14 DAY TRIAL // 
I always watch some golf competition... when I try to fall asleep. I don't get golf and the beauty of this sport, although I can't help to check out Tiger Woods' wonderful hole-in-one shots. Golf as a videogame is an entirely different story, as it's one of the most entertaining virtual sports a gamer can play, specially if he owns a PSP. I can remember playing Actua Golf 3 on the PSX and it was one of the best golfing experiences I've ever had the chance to try. The commentary was 60% of the fun provided by the title.... Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 was the only game that made me want to give golf another spin after all this time, however the platform is different now, as I've played it in the PSP version.
Concept EA Sports have struck gold with yet another franchise, this time relying on the image and fame of the brilliant Tiger Woods. Once you enter the game, you'll notice right away that the new features are marked by shiny gold stars. You can select the Quick Play Mode if you're not in the mood for starting a brand new competition, PGA Tour Career if you want to become the next Tiger Woods, minigames for some relaxing fun or multiplayer to challenge your friends to a golf tour. Quick Play also includes a couple of sub-modes like Stroke Play, Match Play, Skins, Stableford and Tutorial. The first of them takes the player through one simple round of gold, while Match Play pits you against an opponent and with the sole purpose of winning more holes than he does. In case you fancy cash prizes, there's always the Skins sub-mode, where each hole is worth a certain amount of money and in case there's a tie, the sum carries to the next hole.
Stableford is basically the same thing, but this time you'll play for points, gathering them as you get past each hole. The game offers you a choice regarding the number of holes you'll play in all of the above-mentioned modes. Choose a random 3, an all 18, front 9 or back 9 if you think you've got the time and patience to complete all of them. The tutorial is very useful, especially if you've never played a golf title before produced by EA Sports. Those minigames I mentioned earlier are as fun as the whole game, but you'll get bored after trying them for about half an hour. The shooting gallery is a mighty fine minigame that allows you to hit targets that display the number of points they stand for. As you progress the going gets tough and you'll have to avoid certain targets, or hit them alternatively by swinging your club. Another fun minigame is putting frenzy, but its name speaks for itself, so it's basically the same challenge as the ones included in the standard competition.
As most of the recent EA Sports games, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 requires you to create a profile, in order to setup a unique character that will represent you in multiplayer games as some sort of avatar. You'll create a profile and game face, altering the golfer's skin tone, face, hairstyle, hair length, sideburns, eyebrows, chin and body size. Clothes can also be modified, so you can dress your dude up with shirts, polos, turtle necks, shorts and various footwear, most of them branded Nike. Keep in mind that all these outfits cost money, so if you want to be "Mister Fancy", there's quite a price to pay. After you're done with setting up your golfer, it's time to distribute experience points in order to increase his attributes. You'll toy with the sportsman's power, accuracy, spin, putting, concentration and a general feature, creating the perfect golfer, at least for now. As your player progresses the attributes can increase and you'll be able to buy cool new shirts, eye-glasses and footwear.
All of this setting up would be extremely cool if it weren't for some unpleasant lags, always present in the game's menus. It might be the tons of content included in the title, but Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 just seems to frustrate me when I'm trying to setup my golfer. The first thing you'll have to do is check out the game's tutorial, in order to learn the basics of pro golf. A calm voice guides you through all of the types of shots you'll have to perform in order to win various competitions. There's an on-screen meter to keep an eye on at all time, since it shows the strength of your shot. Depending on the club you use and the surface your ball is on, some shots require a 100% hit, while others will do with a 40% strike. EA Sport's title also features a putt camera that will automatically attach a grid to the green allowing you to get a more accurate shot.
Back to the game's rich content, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 allows you to play on famous courses like Peeble Beach, Sawgrass, Riviera, The National, The Ocean Course of TPC Boston. The golfers make up quite a list too and you'll see all the guys you have admired on TV, while they were trying to defeat Tiger Woods: Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, John Daly, Mike Weir and the man himself, the almighty Tiger. Check out their biographies, nicknames, height, strength and any other attributes that you think are necessary in order to defeat them all.
Gameplay The analog stick is the main tool for any gamer who wants to play this title and win a couple of challenges. EA Sports have developed a wonderful control system that will make you use the circle button in order to view the above putt camera and the X button for the hole putt camera. Practically you can view the angle of the shot from a vertical or horizontal view, calculating the amount of power you need to sink the ball. By pressing the R button, you'll add a couple of inches to your putt, especially if the hole seems out of your reach. When bad luck comes into play and you hit the rough, you'll have to change clubs and attempt a strong shot, while rapidly tapping R for extra speed. Clubs can be selected by pressing L plus the d-pad buttons and if you've made the right choice, you'll be out of the bushes and back on the green in no time.
If you're a beginner who is just making contact with the world of golf and the tutorial wasn't much help, just press the select button to view the hole map and a couple of the caddy's tips. Each course is introduced to the gamer thanks to a fly-by cam, accompanied by a man's voice telling you all about the track. Trigger this sequence, by pressing the Square button. Being Tiger Woods sure means you're under pressure, but you can decrease the stress by playing a bunch of pressure minigames. They're very similar to the world-famous Tetris, but this time blocks aren't involved, so you'll only use sponges and a golf ball. Your purpose? Cleaning the golf ball and earning confidence percentage points. There's a confidence meter on the in-game screen at all time, so you'd better keep your eyes on it, specially after missing an easy close-range shot.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 is much more difficult game than it seems, specially when you'll have to tap the R button in order to hit the green from a long distance. Forget about the quick birdies or even about a hole-in-one, as the AI won't even allow you to catch your breath, always reaching the hole before you do. I had fun while playing the game, as it's fairly easy to control, the analog playing a major part in the shot. Get the power and accuracy right with the aiding of the putt cam and that side meter and you'll probably be a decent opponent for those tough CPU golfers.
Video The game is impressive if you consider that this is a PSP title, after all and its graphics are not the main asset. However, EA Sports have done a wonderful job with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and you won't even feel that you're playing a portable console title, after a couple of minutes of gameplay. The shots look well, there's that detailed tour of the golf course, accompanied by a presentation, the animations are well-done, golfers are well drawn... What more could we want? The putt camera is a great feature, allowing you to correct the angle and strength of your shots, so that's another plus for the title.
Sound Let's call that omnipresent voice a narrator in this case... It will guide you through the tutorial and show you the golfing course, giving you all the details you need, with the aid of a calm voice and a cool accent. Other than that the game's soundtrack is fairly good and EA allows you to customize a playlist and just listen to the songs, turning your PSP into a real jukebox. There are some rave, techno and rock tunes included, guaranteed to make you enjoy the game's menus, as that will be the only instance when you'll be able to listen to them.
Multiplayer
The PSP's Wi-Fi feature is once again put to good use thanks to the Ad-hoc and Infrastructure play modes, which allow you to compete against opponents playing on their own PSPs or access a lobby and take part in an official competition. That was the subtle purpose of that complicated profile creation process after all... Each player joins a multiplayer game by using his/her own profile, with a unique choice of clothes, golfer traits and abilities. This will allow you to compete against more experienced human golfers, who achieved tons of points and could prove to be a real challenge, specially if you're a noobster.
Conclusion Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 is a great game to play on the bus, while you're going to school, high-school or to your job. The only major flaw of this title is its ever-present lag in the menus, but thank God it's gone during gameplay. Otherwise, the use of the analog control system is brilliant, an idea well used by EA Sports to increase the fun of the game. At first glance, this golf sim is fairly easy to master, but the many buttons you'll have to use in order to add that extra inch and meter per second to your shot can turn the whole experience into a tough challenge.
