After one of the toughest years for it’s franchise and star golfer, EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour returns once more, emboldened with its all-encompassing Masters license.
When EA Sports recently announced Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, they took the unusual step to also provide the April releases’ box art. Notice anything different? After what EA Sports president Peter Moore described as “disappointing” sales of its 2011 edition, the company is clearly downplaying its typical reliance on its star golfer.
To that end, this year’s golfing title is all about one thing and one thing only – for the first time in the franchises’ history, players can take to the grounds of a painstakingly-recreated Augusta National. This week we sat down with the game’s lead designer Mike DeVault, who told us that the Augusta branding is the key component of this year’s title.
“Bringing Augusta on board was a huge plus for the franchise and for us it was about accentuating The Masters, making it a full component of the game and build features around that,” DeVault told us, adding that the typical career mode has been renamed ‘Road to the Masters’. In addition, players can recreate ‘Masters Moments’ – nine different historic scenarios from Augusta.
As for the new career mode, players will begin as an amateur, take on an amateur tour, begin at a Q-School, embark on a nationwide tour, get on the PGA Tour and finally attempt to qualify for the Augusta. Much like EA’s FIFA World Cup 2010, the Augusta branding is emblazoned on every aspect of the title’s options, while Augusta’s green and Par 3 courses have been recreated right down to the last undulation and azalea.
If you’re worried that perhaps The Masters may be a little too US-centric, EA’s DeVault informed us that the Presidents Cup will also be included. In all, EA are promising sixteen courses, including St Andrews and Pebble Beach, while golfers Zach Johnson and Bubba Watson make their debuts.
One of the newest elements of The Masters is Playstation Move functionality, which according to DeVault, helps the title to create “a really entry-level experience and a hardcore sim experience”.
“Last year we had the opportunity to put the Move functionality but the timing was a little weird for us, this year we definitely took what we had and made a ton of improvements on it and polished out all the kinks. It opens up a huge, huge door for us,” he said.
There’s plenty for PS3 owners to look forward to, not to mention a special PS3 edition that will apparently feature five additional courses (DeVault was understandably a little light on detail for that one). But what about Microsoft’s big push in motion gaming – Kinect?
“We definitely have plans to support the Kinect,” DeVault tell us. “The cool thing about the Kinect is that you can hold a golf club if you want, people forget that. You can use whatever you want. It won’t detect it, but it’s great if you need that tactile feedback to reinforce a swing to make it feel real.”
Caddy system
Finally, one of the most immediate differences when testing out PGA Tour 12 for the first time is one blatantly obvious inclusion – a caddy.
“One thing that resonated to us was that you really felt alone out on the golf course, whether it’s the crowd or the presentation, there just wasn’t many characters out there with you,” DeVault informed us.
“Talking to Tiger and other golfers, they’re always telling us how important their caddy is to them. The cool thing about the caddy is that he is going to benefit the hardcore gamer and the entry-level gamer.”
If anything, the tabloid troubles of Tiger Woods in the past year have brought a new look to what appeared to be a solid but stagnating franchise. With less emphasis on their star performer, EA have so far managed to allow other features, licenses and motion functionality overshadow this year’s experience, letting the gameplay and formidable options become the star attraction instead.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters will be released on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii on April 1.
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