An improved version of Putt Preview allows players to preview the path their ball will take on the green, taking into account elevation, speed, and power. Usable one time before each individual spot, putt preview is a useful technique that greatly improved my putting game. Unfortunately, this useful mechanic seems to be flawed. Many times, the preview's path is over- or under-estimated, resulting in putts that go far beyond or below where the path said they'd come to a stop. The trick is to sometimes not use full power, especially on downhill shots, which seems obvious. Of course, when uphill shots come into play, using full power is necessary, but the ball may still fall short. Still, once players learn how to manipulate the broken system, it's rare that they'll miss a putt.
An additional failing of Putt Preview is that, as mentioned, it can be used before every single putt. Not once per hole, but once every putt. This means, if players use the preview and happen to miss, they can just use it again. Frankly, it's not often that, once players gain an understanding of how to manipulate Putt Preview, there will be many missed putts. In terms of balancing, a better implementation would have been allowing the use of one Putt Preview per hole, though the technique is not available on the highest difficulty, which helps even things out a bit.
Once to start, once for power, and once for accuracy. If this sounds familiar, congratulations, you're a videogame golf veteran. The 3 click shot allows players to use the old school method of hitting the ball, which requires much more accuracy than the modern method of hitting via the analog stick. It's nice that the mechanic has made a return, as I'm sure there are a few virtual golf fans who miss the old way of striking. However, the pin-point timing required to successfully gather enough power and strike the ball with decent accuracy feels antiquated, especially considering the relative ease required to hit a perfect shot using the analog stick.
For players who have always dreamed of stepping onto a fairway with a near-perfect depiction of themselves, Photo Face will no doubt be the most exciting of Tiger 08's most notable new features. By way of either importing digital photos or capturing one via Xbox Live Vision camera or a PlayStation EyeToy (and presumably the forthcoming PlayStation Eye, as well), gamers can import realistic representations of their ugly mugs into the game. The faces themselves are strikingly accurate, with more realism able to be added by way of taking a profile shot. It takes quite a bit of time to line up the dots so that facial features wind up in the correct places, and even longer to render the actual face--up to twenty minutes--but the end result is worth the time. It's not a huge deal, but the ability to really see your own face next to Tiger's really adds more personality to the game.
After creating a Photo Face, or using a default model, players are able to further customize their avatars by adding hair, changing eye color, picking out clothing, and more. From there, it's on to improving player stats such as Power and Putting by way of participating in different challenges. Seven, a Power challenge, revolves around the created player and a pro golfer choosing a hole and driving the ball as close to it as they can. Whoever gets closest receives a point and is able to select the next hole, where the process is repeated.
While Seven and other are fun to play, a created golfer's stats are so low--every attribute is given a base value of 5--that winning the majority of them is simply too difficult. I'm driving a ball close to 150 yards, if I'm lucky, and my opponent is knocking the thing close to 300. Far more preferable would have been for players to receive a set number of skill points and distribute them to their liking.
Jumping into a PGA Tour is the most entertaining method of raising created player stats. If players make a particularly difficult putt, place a good amount of spin on a ball, or demonstrate a nice approach, their stats will be updated accordingly at the end of individual tournaments. It's still a tedious process, and most players can expect to get thoroughly trounced due to their stats being so low, but it's better than competing in exercises over and over.
Tiger Challenge features several new contests for players to overcome with the ultimate goal to challenge Tiger to a round of golf. A bevy of challenges and golfers, pro and fictional, will stand in the player's way as they work to hone their skills. Golfers are unlocked after they're defeated, and winnings can, as per usual, be spent in the Pro Shop on new equipment to use in tournaments, with the end goal being to continue building the created athlete's skills.
Graphically, the game is stunning, probably the best graphics in a Tiger game thus far. The detail in the golfers is especially striking, perfectly replicating Tiger's picture-perfect smile and mannerisms, as well as those of the other pros as well. Sure, we've seen them many times before, but the courses look especially beautiful, though the continued absence of weather effects, other than wind, is grating. Spectators are still blocky and disfigured in appearance, but their presence is for atmosphere more than any critical gameplay mechanic. Everything else is stunning.
Rabid stat fanatics will no doubt rejoice at the addition of Shot Confidence, a built-in mechanic that tracks each and every decision players make. Its purpose is to watch how players perform on certain holes, with certain clubs, specific putts, and so on. Shot Confidence will notice if a player scores a birdie on a certain hole, and will adjust the player's overall confidence rating for that hole. Deftly knock a ball out of a sand trap onto the green? That will be recorded. It's a rather slick mechanic that will allow players to get a little something new out of courses they've played over and over, as Shot Confidence will allow them to walk onto a certain hole and think, "Yes, I've played this course for years, but I own it; it's mine."
Multiplayer allows two to four players to jump into some club-swinging action. The game runs smoothly, with almost zero lag and the ability to view every move opponents make. Putt preview's problems can be a problem online, as many games can be won or lost due to the system's occasional inaccuracy. Skilled players may find themselves losing when they should have won, all because of a reliance on the Putt Preview mechanic. Use it, but don't rely on it, especially during online competition.
By far the most notable addition to Tiger's online repertoire is GamerNet, an online service that allows players to create custom challenges based on an entire round of golf, or separate holes or strokes. A favorite is the 9-hole challenge, which allows gamers to play the given number of holes, save their score, and upload it for prospective opponents to overcome. This challenge can actually be a fun substitute to an actual multiplayer game, as in essence, it's the same thing: Compete against someone else to get a better score.
Several parameters can be tweaked in order to create fun challenges. Should the golf ball bounce a certain number of times in a certain area? Make that a condition. Happen to drive the ball over 500 yards? That's a condition. It's a very customizable experience, ideal for challenge creators who want victory specifications rendered just so.
GamerNet's deep level of configuration is certainly is primary strength, but it is also its core flaw. Most of the challenges in the Free Style category are absurd, with conditions similar to those set above. One challenge featured a player who happened to hit seven pedestrians--using a graphical glitch. As the ball slowed to a stop, it got caught on the foot of one of the spectators, causing the game to trigger several "hits" in rapid succession. One winning condition was to hit a pedestrian at least eight times, but short of taking advantage of a similar glitch, it's near impossible to surmount.
