Tiger Woods 2001 is EA Sports latest foray into the world of golf. For those of you that are confused, wondering whatever happened to EAs PGA Tour series, its right here. Theyve chosen to focus on the lucrative Tiger Woods license that theyve got, hence the full name Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001. This long delayed title has finally hit the stores, but its not the only Playstation2 golf title on the market. Its got competition in EAs own Swing Away Golf. Tiger does some things better, and others not so well, so please read on to find out more.

The story of Tigers graphics is a two-sided affair. One of nice looking player models, and not-so-nice looking courses. Lets have a look at the bright side of things first. Each player looks just like their real life counterpart, from their shoes to their head wear. Tiger sports his trademark red shirt, black pants, black shoes, and his black hat. Not only do the golfers look good, they are also animated very well. From exact replicas of individual swings, to golfer specific nuances around the putting green, its found here. Since Tiger is obviously the focus of the game, his actions are recreated to near perfection. When he lines up a putt, hell crouch down, and place his hands on the brim of his cap. When he sinks a birdie putt, hell walk off the green pumping his fist to the cheers of the crowd. If you caught him winning last weeks TPC Championship you know what to expect.

The rest of PGA Tour 2001 doesnt hold up to the level set by the character models. The best looking feature of the courses is the look of the fairways. Perfectly cut, realistically colored grass, lines the course from tee to green. Unfortunately, the rest of the course looks poor. From the two-dimensional trees, to the pixelated mess that lies off in the horizon, the courses are nowhere near what youd expect from a Playstation2 golf game. Im not sure theyre even what youd expect from a Playstation game. That last statement is an exaggeration, but it serves to point out how bad things are here. Even the water effects are a step below what has already been done on the PS2 in Swing Away Golf. The only little graphical extra in the look of the course, is falling leaves if your ball is unlucky enough to stray near the woods. I have not played the other incarnations of this years series on the PSX or the PC, so I cant speak as to how they compare, but I cant imagine them looking much worse.

If theres something less important than discussing the audio found in a golf game, I havent found it. My receiver could have blown up, and Id almost never have noticed the missing sound. Ive got birds chirping outside my window, so all I need is a few people in my room politely clapping, and Tiger yelling at the ball, and Id be set. The audio that is present is extremely limited in its scope, but it does its job of adding to the games atmosphere. The crowd provides a typical golf clap when you hammer a drive, or drop a ball on the green, and theyll also gasp and groan when you plow one out of bounds. A nice feature that comes up during tournament play is crowds cheering on surrounding holes when another golfer does something good. Again, it helps create the atmosphere of being there. Each golfer has a set of repetitive, annoying phrases that theyll yell at the ball when it fails to do what its supposed to. Grip it!, Get down!, Tiger will shout at the deviant ball as it skips past the pin. The announcer is barely present, essentially only pointing out if the player is putting for a birdie, or trying to hang on for a bogey.

In the gameplay department, 2001 birdies some holes, and bogies a few others. It is most successful in the amount of different play modes that it offers. A Play Now feature allows those who cant spare the extra 30 seconds to go through the menus, a way to jump right into a match. This isnt your typical Play Now option however, this one places you in a series of challenges, twenty-one in all. Its a nice addition, and a good way to kill a few minutes when you dont have enough time to play an entire tournament. Skins, Match, Stroke, Practice, and Tourney round out the rest of the play modes. The robust number of play modes ensure that its easy to tailor a match to your exact specifications. Theres no Create-A-Golfer anywhere to be found in the title, and no, I dont count changing my golfers shirt color as creating my own golfer. This seems to be one of those dreaded Wait until next year features that so many developers seem to be fond of these days.

Making the inability to create a golfer sting even more is the inclusion of only six golfers. Tiger, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, Mark Calcaveccia, Robert Damron, and Brad Faxon are the lucky golfers that made the cut into this years addition. Many other names appear on the leader boards, but they are there to be seen, not to be played. Another small number found in PGA Tour 2001 is three. This is the number of courses that are playable. Other than Pebble Beach, EA didnt even hook this game up with courses most people have heard of. If youre only going to have three courses, maybe Augusta, Pinehurst, Sawgrass, or St. Andrews might have been nice courses to compliment Pebble Beach. Instead we have Spyglass Hill, and Poppy Hills to play instead. They are nice courses, theyre just not ones that should be in a game with only three courses.

The game uses a unique control scheme, which takes advantage of the Dualshock2s design. Swinging is performed by holding down on the left analog stick, and then quickly moving it forward when it has reached its desired power level. I found it very easy to control my shots this way, and it was a refreshing change from the double or triple-click methods of previous games. In the most arcade-like feature of the game, shots can be shaped after they have left the club face. Pressing any direction on the control pad, will alter the spin of the ball in the direction pushed. This makes it easy to add distance to a shot, or gently curve a ball around a tree. I used the feature quite often, simply because it worked so well, not because I really liked it. Purists who dont care for this feature can either not use it, or turn it off in the options menu.

The biggest problem with shot making was the sometimes erratic distance the ball would travel. For example, a club that can hit 75 yards, but is only used at 66% power would be expected to hit the ball about 50 yards. EA didnt think this was the case, so sometimes the ball will only go 15 yards. I can understand the ball going over or under 50 yards by 10% or so, but 15 yards is ridiculous. This isnt a ball buried in the sand either, its sitting right in the middle of the fairway, with minimal wind involved. As bad as I am at golf in real life, I can still hit my shots with more accuracy than this.

Putting the ball is an exercise in frustration for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the erratic power issue previously mentioned. I can't tell you how many putts stopped short of the hole, for no apparent reason. A 6-inch putt that is hit hard enough to go in from two feet away according to the meter should go in the hole. Just as many zoomed right past as stopped short, so its an equal opportunity offender. The method for determining the amount of slope on the green is certainly something Ive never seen before. Most likely Ive never seen it before because its totally worthless. Hitting a button will bring up the familiar putting grid, but in addition to this, it will also morph the green and surrounding areas into large hills and valleys. This is done to accentuate the slopes of the green, and I cant figure out why. Most other golf games take the initiative to just make the greens naturally curve, and they add a grid to help you. The greens found in 2001 are as flat as pancakes until this button is pressed. Curves the size of Anna Nicole Smiths wouldnt make it any easier to judge your putts here though, as its almost a crap shoot if the balls going to find its way home or not.

Any sports game that isnt terrible has a significant amount of replay value, and Tiger Woods 2001 is no exception. The large amount of play modes available make the small number of golfers and courses less painful. Using the Multi-Tap to play with four friends is also an enjoyable experience, unless youve got one of those friends that lines up each put as if its to win The Masters. The bottom line however, is that this isnt the best golf game out for the system. Thus far that title goes to the relatively little known Swing Away Golf. If youve tried Swing Away and found it too cartoony, you may want to give this game a chance.