), and amt of rounds for career mode.

And then there are factors like individual sports games vs team sports games, etc that make it hard to take your argument that a certain level of customization should be in just b/c it's in team sports games at face value.

# 36 DivotMaker @ 04/08/11 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peigone


	I will never understand that perspective, sorry. There have been many, MANY console games over the past decade that have offered deep season/career/franchise and CPU opponent customization options. To say that it's ludicrous to expect the TW series to do the same, is, well, a ludicrous counter-argument IMO.

It is not surprising that you do not understand the console perspective. You seem to be stuck thinking that console sports games should be just as customizable as PC Sports games and that just is not going to happen in large part due to market demographics. The console games are targeted to the younger audiences as well as many who just want to jump in and play a quick game. The consoles have NEVER tried to emulate the customization options that PC games have because the audience is not crying out for it in large numbers. If there were a large and loud cry out for such features in console sports games, the Developers would listen and react to that feedback. You seem to think that because these features are not in console games that the Devs and Publishers are lazy or not caring and that could not be further from the truth. They create games that appeal to the widest possible audience and hardcore simulation users who want to tweak and customize every aspect of their game is a very small % of that audience. If this were not the case, then you would be seeing the options you mention because the market would be demanding it and in this and the vast majority of console sports games, the largest segment of the market is NOT demanding it.

# 37 TajDeni @ 04/08/11 05:36 PM

i have never played video games on the computer b4 so i do not pretend to know exactly what options are available for the computer that are just not feasable on the consoles, but the fact remains that insofar as what we had available to us on the consoles we did lose alot of options with this generation of consoles that we had b4.

EX: in Madden 05, you had the option to create your own plays, had the option to upgrade your stadium in the off-season and then see those upgrades visually the next time you played the game. yo uhad the option to set consession and parking prices etc...

in TW (original xbox), you used to be able to create your own courses, pick the color of the trees, the bunkers, the fairway, have more courses for free...etc.

like i said because i never played on the PC i dont fully understand capacity of the gentleman's arguements versus the options on the consoles...but to some degree im guessin it boils down to someting like this and this doesnt just apply to tiger but to many of the sports games this generation esp EA's

how could i used to have something and then that something be taken away from me, and yet while its being taken away from me im being lead to believe that i've never had it or that having it was essential to enjoying the experiences so just get over it.

now for some people the getting over it part is easier than it is for other, however let me throw this anology out there for everyone because to me this is what this gen of games and done to some degree

Let's say you have a GF or a wife and one yr she just stops sleeping with you as much as she used to, now your relationship is still works in a functional manner and she's even gotten better as a person in some regards...but you still have alot of desires that used to be fullfill that are not being fullfill now to your liking....for some ppl this could be a sticking point that ends a relationship while others can get over it and move on and appreciate the other improvements she has made in life...

How would you handle these circumstance? (a self question, no need to answer it to the boards)

i guess what im saying is some folks just cant understand the logic of why you used to have certain feature in games on the last generation that we just dont have anymore on this generation, yet the reason we dont have them just doesnt seem good enuf to justify not having them. and like i said i guess there are others who can just accept that those features are not a part of this generation of sports gaming and get on with it...

but there's a part of me that thinks that the folks who have accepted things should not be critisizing the folks who cant get over it; because these are the folks who are most likely going to get said features back....

sorry if the anology is off, i think it applys tho

# 38 TajDeni @ 04/08/11 05:39 PM

also i see that alot of folks disagree with the review, so what is the conclusion here from those that disagree...

bottom line, regardless of the review, is the game worth the price of purchase or not?

and is it against the board policies for someone is unbias to post a more accurately reflecting review?

# 39 DivotMaker @ 04/08/11 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TajDeni


	but there's a part of me that thinks that the folks who have accepted things should not be critisizing the folks who cant get over it; because these are the folks who are most likely going to get said features back.... sorry if the anology is off, i think it applys tho

Who said anything about "accepting things"? And who is criticizing others who aren't? You can disagree with someone without criticizing them which is what has taken place here for the most part. If certain features that were in PC Sports games never were in console Sports games, how exactly is fair to criticize console Devs who have never had those features in their games? And since the console and PC Sports game markets ARE different, how is any comparison or analogy "apples to apples"? The analogy is "off", but I respect your opinions....

# 40 shon @ 04/08/11 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerosene31


	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.

This is my biggest complaint with the putting. To make the short putts I'm barely even moving the analog stick. They need to remap the putt swing in a way that makes sense that
has more movement or something. Links 2004 still has the better swing but I found the putting in that a little difficult for short putts as well.

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