Is Rory McIlroy PGA Tour a Sim, Or Something Else? (Video)

[RaychelSnr]

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour has gotten a bit of flak the past couple of weeks for its light (initial) offering of licensed golfers and courses. Of course, many aren't entirely happy with the game to begin with, as the marketing began with a battleship crashing onto the screen back at E3 in 2014.

The marketing for the game, thus far, has been weird and very light compared to other EA Sports offerings. Very few modes have been broken down in depth, and it seems like much of what the game is offering is less than what we had a generation ago. This is not a surprise, but the perception the game is creating, heavily promoting arcade golfing elements, hasn't helped perception that Rory is a stark new direction for EA's golfing franchise.

The reality is that the core golf game, from what we've seen and have been told, seems to be in good shape. Courses will play how they are supposed to on a regional basis, and the open courses will allow for a more realistic experience. And despite the limited number of initial courses, with content updates promised, it's likely the game will see its course offerings rise pretty quickly post release.

It seems that Rory will be a sim, and something else entirely all in the same package. We'll surely know more when we get our hands on the full version later this week.

• New Video of a Hole in One on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass.
• Amazon Prime Member? You can get Rory for $49.99.
• Gameplay Video: Arnold Palmer Invitational
• EA Access Members Get Rory on July 9

Do you think these competing interests of trying to market to a more casual audience while maintaining sim elements are compatible? Are you planning on getting Rory McIlroy PGA Tour when it drops next week?

[razorkaos]

i will be satisfied with it if "Rory will be a sim, and something else entirely all in the same package."

really, i loved TW PGA Tour on the PS2, i love Neo Turf Masters on the Neo Geo, so i can appreciate both styles of gameplay. It may be the kind of game i'll purchase when the price goes down and i will be playing it for years.

[N51_rob]

Seems like EA has decided to let "The Golf Club" be the pure sim game, while they use this version of Rory to go after the Hot Shots crowd that still doesn't have a game on "next-gen" systems.

[Ronoko]

They have a lot of work to do to match the physics in Hot Shots Golf. If that's the route they are going, I'd be surprised if they get as good reviews as that series.

[Chairman7w]

Ancient proverb says: "Try and catch two birds, catch none."

[pietasterp]

Nice concise summary, MMChrisS. Based on what we've seen (and also based on prior experience with the EA golfing franchise), I'll recycle my analogy from another post: this is the Las Vegas buffet approach to sports gaming. There's Italian, Chinese, French, steak, etc...take whatever you want, leave whatever you don't. In theory, it's great - but in practice, no one element there is particularly good. You can't do everything and do it all equally well. If you want the best French food, you're going to go to "Joel Robuchon", not the Luxor buffet. This game is the Luxor buffet.

(Pro tip: don't go to the Luxor buffet, by the way...if you must do a buffet, you're better off at Bellagio or Wynn. But if you're over there anyway, do Le Cirque or Picasso....wait, what was my point here?).

[ImTellinTim]

I'm going to wait to see until people actually play the game because it's like people are so eager to pounce on EA for these PROMOTIONAL videos.

They know how to make a pretty damn good sim game - or have people ignored the options we had on the last game they made?

We'll see if it carried over I guess.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by ImTellinTim

I'm going to wait to see until people actually play the game because it's like people are ready to pounce on EA for these PROMOTIONAL videos. They know how to make a pretty damn good sim game - or have people ignored the options we had on the last game they made? We'll see if it carried over I guess.

To circle back to one of your questions from some other thread, I never played the very last one they made last-gen (although I heard good things). I think that was the one that had the sync of the daylight to your Xbox/PS internal clock, or something like that? I was turned off by that one because I always play at night after work, and so the course was always like almost pitch-black and that totally turned me off to the whole thing.

Honestly, and this is not really a fair criticism of the game, but to me, I just never liked the way the games "feel" since they came on to the last-gen consoles. I actually like the original PGA Tour that was on PS1 (pre-"Tiger Woods"), and I thought the original "Tiger Woods" game (the very first one with that name) on PC was pretty good. But since then, I dunno, I just feel like the games all played the same last gen and it didn't particularly strike a chord with me. The last console golf game I really got into was "Links" on the original XBox (the one with Sergio Garcia on the cover). I really wish they would revive that series...