Dangerous Golf

Dangerous Golf: World Tour has come under fire for looking like a dull clunky game, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The current game in the series - True Swing Golf - doesn't actually make a substantial amount of sense and suffers from a lack of a passable golf experience. But if you've got any flaws in the design of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, you can't have another Tiger Woods golf game to blame. We're talking almost all of Tiger's golf titles.

The lack of a passable golf game, as we can tell from our brief hands-on time with the game, is a real oversight. The game plays almost exactly like Tiger Woods 2005, the only difference being the lack of a golf swing meter. However, it is a far cry from Tiger Woods, which is already available in the next game, the next version of the game, due next March. In all fairness, the golf games in the series have been pretty easy to control, so Tiger Woods 2005 is perfect for us.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 also has an extensive create-a-player mode, which will let you change your golfer's appearance and even your personality. Tiger Woods 2005 has several different categories: style, personality, hit, appearance, speed, position, height, and more. Each category has six different styles--click to swing, line, jump, spin, and go. It's a fairly standard selection--you can modify your character's characteristics, make him or her look unique, adjust his or her stance, adjust the angle of the shot, and so on. Each category has six different sets of styles: heavy, rough, shoot, club, curve, and strike. Of course, each style can be customized in four different ways, including difficulty. Of course, the hardcore golfer is definitely the toughest of the bunch, as he'll have to reach the ratings of his or her fans to make the shot, so he'll have to play smart.

The courses you'll find yourself in in for PGA Tour 2005 are featured in a number of different ways. PGA Tour 2005 has four named courses: Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach, Calif., New Hampshire, and Scottsdale, but the last three courses--Savannah, Calcine, and Old Town--are all playable on the Xbox. One interesting twist is that each of the holes is constructed on a different course from the rest of the game, so the most proficient player will not have to trawl through quite the same array of greens, as the player with the lowest rating will be able to make his or her way to the hole. The Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 course, for example, takes place on an island located in the east of Scottsdale, while the Calcine course features some ruined beaches and dark, dimly lit greens. This also means that you can expect to see many--if not all--of the golfers in the game featured in the golf course, including James Paul, Dave James, and Jim Norton. The course is divided into several sections that, when used in conjunction with the course editor, will allow you to create your own playbooks.

Like most EA golf games, the gameplay in The Golf Channel 2005 plays very differently from that of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. Instead of just placing items on the golf course, you'll be able to apply them to the hole in which you play. You'll find more-or-less three different types of ball available in the game. In addition to your standard wedge, you'll have a variety of clubs that you can use to power through holes. While the early versions of the game we played were a bit more complicated, the first real challenge we faced during our demo was the putting on the links. This wasn't an easy feat, though, as there were plenty of obstacles in our path that required some smart use of your club. This included long balls that had to be shot repeatedly in a straight line or by simply pointing the controller at the ball, and even then, it was difficult to hit the ball directly. The different golfers you'll be playing against in the game are all rated differently, so if you've got a good angle on your shot, it might be worth considering putting a distance yourself. In addition to the standard power-ups, you'll be able to perform various shots in the game by having the artificial intelligence mimic your entire throwing range. You'll find that the new game will be packed with "talents" to help you improve your skills, and as you earn them, you'll be able to place them on the lineup of your favorite clubs to use in your next game.

In addition to putting, you'll be able to hit the ball back and forth across the whole court.

Besides the six original golfers, a great number of the new gameplay modes in NCAA 2005 are in place.