Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (Xbox)

If you've already played the 2003 incarnation, you'll instantly be on familiar territory. The control system is exactly the same - you hit the ball by simulating a golf swing with the controller's analogue stick, while simultaneously hammering away at the white button to get a power boost. This method of play seems to suit most armchair Tigers, and it's certainly less frustrating than the tap-the-button-when-the-meter-hits-the-right-spot method employed by other golfing games. The only slight difference to the way you'll now play a hole is in the addition of a 'chip and run' shot, which you can use to avoid those lengthy putts when your drive onto the green has been a little wayward.

Also familiar are the graphics. The courses still look beautiful, if a little static, and the players are extremely well-digitised. The whole game is still lent that slightly arcadey feel by the over-the-top animations and the celebratory dancing routines that the players perform whenever they do a good shot. The commentary is very well done once again, with a nice touch of sarcasm thrown in for those times when you end up hacking out a triple-bogey. And the basic layout of the game is familiar too. You can play in a variety of situations, from full-on tournaments, to attempting to win gold medals for prising a top score out of a difficult situation.

In fact, it's probably fair to say that the only real differences that have been made to last year's release can simply be described as eye-candy. There are a few new golfers, some (excellent) new courses, and some new play modes. There's also a new feature where you can design a golfer to look just like you. Sort of.
But underneath all that, the game plays *exactly* the same as it did before, with the extra bells and whistles simply giving it a little added appeal. That's not to say that this lack of innovation is a particularly bad thing. Tiger Woods 2003 was a cracking game, so EA have simply gone for the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' route.

So what are the new features? Well, the most important addition is the career mode. This enables you to take your golfer through a ten year stint in the sport, during which time you try to overhaul Tiger in the money leagues. This gives the game much more longevity, as each year of your career has 30-odd tournaments in it. These tournaments are much more realistic this time around. They all consist of four rounds, and there’s a cut after the second round. As you progress, you'll be offered sponsorship deals, which enable you to buy new clubs, gloves, balls, clothes - even new celebration dances.
The Tiger Challenge feature remains - although in slightly different packaging. Now called the World Tour, this involves you taking on players from around the world in a match play situation. As you beat players, you'll unlock new ones, as well as unlocking further equipment and courses.
There’s also a whole bunch of multi-player games – and this is where PGA 2004 really excels. If you’re after a game you can pick up and play with your mates for a few hours, this is a great choice. Among the many different multi-player options is a cracking one where the winner of each hole gets to steal a club out of his opponent’s bag. This leads to the comedy situation where your mate might be trying to negotiate a par 5 at Royal Birkdale with only a 5 iron and a pitching wedge for company. Of course, what would have made these multiplayer games even better is if they could have been played online via Xbox Live. For some reason, that option is not available to those of us of the Microsoft persuasion – although PS2 owners can play online to their hearts’ content.

That aside, this is an excellent golf game, which newcomers to the series are sure to love. However, if you’re already a veteran of PGA 2003, make sure you’re hungry for more of the same before splashing out. And keep an eye out for Links 2004, which is just around the corner…

One of the really fun aspects of the game is the possibility to modify your golfer to look like yourself. I suppose it makes the whole experience somewhat more personal.

Different types of playmodes include:
- PGA season where you can follow your golfer through 10 pga seasons.
- World Tour where you play various rounds of match play (anything from 9 to 18 holes) against both wellknown golfers like Tiger and John Daly, to made up charachters.

Other modes are regular match- and strokeplay, stableford and practice. Also there are modes like the SkillZone where you aim for various targets earning money per hit, Speedgolf and battlegolf, where you play a type of matchplay to take away your opponents clubs.
There are more as well.

You can improve your golfer's skills in the proshop, as well buy new equipment and clothes. This also has an effect on your golfer's abilities. What equipment you use also bring money into you pocket if your choice of brands are your sponsors.

There are lots of courses in this game. Both real and made up. Some of them are St. Andrews, Royal Birkdale, Pinehurs #2, Poppy Hills, Princeville Resort and Bayhill club. The last time I counted the courses it was 21 + a random 18 hole course, so you get the picture. Also, you can make two additional courses yourself from scratch if you like, and add them to the rest of the game's courses.

Gameplay is simple. You use your left or right thumbstick to swing the club, and can also add spin and fade or draw to your shot. Shooting a fade and a draw is a bit harder on this game compared to other games I've tried, which I like. It should be a bit of a challange.
The game does get a little easy after a little while, but you can modify aspects of the weather, greens and rough along with your aiming to make things more challanging.

The graphics are great. Nice flow. I must admit that I do like the graphics in Links 2004 better, but it's not enough to give this game less than 5 stars. It's great.
If you like golfgames, or want to try one, get Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004. You'll get lots and lots of courses, great gameplay, and lots of different gamemodes to try. It's great fun!!!