For someone who's never taken to the game in real life, I've always enjoyed golf on computer. From Leaderboard to Mean 18 to Links, clicking a mouse or joystick seemed much more sensible than laying out thousands of dollars for clubs and green fees. This Happy Gilmore-esque approach hasn't always been rewarded by the more serious golf sims, but newer titles such as Hot Shots and Mario Golf have made the "spoiled perfect walk" more whimsical in approach. After struggling for an identity over the past couple of years, EA Sports' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 seems to have come into its own, combining some of the fantasy stylings with a serious gameplay foundation.
The graphics in PGA Tour 2002 are very nice, albeit with a dark palette on certain courses. EA has a brand new rendering engine with true scale depiction of golfers and courses. The skies are beautiful, the greens look sharp and inviting, and the golfers themselves are detailed and lifelike. There are seven different courses for you to choose from, four of those being licensed PGA Tour courses - Royal Birkdale, Pebble Beach, Sawgrass, and Princeville - and three original design courses, one of those being Tiger's Dream 18. Golfers in the game, besides Tiger, include Justin Leonard, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie, Lee Janzen, Brad Faxon, Notah Begay, Jim Furyk, and several amateur players who make up the Hot Shots-style crowd. Not all of these courses and players are available immediately upon starting - the game slowly introduces you to familiarity with the controls by making you earn access by beating different players and unlocking courses. This approach works very well with the new controls. Speaking of which...
The new controls use the analog sticks and shoulder buttons in conjunction with each other. Draw back with the left analog button, then at the apex of the swing, push forward. The degree of control that the analog provides means slicing and shearing about with the best of them, and forces you to really pay attention. Pull off an extremely strong swing and you'll be treated to some cool animations stolen directly from the Matrix before the ball gets spanked through the air. On some occasions, your onscreen avatar will actually take a couple of steps back before running up and pasting the poor ball, just like Adam Sandler. In certain close situations, the screen will letterbox and really focus down on the ball heading towards the hole - make it and your player will celebrate, miss and his anguish will be plain to see. Different from the usual stodgy golfing game, and very cool. Putting is more difficult than it needs to be, unfortunately - there is no grid to be found here, only a line combined with suggestions from your caddy on putting power and break length.
Split-screen speed golf is hilarious. Both players step up and swing, then move a cursor with the analog stick to wherever the ball landed. Immediately upon arriving, swing again, until you reach the pin, where your score is based on your time and amount of swings taken. Racing your opponent down the green before bashing away a la Happy Gilmore and running again is a laugh riot. There is a bit of wear and tear on the left thumb in this mode, but it is completely worth it. Other options such as stroke, tournament, match and skins are also present, making PGA Tour 2002 one of the most well-rounded golf games available.
The sound isn't bad, with decent commentary and ambient noise from surrounding spectators. It's not up to the high standards set by NHL 2002, but it is certainly a huge improvement over previous versions. Nelly's "#1" is the title track, and the hip-hop soundtrack is a nice switch from the usual.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 is a welcome surprise - I wasn't expecting this kind of high-level gameplay in such a slick wrapper. Even with some shortcomings, it's the most enjoyable golf game that I've ever played. If you have any interest in golf, serious and casual users alike would do themselves a favour by picking up a copy of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 - it truly is that damn good.
