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Tiger Woods 11 Nintendo Wii

Format:
Nintendo Wii

Genre:
Sporting

Further reading:
Tiger Woods 10

Buy/Support:
Support David, click to buy via us...

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Other GamePeople columnists have reviewed this from their perspective - huh?:
Family Guide Gamer (Wii)
Perpetual Gamer (Wii)
Sports Gamer (360)
Sports Gamer (PS3)
Returning Gamer (PS3)

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Tiger Woods 11 may not reinvent the game, but for real world players or pro Wii golfers, it's the game of choice. Enhanced MotionPlus swinging and the new first person view combine to create a realistic rendition of my favourite pastime.

I was largely impressing with what I heard about Tiger Woods 10 and the new MotionPlus controls, but I having invested in the previous year's game I restrained from buying it. Even my first few minutes with Tiger Woods 11 I realised with MotionPlus this is an entirely different game.

Rather than dialling in an approximation of your desired swing you act it out in real life. I'd enjoyed the Wii's swing mechanic previously but wasn't 100 per cent convinced it responded accurately to the nuances I wanted to apply.

Maybe because I'm used to playing golf in real life, the MotionPlus swing simply made sense. In Tiger Woods 11 this has been further enhanced to take into account of the plane of your swing as well as the rotation of the club. I was able to more easily get the ball where I wanted it first time, because the club responded more accurately to my swing.

Those who want even more accuracy, like me, can dial things up even further with the Tour Pro swing. This adds in additional detection to work out where the club hits (or misses) the ball. This means you can finally pull off heel or toe heavy shots.

Although these are the sort of features that really got me excited about the game I was also pleased to see that each of these was optional. Players can choose the complexity of their swing. When I play with friends they often opt for a simple non-MotionPlus swing while I can continue with the full Tour Pro abilities. It means that different abilities can play together without their options conflicting.

Other sensible decisions this year are to expand the number of courses - Celtic Manor, Whistling Straits and Liberty Nation are my favourite additions. But also I was pleased to see that all courses are unlocked from the start - if you are playing with friends you can choose from the full list without playing through the single player campaign.

There are some new play modes this time round as well. They range from the family friendly minigames and crazy golf modes to the inclusion of a Ryder Cup multiplayer - something I've been asking for, for some time.

This was more than enough to have me happily playing for hours. But the one feature that revolutionised things for me was the Tour Pro first person perspective. Rather than viewing your player from a camera, this mode puts you in the golfer's shoes.

In a single move the game turns into a golf simulation. Although it took many hours to really get this mode down, when I did it felt incredibly close to the real thing. Looking down at the ball from the eyes of the golfer and seeing the club head waving around in front of it was actually a magical moment - well, for a gold lover like me.

The game is rounded off with an online mode that again expands on last year. Not only that but you can download competitions and challenges to add to those on the disc.

Whether you intent to ramp up the accuracy (and difficulty), or simply have a hit around with friends, there is so much in the Tiger Woods 11 package you really can't go wrong.

Having played with the MotionPlus swing I'd find it hard to go back to the older Wii games or indeed the stick based 360/PS3 versions. EA have got a lot right this year, and for high end player in particular there is for the first time an experience comparable to the real thing.

Written by David Kenson

You can support David by buying Tiger Woods 11



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David Kenson writes the Sports Gamer column.

"I bring twenty or so years of enthusiasm for, and experience of, sports to bear on my reviews of all sorts of sporting games. I've usually got what John Virgo would call the 'commentators eye' because I've played in the real world."

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