Game review: Tiger Woods 11 - PlayStation 3

Well-documented personal turmoil has turned the once perfect role model into prime tabloid tittle-tattle material and made him the butt of many jokes.

From legend to laughing stock in a few short months.

Luckily for Tiger he's at least been retained as the face of Electronic Arts' long-running PGA Tour franchise, and luckily for players the 2011 game is as good as the series has ever been.

Any gamers with even a passing interest in golf will have played one of the Tiger Woods titles before.

The usual formula is still intact – authentic courses and players combined with a pretty true-to-life representation of the sport.

For any newcomers to the series, you need to prepare to tackle a deep and realistic golf sim with a steep learning curve.

There are no cartoony graphics or over-the-top arcade action. In fact there are very few concessions to casual gamers – Tiger Woods PGA Tour is really meant for serious golf fans – but it can still be a lot of fun once you start to get the hang of how to play properly.

It will be interesting to see how the new Move controller is incorporated into this or future PGA Tour instalments on PS3 but for now playing a shot is a mix of button pressing and stick movement to swing the club and hit the ball.

It’s a slightly clunky control system at first but becomes intuitive and easy to use after a while.

There are three modes of play.

The first is a one-off round of golf, choosing from one of the 18 available courses and from a variety of formats such as stroke play, match play and skins.

The second mode is career, in which you can create your own golfer and play through the PGA Tour season. Over time you’re able to buy new items for your golfer and increase his abilities.

A new mode in this version is Ryder Cup. This allows you to compete in the famous tournament as either the US or Europe. The different stages are available – foursomes, fourballs and singles – and players can even set up a 24-player online competition.

Sports titles from EA don’t change very much between their yearly updates so the mechanics of PGA Tour 11 will be instantly familiar to anyone who’s played one of the previous editions. Most of the differences are subtle such as slight upgrading of the graphics.

Aside from the introduction of the Ryder Cup, the two main new features are focus and true aim.

The focus meter regulates how often special playing aids can be used, such as spin, putt preview and power boost.

True aim, meanwhile, adds an extra degree of realism to the game.

Usually before you play a shot, an aiming circle will give you an indication of where your ball will land.

The true aim option removes this assist and requires much more precise shot playing as you position your golfer carefully and then aim your shot as you would if you were standing on the course.

Visuals and presentation in the game are par for the course by EA’s usual high standards, though there are some annoyances, such as with menu navigation and profile selection not being very user-friendly.

Veterans of the series will have to consider whether the Ryder Cup mode, gameplay enhancements, new courses and other tweaks make Tiger Woods 11 worth buying if they already own previous versions of the game.

However, for anyone looking to play the best golf game currently available for PS3, this is it.

Despite its annual upgrade, the Tiger Woods series is starting to feel slightly dated and old-fashioned as a gaming experience. EA might want to consider an overhaul or rethink for Tiger Woods 12 to keep things fresh.

This said, there is still no denying the quality of this latest release.

Verdict: 8 out of 10 – As good as golf currently gets on the PS3. Definitely worth buying if you’re a golf fan who doesn’t own other recent editions of the Tiger Woods game.