PS2 first impressions

[packermatt]

First let me say that I'm not that good at this game -- I'm not one of the guys shooting in the 50s. That being said, I'm very disappointed in the game -- I moved difficulty to Expert (no Power Boost, no spin) and the game is still way too easy. In 72 holes, I have 2 holes in one, 3 chip-ins, and 7 putts made over 30 feet.

The biggest problem is that even at Expert, there is no wind in any match even though wind difficulty is at 100%. It baffles me that EA released the game without any wind.

Like TW 06, the putting continues to be ridiculously easy, even without the Perfect Line option. On the PGA Tour, the pros make less than 20% of putts between 15-20 feet -- in my limited sample, I'm 19 for 26 and this is with unimproved putting abilities.

Like most recent games -- and it's hard to blame them -- it appears that EA devoted all their time to NextGen versions. If you have 06, don't bother buying this one.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: PS2 first impressions

I just spent about 1 1/2 hours with the XBox version last night. I don't have a manual with my Blockbuster rental, so I'm a little uncertain on some of the options.

I did notice that you can set options to "Expert", and you'll get no help or shot assists of any kind. It had a bunch of sliders that I didn't understand how adjust. When you set Expert, they all defaulted to 100%. Some of them were green hardness, speed, fairway hardness, and rough. I wouldn't want those to be the same all the time, but I'm not sure that having them at 100% means that.

I played with my created character in a real time event, and a Team mode game, but I had all of the assissts available that I thought my selection of Expert mode should have ridded me of. I'm now not sure what modes these difficulty settings are actually in effect. I set the Play Now options to Expert as well, but didn't have time for a Play Now game.

I'm thinking you may not be actually playing in the hardest level, with what you're seeing. I know I'm getting some shot assists that shouldn't be there with the settings I thought I enabled. I want to see what this game plays like in what they're calling "Expert", before I condemn it.

[sroz39]

Re: PS2 first impressions

I just spent about 1 1/2 hours with the XBox version last night. I don't have a manual with my Blockbuster rental, so I'm a little uncertain on some of the options.

I did notice that you can set options to "Expert", and you'll get no help or shot assists of any kind. It had a bunch of sliders that I didn't understand how adjust. When you set Expert, they all defaulted to 100%. Some of them were green hardness, speed, fairway hardness, and rough. I wouldn't want those to be the same all the time, but I'm not sure that having them at 100% means that.

I played with my created character in a real time event, and a Team mode game, but I had all of the assissts available that I thought my selection of Expert mode should have ridded me of. I'm now not sure what modes these difficulty settings are actually in effect. I set the Play Now options to Expert as well, but didn't have time for a Play Now game.

I'm thinking you may not be actually playing in the hardest level, with what you're seeing. I know I'm getting some shot assists that shouldn't be there with the settings I thought I enabled. I want to see what this game plays like in what they're calling "Expert", before I condemn it.

In my mind, I've written it off before even trying it. The hardware is just not powerful enough to evolve this series. It peaked with TW2004, IMO. From there, the game hasn't changed for the better once...but did get worse last year.

I don't need to try this game to know that it wouldn't suffice.

[blacklover]

Re: PS2 first impressions

Hmmm not sure about the wind. Reason being that I was over my Brother in law's house and we were playing TW 07 PS2. Match play at Pasatiempo. I was Poulter and he was Elkington.

Wind was blowing between 10 and 25 mph on each hole.

We had the options set up Custom. With the wind around 75%.

The game is still a huge joke though. The worst part like every year is that there is hope and then that hope is crushed by idiocy.

Case in point. We battle back and forth on the front nine and I grabbed a 1up advantage on the 6th hole. Standing on the 10th tee I am 1 up. Even with the sliders set to make driving difficult we are both around 90% fairways hit. He wins the 10th hole and it's all square. I can't remember where the par 3's hit on the back nine but I ace the first one to go back 1up. It was sort of a decent hole in one but still, come on. Anyway, we kinda shrugged it off and moved on. He wins one of the next two or three holes and it's back to square. I think the last hole is a par 3 too. The smack talk was on and it was actually fun at this point. I step to 18 and make a few adjustments for direction and switch down a club and then proceed to ace the 18th.

He then puts his shot to 6 feet and it's over.

How dull is that? We just wasted 45 minutes. There was nothing thrilling or exciting about back to back (consectutive par 3's I mean) holes in one.

In fact, I felt embarassed that it went in. What a cheap way to win.

The game is broken.

Maybe if they had a slider that was called Tiger Moments and you could reduce it to zero and then that kind of idiocy would stop occuring.

Do you know what the odds are of a hole in one? Then the odds of doing it twice on consectutive par 3's?

I wonder how many aces Poulter has in his entire career? I am going to guess 1 maybe 2.

[dave374]

Re: PS2 first impressions

In my mind, I've written it off before even trying it. The hardware is just not powerful enough to evolve this series. It peaked with TW2004, IMO. From there, the game hasn't changed for the better once...but did get worse last year.

I don't need to try this game to know that it wouldn't suffice.

The old PGA Tour 98 was a challenge ... on the uberpowerful Sega Genesis.
Sorry, not buying the hardware argument.

[packermatt]

Re: PS2 first impressions

Hmmm not sure about the wind. Reason being that I was over my Brother in law's house and we were playing TW 07 PS2. Match play at Pasatiempo. I was Poulter and he was Elkington.

Wind was blowing between 10 and 25 mph on each hole.

We had the options set up Custom. With the wind around 75%.

Wind works fine when playing a Traditional Game or in Practice, but there is no wind in PGA Tour or in Team Tour