By Gary Kearney

Tiger Woods is as dominate player in his sport as any player has been in any sport. He shows up and everyone knows he has a very good chance to win. Now that EA has released its annual installment of Tiger Woods PGA Tour, 07 in this case, one must ask if the game is a dominant as its namesake would suggest. Is it enough for EA and crew just to show up? One way to find out is to read on...

I am actually at a big disadvantage in reviewing this game, but at the same time at an advantage playing the game. See I haven't played a golf game in many years, so I'm not real hip on what's been going on and therefore as a reviewer I cannot tell if this year's edition of Tiger Woods is markedly different than the previous years. But as a gamer I get to enjoy Tiger like it's all new, because to me is basically is. Of course I know some of the new features because EA was nice enough to point them out in the game tutorials, instructions and box! What I can say is that I enjoyed the game and if you don't already have a golf game in your Xbox collection and feel you need to get one then Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is a perfect fit.

Well Tiger Woods PGA Tour is a golf game and boy am I surprised at how many different ways there are to play a round of golf. One of the new features is called Tiger Team Tour where you put together a group of golfers to ultimately challenge Team Tiger. As you win in the Team mode you get cash that you can use to upgrade stats for yourself and your team members. Then there's a big list of other modes some I've heard of like PGA Tour Season, Skins, and some I haven't like Bloodsome, Greensome, and Real Time Event Calendar where you play certain events depending on the actual day of the year. Bloodsome and Greensome are team based best ball games with the difference being in Greensome you get to pick the ball you want to play but in Bloodsome your opponent gets to pick. I thought that was a neat idea. I also like one-ball where you and your opponent play the same ball and the player who makes the final put wins the hole. The catch is that you have to play a reasonable shot toward the pin otherwise you forfeit the hole. But who's to say your “reasonable” shot can't go into a sand trap near the green instead of on the green? It's a tad evil but fun also.

There are a lot of courses to play including several that are made up, like Central Park. In total there are 21 courses. Speaking of 21, someone at EA must love blackjack because there are also 21 professional golfers including the lovely Natalie Gulbis and the slightly different John Daly. Of course there is the create your own golfer utility that has a ridiculous amount of options you can do to create a virtual golfer. And speaking of options Tiger 07 has a ton of game settings you can adjust so you can just about create your own personalized golf game.

The controls are a thing of beauty from the simple one stick approach to the total control feel you get with the dual thumbsticks. The system seems natural with a small learning curve and just like real golf you do feel great when you hit the perfect shot...not matter how many terrible shots you had before! The courses are beautiful and seem to be very detailed. The animations of the golfers is smooth and I enjoyed the special effects that would come along now and then. Can't say there was a whole lot going on in the sound department, but golf is a pretty quiet game. There is ESPN integration but when compared to Madden or NBA Live it is very limited but does include the ESPN ticker and ESPN News.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 86%. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is an under par performer, which is actually a good thing!