Some gameplay changes to this year’s installment of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour adds more realism and even greater risk and reward. Letting players pick their swing style may seem like a small change, but it has the potential to carry some lofty results. The new swing style is one way EA Tiburon plans to create an even more authentic golf game where players are rewarded for taking risks, but potentially penalized for making sloppy mistakes.
The new golfer swing style adds another layer on top of the reworked swing meter last year–changed to total swing control to give players an even more realistic and challenging yet rewarding experience.
Here’s how it will work: When you create a player, you’ll assign some key attributes. You’ll pick one from four categories: power vs. control, allowing you to prioritize distance over pinpoint accuracy; draw vs. fade, or how you shape your strokes; low, medium, or high trajectory; and left or right handed. This combination of four attributes makes up your overall swing style.
Mike DeVault, senior designer on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, told PSU in an interview that these four attributes will play an important role in your game. For example, the team tuned the total swing control feature to work with your unique attributes. If you picked a control guy, he won’t hit is as far as a power guy, but he’ll have a larger sweet spot on your swing meter and you’ll hit the tempo a little easier than a straight power hitter.
"There are a lot of little nuances tuned in and around all the swing styles," DeVault said.
All licensed golfers will have swing styles, too. The team reached out to those real life golfers, including the legends, to make sure all their individual swing styles matched their in-game personas. Tiger hits a fade shot in real life, so his in-game character will hit a fade as well.
"This will be the most realistic golf this year because of these changes," DeVault said.
While it seems you will be rewarded for your choices, you may run into challenges throughout the game depending on your swing style. If you picked a draw swing style, your golfer’s hit window will naturally be larger when hitting a draw. But, try and hit a fade and you’ll find it much more difficult. "So, there’s a risk and reward," DeVault said.
In addition to this new system, the game features new courses, all majors, and the LPGA. You could always play as a female golfer, but this time you’ll have access to the LPGA career and even the first ladies major for the franchise.
Also for the first time in the history of the series, all tournaments will have authentic playoff systems. Each major has its own unique situation if players are tied at the end of the tournament and that is reflected in this year’s installment. For regular tournaments without unique playoff systems, players will get a three-hole sudden death.
Check out more from our interview with DeVault in our previous article on the Majors. Look for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 when it hits retailers on March 26.