Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 [PS2]

Now stretching to something like 17 games, the PGA Tour series of EA-published golf games ranks among the longest running and most dominant of all video game dynasties. That's not about to change with Tiger Woods 06. EA's latest is a touch harder, comes with a reworked swing system that's a great compromise between finesse and simplicity, and includes a smooth new career mode. What's not to like?

By default, Tiger 06's new swing system uses the left stick for the swing and the right for the "shape," requiring players to manipulate both during the swing for maximum control. The shape stick controls trajectory and spin. It's an intuitive system, and one that's easy to learn for novice players.

Tiger 06's new career mode -- or Rivals Mode, as the game calls it -- lets players create their own golfer, using EA's excellent Gameface technology, and embark on a quest to chase Tiger Woods through time before beating him altogether. Now come on, Tiger might be able to hit 400-yard drives before breakfast, but traveling through time is a bit much to swallow. Still, it can't be easy thinking up compelling narratives for golf games, so we'll give EA a break.

As you follow Tiger through the game's four different time periods, from the birth of golf to the present day, the menu graphics and music change to fit the mood of the day. You can also change, using the Pro Shop to outfit yourself in authentic costume and equipment. Yes, you can dress your golfer up in a top hat, a frilly shirt, a blacksmith's apron, and amusingly patterned socks, if you're silly enough.

Browsing through the period equipment is actually quite interesting, even if it is just to see what golfers in times past had to put up with. Twin-shafted clubs and iron-cored balls are two of the more outlandish items on offer. They don't seem to affect your performance much, but if they did, they'd probably be too horrible to use.

Leaving the fluff aside, Rivals Mode is actually a pretty worthwhile addition. Changing out the theme of the menus and opposing characters gives it a touch of variety that, let's face it, is somewhat lacking in the game of golf. Short contests (often focusing on one particular shot type) and full matches are available, so it suits either quick five-minute plays or longer sessions. Plus the added sense of progress you get from moving between time periods doesn't hurt. It's a nice job all round.

What else is new? As you hit good shots, you'll gradually fill a "Gamebreaker" bar -- get it high enough and you'll be able to take a special shot, hitting the ball further and straighter than normal. Or you can use it to return both your bar and your opponent's to zero. Purists are probably doing the whole sharp-intake-of-breath thing here, but a full bar comes up quite rarely.

Tiger 2005 was criticized for being a little on the easy side, and yes, novices are still pretty likely to sink 80-foot putts, as long as they're straight. It's hard to get around this without being unfair, as it's just fundamentally easier to move a joystick in a straight line than it is to really putt straight.

Hitting a straight drive isn't much more difficult than it used to be, but you'll need a little more finesse to pull off more complex shots like fades and draws. The more ludicrous of the putting aids are gone, though, and good riddance. There's still a suggested ball path line to view, but on a sloping green your shot power is far more crucial than your aim, and that's all down to your finesse with the stick.

"Tiger proofing," EA's bizarrely named course customization system that allows players to make small changes to the slope, rough depth, and other characteristics of their favorite holes, is back with a novel change. Now a course can adapt itself to your performance as you play, getting tougher if you make better shots and easing off if you play badly.

On the sound front, Tiger continues to excel. With one exception, EA has the art of the commentary perfected. Ambient sounds are just as good, providing an appropriately gentle and pastoral background for the game. Even the soundtrack is graced with the relaxed grooves of Thievery Corporation rather than the rap of last year. Rap fan or not, you've got to admit that Outkast and golf are not exactly a perfect pairing, and this year's Tiger does much better.

The only audio shortcoming is one that's plagued the series for a while: the psychic commentators. When you hit a duff shot straight for the bunker that's miraculously sent back to the fairway by a lucky bounce, you really don't want to hear the commentators praising your outstanding shot while it's in the air.

The game's also just about as good-looking as you could hope, with a clean and realistic look that puts more emphasis on clarity of view than flashiness. All that stuff looks to have been saved for the Xbox 360 version, which is due around the console's launch and looks stunningly realistic. It only features six courses to the standard version's 15, so you'd be compromising variety for those impressive looks.

Owners of Tiger Woods 2005 might want to think twice before picking up 06. After all, how many golf games do you need? Still, there's no doubt that with this series EA has the finest golf game on any current platform. Tiger Woods 06 is a definite improvement over 2005 -- a small one, but not insignificant. If you're looking for a new golf game, there's nothing better.