Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 [X360]

There also seemed to be a new system for hitting draws and fades, but when we asked the EA Sports rep what the deal was we got the classic, "We're not talking about that just yet." We'll delve into that a bit more in the coming months, you can be sure.

Putting also received a slight change. People are always whining about Tiger Woods' putting being too easy, too unlike the actual challenge of playing on the green. Last year had the Ideal Putting Cam, but players complained that all you needed to do was line up the initial bend in your putting line with some object in the distance and you were golden. This year EA Sports has implemented a "Putt Preview" in which you have to line up your putt to what you think is the proper course - all the while using the classic moving grid lines that we all know and love - then tap the left bumper to initiate the new feature. Essentially what happens is that the camera pulls back and gives you the exact line that your ball will travel for your current setup. The only snag is that you can only use the Putt Preview once per hole, so you need to make sure that your line is as close to dead-on as possible. People will probably still moan about it making putting too easy, but it seemed like a step in the right direction over the Ideal Putting Camera.

Visually the game looked similar to what we saw in last year's edition. The Tiger Woods model still strutted around looking exactly like the guy we watch on CBS or NBC every Thursday thru Sunday. What had been nicely refined was the look of the trees that surrounded the course. Each individual leaf could be seen in excellent detail, and the overall look of each piece of greenery was simply more natural than it has been before. The bunkers had also been retooled with a fresh set of visual details. The rake lines were clearly evident as you step into the sand trap to pitch your way out. It's a minute change, but it's a bump up in quality nonetheless.

We're still waiting to see what kind of gameplay functions are going to be implemented in Tiger Woods 08 to really push the game over the hill, but the few new changes that we were able to get our hands on did pump up the enjoyment level. The new visuals also added a nice layer of realism that had previously been missing. Things like the gallery of people following your golfer now walking their way to your next shot, and actually grabbing the right part of their body when a stray ball hit them made it feel more like actually being at a golf tournament.

Even if there weren't any kind of sweeping gameplay or graphical changes in the build that we played, we have a feeling that EA Sports has a few tricks up their sleeve that we'll see later down the line. With GamerNet and facial mapping Tiger Woods 08 is already pushing the sports genre as a whole in a different direction; it almost seems unfair to demand anything else. But we all know that won't stop us.

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