Whether your video-golf ability classifies you as tour-hardened pro or weekend duffer, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 provides ample opportunity to refine and enhance your strengths. Gone is the swing power meter in favour of EA Sports' new Total Precision Swing. Essentially, the golfer on screen is your real-time power meter; you now have the ability to control his or her entire motion from backswing to follow-through. Power drives, insane-angle slices, fading hooks, and more can all be executed with the proper touch. And while the Total Precision Swing's learning curve is steep, it does add new flavour to the game. Among the new game modes are the Tiger Challenge and Speed Golf. In the Tiger Challenge, you compete as Woods against a progression of 17 players--some PGA Tour players and some original EA Sports characters--to earn cash rewards and the right to unlock hidden golfers. You can also unlock individual holes on Tiger's Dream 18, a course designed by Woods himself. Speed Golf mode features a fast and furious race to the hole in which you can either compete by yourself or split-screen against another player. Money is earned in head-to-head competition by finishing the hole first, and through bonuses for such things as teeing off first and hitting a longer drive than your opponent. Any money earned is subsequently drained from your opponent's total, creating all-out mayhem on the course. Other game modes offer stroke, match, and tournament play, skins, scenarios, and practice. Also, Play Now mode places you in a helpful scenario/tutorial situation that you must complete before moving on to further options.
Visually, the game's many courses and related elements depict a stunning, near-live experience. From the well-kept fairways and greens of Pebble Beach and the TPC at Sawgrass, to the otherworldly dazzle of Copperhead Canyon, the courses come alive with rainy mists, murky fogs, and glowing sunsets. Also enhancing the experience are crashing ocean waves, rippling lakes, swaying tree branches, and even live animals should you knock a shot into the trees. --Larry White
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