EA Sports PGA Tour – return of the king (pic: EA)



After years in the rough EA returns with a new PGA Tour golf game that brings back the glory days of the Tiger Woods era.



Golf, that most traditional – some would argue staid – of sports, offers a window into a bygone age. At least, it used to, before an attempt at a modernising, disruptive coup was launched in the form of the LIV Tour, a rival to the PGA and European Tours (the latter now renamed the DP World Tour), offering over-the-top rewards for its rebel players.



So far, the traditionalists have held firm: despite some high-profile defections, the LIV Tour has failed to acquire much credibility. A similar scenario is playing out in the field of golf games . For over a decade EA’s PGA Tour games, most of them headlined by Tiger Woods, dominated the field but the last entry was the poorly received Rory McIlroy PGA Tour in 2015. In the meantime, 2K has also started its own line of golf games although last year’s PGA Tour 2K23 was equally disappointing.



This new EA Sports PGA Tour, which doesn’t share its name with any particular golfer, is clearly an attempt to regain its former glories, and sales success. The end result is the best golf sim in a very long time and a considerably better game than would-be rival PGA Tour 2K23.



EA Sports PGA Tour is not only relentlessly high-tech – no golf-game has ever looked or felt so startlingly like the real thing – but demonstrates impressive attention to detail throughout. For example, when you jump into its flagship Career mode, which casts you as a rookie on the PGA Tour (although you can opt to start on the amateur or Korn Ferry tours), it’s impossible to ignore how closely its gameplay mimics the real-life PGA Tour TV coverage.



There are 30 of the most iconic PGA Tour venues at launch, along with the likes of St Andrews’ Old Course, and all the remaining courses for the year’s majors will be added post-launch – so we’re promised. They all look stunning; no golf-game has ever got so close to photorealism. Nor sounded so good: the commentary is equally good with the team familiar from PGA Tour coverage reminiscing about Arnold Palmer as they would in real life, while you negotiate your way around the Bay Hill Invitational.



In terms of feel, EA Sports PGA Tour also gets it absolutely spot-on. You have to think very carefully about how to adjust your approach to shots from different types of rough, bunkers, pine needle-strewn paths and the like, just as in real life. There’s one proviso, though, as EA Sports PGA Tour doesn’t give you an option to control your swing via button presses, instead insisting that you use the more modern method of aping a swing via analogue-stick movement.



However, you can assign your swing to either left or right sticks, and there is a vast array of shots on offer via thoroughly intuitive modifiers that easily let you apply draw or fade, or take high and low approaches according to wind conditions.



There are many elements to EA Sports PGA Tour; as well as Career, you can jump into Quick Play which boasts a number of matchplay formats, play online against random people, set up private tournaments with your mates, or take on Challenges which range from coaching to recreating classic real-life moments from previous PGA Tour events – via skill-testing designed to show off the equipment of potential sponsors.









Yes, EA Sports PGA Tour includes lootboxes, it is, after all, an EA Sports game. But at least it doesn’t aggressively spam you to spend real-life money on them, confining them primarily to the Challenges section as rewards for demonstrating your skills. Amongst the virtual tat they bring (depictions of clothing and equipment from real-life golfing equipment brands) you also get XP which helps generate skill points, but none of it is necessary to progress.



EA Sports PGA Tour has a role-playing style skills tree which, like the rest of the game, manages to be deep and complex without causing confusion. Its skills are split into the likes of driving, approach, short-game, and putting, and there’s also a crucial power category which lets you beef up all aspects of your game, which eats up big chunks of skill points.



On each branch of the tree, as you progress, you unlock new, ever more exotic types of shots, which come in particularly handy when you find yourself in tricky situations. A consequence of the skills tree’s presence is that if, say, you jump straight into a PGA Tour season in Career mode, it seems quite hard at first. You won’t be able to drive over 300 yards until you’ve upgraded your core power considerably, nor will your short-game include trick shots so, for a while, you’ll struggle to get close to flags from, say, the rough or greenside bunkers.



Roughly every other event you enter, you will level up and earn skill points. So with the Career mode’s emphasis on qualifying for the Masters (which takes place as EA Sports PGA Tour goes on sale) you should have levelled up sufficiently to compete by the time it comes around. The coaching section in Challenges comes in handy, too, walking you through the considerable subtleties of the control system.



Another aspect of the Career mode which works well is that it doesn’t force you to play entire four-round competitions unless you choose to, but by default splits PGA Tour events into individual days, in which you play a mere selection of the holes. So you might, for example, have to pull off a few birdies to make the second-day cut and if you do, you’ll then be presented with the third day as if it were a new event. That format brings a sense of narrative thrust, and makes you feel as though you’re improving very rapidly, as your golfer’s attributes and array of shots improve with alacrity.



EA Sports PGA Tour – just like on TV (pic: EA)



You can, of course, spend hours tinkering around with the physical aspects of your golfer, to make them look as much like you as possible. Although unintentionally progressive, if you create a female golfer the game will put you in competition with the men. Perhaps the LPGA Tour will be added via downloadable content, but that’s not been announced yet.



EA Sports PGA Tour is, quite simply, one of the best golf games we’ve ever played. It’s certainly the most technically accomplished, it plays beautifully, and it looks and sounds incredible. Like all the best golf games it also has a soothing quality to it, even if you do find that you tend to crack under the pressure and make frustrating mistakes.



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When you find yourself in contention at The Players’ Championship, say, it’s incredibly exhilarating, and as you transform from a weedy 220-yard driver with no short-game into a Masters contender, there’s a huge amount of satisfaction to be had.



If you’re a golf enthusiast with a modern console, EA Sports PGA Tour is pretty much an essential purchase, especially given that its Career mode is geared towards letting you vicariously enjoy the thrill of contending in the Masters. And even if you wouldn’t dream of playing a round of golf in real life, it’s such a professionally put together and deeply enjoyable game that you would do well to check it out.






EA Sports PGA Tour review summary In Short: Slick, high-tech, and impeccably well designed; this is the best golf game of the modern era and the new standard for others to aspire to.
Pros: Looks incredible, with great commentary and clever RPG-style skills progression. Great Masters-centric Career mode, nuanced control system, and nicely judged challenges.
Cons: Unaccountably lacks the LPGA Tour. No traditional control system option. Sadly, includes lootboxes.
Score: 9/10





Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X, and PC Price: £69.99 Publisher: EA Developer: EA Tiburon Release Date: 7th April 2023 Age Rating: 3









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