Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

[Lieutenant Dan]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

cant wait for this....been on a hot shots tear lately with Vita so i'm trying this when i get offf work

Not getting a Vita, but gotta admit HS on that little beastie would be sweet.

The demos for TW the past couple of years, especially TW12, were pretty bad for me. I seem to get MUCH more enjoyment out of the full versions and building up my CAG from crap to competitor lol. So, I'm passing on the demo this year, have the CE preordered from amazon on good faith that I like what EA has been delivering, especially with TW11 and 12.

Glad to hear mostly positive vibes so far on the demo from you guys.

Seymour, I reckon you'll be sticking with 11 unless you get 13 anyway and have an epiphany. Nothing wrong with that....EA seems to be making conscionably different games from 11 to 12 to 13.

11 IS a masterpiece in it's own right. Love the 'math' and course management in that one, it's the most like really playing and is a thinking-man's Tiger Woods game (especially top difficulty/True Aim).

12 took me a little while to warm up to and I thought I made a mistake buying it at first, then once I got it set up how I enjoy playing it and accepted it's 'differentness' from TW11, I started having a great time with it (carnival pins aside, but that didn't break it for me).

I'm open to what 13's bringing this year.

[huntt26]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

I tried out the Kinect controls last night, as that is my primary interest of the game this year. I'm VERY glad they have the voice controls because menu navigation and picking clubs would be a nightmare without it. The voice controls worked great, I only had to repeat my command a couple times in about an hour of gameplay.

The controls themselves are fun, because you get to actually swing. I cannot speak for their accuracy, as I just tried on Pro difficulty. I will try more advanced moves tonight. It was pretty easy to pick up and be successful on Pro, but I was Tiger, so that's to be expected I guess.

I had some issues aiming my shot. I would say "aim shot" and it would show my cursor, and it wants to you stick out your hand, close it and drag the cursor. It worked GREAT for moving the cursor right and left, but I had a heck of a time moving it up and down. The kinect seemed to lose my hand and would not drag the cursor in a smooth movement. I will experiment some more with this, maybe I was doing something wrong.

Other than that, the only other problem I had was when I crouched down to view the lie of the green. The game wasn't sure what I was doing, and kept looping between the menu items and me standing and crouching. It looked pretty funny.

For Kinect, I am pretty happy, but hope I can get the 'ins and outs' of the controls down, and I'm hoping it's harder on higher difficulties, but not frustrating due to crappy control.

[DivotMaker]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

Im actually still playing TW 10. I decided to download the demo and I am dissapointed in the putting. It seems very clunky like Onlooker said. I dont understand the change.
I love the feel of the putting in TW10. I felt I had more control in the feel of my golfer.

One of the Devs stated on the EA Tiger forums that there was a bug in the putting stroke that made it in the demo that was fixed for the final version.

[misterkrabz]

TW golf games=Yuk

It's basically the same game every year. Some things progress, some things regress....the story is the same with most of EA sports games. If you have any of roughly the prior 4 versions, stick with those.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

Im actually still playing TW 10. I decided to download the demo and I am dissapointed in the putting. It seems very clunky like Onlooker said. I dont understand the change.
I love the feel of the putting in TW10. I felt I had more control in the feel of my golfer.

There's no doubt in my mind, the Precision Putting interface in Tiger 10 is the best of the series. I think some of the clunkiness we're seeing will be fixed in the final game. They were still refining animation work up until the last minute, from what Mike DeVault said. I think there's also a hitch in the putting stroke that accidentally got into the demo that's causing some of the multiple clutching we're having to do. I think Divot can speak to this with more authority than me though. [EDIT: I see he already has... thanks Divot]

[sroz39]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

Might be in the minority here, but I'm actually enjoying this demo alot. Love that tempo matters (though I've yet to achieve good tempo, only fast and slow lol) and enjoying the different camera options when you're hitting the ball.

Might be I've lowered my expectations for what "sim" golf means anymore but I have enjoyed every TW game to some extent since the 2004 edition and it's really hit it's stride as far as console golf is concerned with the 11, 12 and seemingly 13 releases.

[Smiley79]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

I'm going back and forth between the 360 version and the PS3 version, simply because I want the better motion experience (I have both Kinect & Move). Let me preface my points about the Kinect by saying I may be dealing with lighting issues, so some of the problems that I'm seeing may have to do with that.

1) I hate the menus in both games. I know it's very early on, but I just can't seem to navigate without having to slow down and think about what I'm trying to do before I move. With the Kinect, remember when to swipe your hands up/down & right/left confuses me, at times. With the Move, I'm getting mixed results (especially in the settings menu).

2)As far as the actual gameplay is concerned, I am leaning more towards the Kinect version (only because I've played it slightly more). The voice controls for the Kinect make it a breeze to maneuver around the course. Pre-swing, the one area in both games that can be problematic is moving the aiming marker. On the Kinect, I like reaching out, closing my hand, and moving the marker around (when it works). No matter what I do, I seem to spend a lot of time trying to move the aim marker on the Move (especially up & down). Changing your stance on the Kinect is very fair, but gives me nothing but headaches on the Move (more experimenting necessary).

3)As far as the actual swing is concerned, I started both using the Pro difficulty and found both very easy to keep shots straight and over-hit very easily. I very rarely hit the rough (or out of bounds) in either game. When I bumped things up to Tour Pro, flaws in my swing started to show. The one common flaw in my swing in both games is that I tend to hook my shots (from right to left). It was nice that the same flaw showed up in both games (especially since that's my real-life flaw). With the Kinect, I'm starting to get better at hitting straight shots (need more time on the Move). The only time I bump up the difficulty to Tournament was using the Kinect, and I was hitting horribly (couldn't keep it straight). Definitely need more work.

4)Tried a few shorter pitch shots on both systems. I had a difficult time getting the distances correct with both systems. Out of 10 short pitches, I felt more comfortable on the Move. More experimenting is necessary before reading too much int this, though.
5) For putting, I had all kinds of problems on both systems. With the Move, I could read the lie but had issues moving the aiming marker. I really didn't have a good feel for distances. Hitting anything less than 6 feet would be an adventure (although, I'm sure I need to lighten up on my putting stroke). With the Kinect, I could not read the lie at all. Every time I'd try to crouch and read the lie, I'd get the looping animation. Basically, I had to just aim the shot and hope my standing view of the lie would suffice. With the distances, I could pretty much use the same strength on my strokes and it would be sufficient. After reading about a putting bug that got into the demo, I'm not going to read too much into the demo's putting game, at the moment. But as of right now, I'd give the slight edge to the Move (for potential).

Being these views are very early, I have not made a final decision on which way I want to go with my pre-order. I only want one, but neither one has jumped out to me, as of yet. I can see the potential in both, but just need more time to familiarize myself with the controls more.

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

Not getting a Vita, but gotta admit HS on that little beastie would be sweet.

The demos for TW the past couple of years, especially TW12, were pretty bad for me. I seem to get MUCH more enjoyment out of the full versions and building up my CAG from crap to competitor lol. So, I'm passing on the demo this year, have the CE preordered from amazon on good faith that I like what EA has been delivering, especially with TW11 and 12.

Glad to hear mostly positive vibes so far on the demo from you guys.

Seymour, I reckon you'll be sticking with 11 unless you get 13 anyway and have an epiphany. Nothing wrong with that....EA seems to be making conscionably different games from 11 to 12 to 13.

11 IS a masterpiece in it's own right. Love the 'math' and course management in that one, it's the most like really playing and is a thinking-man's Tiger Woods game (especially top difficulty/True Aim).

12 took me a little while to warm up to and I thought I made a mistake buying it at first, then once I got it set up how I enjoy playing it and accepted it's 'differentness' from TW11, I started having a great time with it (carnival pins aside, but that didn't break it for me).

I'm open to what 13's bringing this year.

If you really liked TW11 and are willing to listen to me on anything then listen now. PLEASE DL the demo and play it before you spend your money. It is totally different from even TW12, it is basically a game of flick the stick and nothing else. It is about as automated as it can get. I got bored of playing afyer one hour, that's how mind numbingly dull it is in regards to ANY strategy. Just DL the demo and if you like it fine but with the CE and the DLC that's alot of cash to plunk down on other people's impressions when this game has really become arcadey.

[huntt26]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

I'm going back and forth between the 360 version and the PS3 version, simply because I want the better motion experience (I have both Kinect & Move). Let me preface my points about the Kinect by saying I may be dealing with lighting issues, so some of the problems that I'm seeing may have to do with that.

1) I hate the menus in both games. I know it's very early on, but I just can't seem to navigate without having to slow down and think about what I'm trying to do before I move. With the Kinect, remember when to swipe your hands up/down & right/left confuses me, at times. With the Move, I'm getting mixed results (especially in the settings menu).

2)As far as the actual gameplay is concerned, I am leaning more towards the Kinect version (only because I've played it slightly more). The voice controls for the Kinect make it a breeze to maneuver around the course. Pre-swing, the one area in both games that can be problematic is moving the aiming marker. On the Kinect, I like reaching out, closing my hand, and moving the marker around (when it works). No matter what I do, I seem to spend a lot of time trying to move the aim marker on the Move (especially up & down). Changing your stance on the Kinect is very fair, but gives me nothing but headaches on the Move (more experimenting necessary).

3)As far as the actual swing is concerned, I started both using the Pro difficulty and found both very easy to keep shots straight and over-hit very easily. I very rarely hit the rough (or out of bounds) in either game. When I bumped things up to Tour Pro, flaws in my swing started to show. The one common flaw in my swing in both games is that I tend to hook my shots (from right to left). It was nice that the same flaw showed up in both games (especially since that's my real-life flaw). With the Kinect, I'm starting to get better at hitting straight shots (need more time on the Move). The only time I bump up the difficulty to Tournament was using the Kinect, and I was hitting horribly (couldn't keep it straight). Definitely need more work.

4)Tried a few shorter pitch shots on both systems. I had a difficult time getting the distances correct with both systems. Out of 10 short pitches, I felt more comfortable on the Move. More experimenting is necessary before reading too much int this, though.
5) For putting, I had all kinds of problems on both systems. With the Move, I could read the lie but had issues moving the aiming marker. I really didn't have a good feel for distances. Hitting anything less than 6 feet would be an adventure (although, I'm sure I need to lighten up on my putting stroke). With the Kinect, I could not read the lie at all. Every time I'd try to crouch and read the lie, I'd get the looping animation. Basically, I had to just aim the shot and hope my standing view of the lie would suffice. With the distances, I could pretty much use the same strength on my strokes and it would be sufficient. After reading about a putting bug that got into the demo, I'm not going to read too much into the demo's putting game, at the moment. But as of right now, I'd give the slight edge to the Move (for potential).

Being these views are very early, I have not made a final decision on which way I want to go with my pre-order. I only want one, but neither one has jumped out to me, as of yet. I can see the potential in both, but just need more time to familiarize myself with the controls more.

Great post! I can echo everything you say about the Kinect. The menus are awful, I just use a controller for those. Luckily, once on the course, it is a breeze to use your voice and body to golf. It is a lot of fun. Why can't we use voice in the main menu?

I feel your pain on the looping issue when crouching. That's a pretty big bug that hopefully is addressed in the full version.

Overall, I am impressed with my Kinect experience so far. It is not a big deal at all that you stand facing the TV. I was a little concerned about that at first.

Tonight when I played I did not have any issues moving the aiming cursor around. My earlier post mentioned troubles, but not this time.

[mike24forever]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

If you really liked TW11 and are willing to listen to me on anything then listen now. PLEASE DL the demo and play it before you spend your money. It is totally different from even TW12, it is basically a game of flick the stick and nothing else. It is about as automated as it can get. I got bored of playing afyer one hour, that's how mind numbingly dull it is in regards to ANY strategy. Just DL the demo and if you like it fine but with the CE and the DLC that's alot of cash to plunk down on other people's impressions when this game has really become arcadey.

If it is so bad, why do you keep coming in here bashing it? Nothing anyone is going to write is going to change your position. You've posted your opinion.

[JaymeeAwesome]

At this time I can only comment on the kinect features. Swings don't match one to one so it looks odd but I'm getting the correct distances. Trying to aim shot is where it becomes bad for me. It doesn't follow my closed fist actions and move the cursor. I end up using the controller to aim.

Also the menus are a little difficult with kinect as well. I'm gonna have to play a few more holes with the controller to give my feedback on the game itself. I don't think I'll be using the kinect gimmick when this game is released. I have the season pass so I'll get it 3 days early.

[rangerrick012]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

This game just seems so boring and lifeless to me. I thought adding the Masters last year would mean EA would try to focus on immersing the user into actually feeling like they're playing a tournament, but it still feels like as someone else has said on occasion, you're playing against a spreadsheet out there.

Not to take the fun out of it for anyone else, but for me personally I can't get into this series anymore until some big steps, like the ability to play with a playing partner (or even just the flashing score updates that were there in TW 10 yet somehow disappeared), realistic TV presentation and commentary, etc are made. And seeing as how they haven't even discussed Career Mode yet from what I've seen, I'm not holding out hope for that. Seems like they're veering towards online modes over offline modes, which is fine since every other game is doing the same, but not for me with this game since I mainly play it offline.

[kickingguru]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

This game just seems so boring and lifeless to me. I thought adding the Masters last year would mean EA would try to focus on immersing the user into actually feeling like they're playing a tournament, but it still feels like as someone else has said on occasion, you're playing against a spreadsheet out there.

Not to take the fun out of it for anyone else, but for me personally I can't get into this series anymore until some big steps, like the ability to play with a playing partner (or even just the flashing score updates that were there in TW 10 yet somehow disappeared), realistic TV presentation and commentary, etc are made. And seeing as how they haven't even discussed Career Mode yet from what I've seen, I'm not holding out hope for that. Seems like they're veering towards online modes over offline modes, which is fine since every other game is doing the same, but not for me with this game since I mainly play it offline.

Just to be fair, we have no idea what the full game will have. You cannot judge the features you desire on a 6 hole demo. I doubt highly that you will be able to play with anyone during your career... (for me..simply awful feature.. I hate playing a game where I have to wait half the time..) It may have playoff holes and real time tracking as it has not been discussed by developers yet.. Im sure people will post about it when the full game arrives....

[OhTheBagger]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

Im loving the demo. Graphically its the best looking tiger woods yet. I love the kinect controls, just gotta get use to them a bit more.

[rangerrick012]

Re: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions

Just to be fair, we have no idea what the full game will have. You cannot judge the features you desire on a 6 hole demo. I doubt highly that you will be able to play with anyone during your career... (for me..simply awful feature.. I hate playing a game where I have to wait half the time..) It may have playoff holes and real time tracking as it has not been discussed by developers yet.. Im sure people will post about it when the full game arrives....

Knowing EA usually when they aren't releasing info it's because they didn't work on it or there isn't much change. It seems this year they're focusing on the Online Country Clubs and the Tiger Challenge, and Career Mode offline will be relatively unchanged. I say that because just like in other EA games, they'll work on a feature one year and overhaul it, then leave it untouched on the next year while moving on to another 'new' feature. Last year they improved Career Mode, which I'll give them credit for, but it still felt lacking and not nearly as immersive as it should be. I was hoping they'd continue to improve on the strides they made in that mode, but that seems not to be the case. Though if I'm wrong I'm sure Divot will come in as usual and shout me down.

The ability to play with a playing partner, even if only for the final round, would be a cool OPTION (note I say option, so that those like you who aren't interested can turn it off) to have and add to the immersion factor that is missing. I know Divot's going to come in and talk about the logistics of it and how they couldn't get every real golfer's likeness in, but they could also go the route that TS4 went and have fake players to complete the field for those players that wouldn't agree to be in the game. That way you could still have playing partners. But that's probably a pipe dream.

I'm probably the wrong guy to speak on this anyways, TW12 left me with a bad taste in my mouth due to the forced caddy option and lack of ability to turn off the putting circle. I still had some fun with it, but not as much as in past years. I won't be buying TW13, since as others have said it's usually good to buy EA games bi-yearly.