Introduction: Tiger Woods is a longstanding franchise for EA that dates all the way back to the days of PGA Golf Tour on the trusty old Megadrive. Every year since then they have been pumping out the releases to much critical acclaim. Sure, some years have been better than others, but in the main there has been a steady improvement that no-one can den. Today Tiger Woods represents one of EA's strongest franchises and is well respected in numerous gaming circles.

Last year's release of Tiger Woods on the Wii was warmly received, along side Madden, as a game that both understood and wisely implemented a variety of motion controls for the Wii-mote and Nun-chuck. Rather than using motion for motion's sake Ea seem to have the knack of applying it only where appropriate and with impressive results. Tiger 07 in particular benefited from a proper golf swing that built on the play-dynamic introduced by Wii-play. Once you had played golf in this way going back to a normal controller just wasn't an option. However, there were a fare few niggles with the rest of the game. Putting in particular was haphazard at best. Many people are looking to this release of Tiger to solve these problems and deliver the same innovative game but with much more quality.

GamePlay: The game itself, as any EA Tiger Woods fan will tell you is built around a variety of golf game modes. In single player you can work your way through a map of tournaments and challenges that promise to put you and your on-screen golfer through their paces. Some of these modes emulate real world competitions, whilst others pit you against a particular player in a head-to-head show down.

The multiplayer game has been beefed up somewhat this tie around. In addition to the traditional golf modes such as stroke play it includes some novelty modes that provide a good degree of entertainment. The variety of game modes on offer here is a tribute to the age of the franchise. Every possible golfing set-up is provided for, even the amusing battle golf where you get to take clubs away from the other player if you win a hole.

Control: As we mentioned above, Tiger on the Wii makes use of the Wii-mote. The main benefit here is the swing. Just like we saw in last year's game and the ever popular Wii-Sports Golf, you hold the Wii-Mote as you would a golf club and swing as in real-life. Tiger extends the sensitivity of the Wii-Sports swing by detecting whether you have sliced or drawn your shot. It does take some practice to get used to but is well worth the effort. This is a million worlds away from the direct button pressing, or even the analogue stick motions of the other versions. There is just no beating a game that offers such an entertaining and true to life interface.

In addition to the swing, you can also shake the Wii-Mote whilst the ball is in flight to apply a spin to the ball. This may drift from the realism of the other controls, but it adds another dimension to the play and works really well in the game as a whole.

Graphics: Wii games are obviously somewhat hamstrung in the visual departments. Were you to compare this to the PS3 version it would obviously appear much the poorer cousin. But there is nothing here that in anyway hampers play. There are even some effects that create a pretty good deal of realism. Worthy of note is the rendering of the different types of grass (obviously important in a golf game) which look distinct and life-like; the from pristine blades of the green, or the swaying hues of the long grass in the rough.

Sound & Music: There is not an awful lot of music to talk of in Tiger Woods 08, but what is there does its job pretty well. The course fly-by and introduction are accompanied by appropriately golf-y sounding theme tunes. The voice-work is where the majority of the sound work has been spent. These are well written and voiced by recognisable golfing aficionados. From the pithy comedic comments when you take too long on a shot, to the flowing auditory introductions to each hole, the quality is maintained at a high level.

Final Comments: This is a game that stands out from the pack on the merits of the Wii controls. Whilst it doesn't have the visual punch of the 360 and PS3 versions, I'd choose the Wii game any day of the week. The real-life swinging is just too much of a killer feature to walk away from. The only problem is that once you have played this, you are unlikely to want to go back to any other version again.

Pro: Excellent true-life golf swings.
Con: Limited visual range can make some courses appear bland.
Final Score: 8.4



Reviewed by: Douglas Andrews