Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Wii)

This is the movement-based golfing game you've been waiting for.
6/16/2009 1:01 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Golfers have never had a problem with dropping dough on the latest and greatest piece of new equipment if they thought it would help their game. Up until now, that had been limited to the world of real golf. Now, virtual golfers have the same chance to spend some extra coin on a gizmo that promises to help them be more of a force on the course. EA Sports' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is compatible with the new MotionPlus attachment for the Wii Remote. And unlike just about every other doodad that's being foisted on golfers, this one really will make a difference in your game.

The MotionPlus attachment fits onto the bottom of the Wii Remote and allows the Remote to send more detailed info about your movement to the Wii's sensor bar. The attachment is available as a standalone product for $20, or you can get it bundled with Tiger 10 for only 10 bucks more than the game alone. More and more games are being developed for the piece's heightened awareness of movement and placement, so if you're serious about Wii gaming, you're going to eventually need the thing.

Initially, I wasn't impressed with MotionPlus. I played Tiger versus Tiger on the game's new Banff course, with one Tiger being controlled by an old-school Remote and the other being controlled with the MotionPlus-equipped Remote. On the front nine, the old Remote ruled. The new Remote let me do some funky things -- which I'll get into shortly -- but the one thing it wasn't letting me do was to get the ball in the hole any faster.

Things flip-flopped on the back nine. I'd developed the bad habit of dogging it with the Remote and getting maximum power with less than a full golf swing. With the MotionPlus, you need to really perform a golf swing to get the type of power you want. Once I figured that out, new-school Tiger took over.

But it wasn't just figuring out how to get the most juice out of my club that eventually won me over. It's also all of the other things that you can now do. Draws and fades were a complete roll of the dice in Tiger 09. Half the time, the Remote didn't register with the sensor and your ball would end up in the woods, the water or a bunker. It was beyond frustrating. With MotionPlus, you have much greater control over the ball's movement. Twisting the Remote correctly during your swing gives you a perfect draw or fade every time.

MotionPlus also lets you see if your club face is open or closed. If your club face is open, you're going to slice the ball even if you do everything else correctly. Just like in the real game, you have to be aware of keeping your club face square if you want to hit the ball straight.

This visual representation of the club face makes adds an even deeper dimension to the game's new putting system. Unlike the one-year-old "classic" putting scheme, now putting is a two-part process. You have to draw the club back the proper distance, but it's your actual swing that determines how hard you hit the ball. Combine this with having to make sure your club face is square, and the putting game has just become a lot more interesting. The new system works on Remotes without the MotionPlus, but the added responsibility of focusing on your club face disappears.