EA Sports PGA Tour Preview – Driving Forward

EA Sports began producing licensed PGA Tour videos games in 1990. Over the years, stars such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have lent their names to the game. However, the company has not released a PGA Tour video game since 2015, meaning other franchises have had time to slide into the space once occupied by EA Sports’ mainstay series.

EA Sports will make good on its previous title. This time, the emphasis is placed on realisticity. Not only how courses and players look, but how each hole must be approached. To begin with, all 30 launch courses were created using state-of-the art technology including laser-equipped helicopters. Licensed players were given a special focus, as both LPGA Tours players and LPGA Tours players were mapped in Frostbite Engine using hi-tech cameras. A crowd was also scanned by actors to give the illusion that they were actually people.

The developers placed the most importance on four Majors. The PGA Championship Championship, The Open Championship and The U.S Open all have custom presentations with detailed in-game trophy model models and commentary. Speaking of commentary, players can expect hundreds of hours of content from a broad analysis team to avoid repetitive chitchat when you’re working through the various courses. There are many settings that you can adjust to improve your presentation or gameplay, such as how dense the crowd should be.

ShotLink and Trackman provide real-world data that allows for accurate outcomes for every shot. These data allow each roll and bounce to be accurate across all terrains and slopes, taking into consideration the type of grass at each course. Each course has its own unique physics profile so that you can experience a dull day on The Old Course at St. Andrews Links or a hot round at TPC Sawgrass.

After selecting your club and approaching your ball, you have 20 different shot types to choose from, letting you attack each course how you want to and how the pros do in real life; you can even adjust the shape of your shot’s arc to perfect your approach. Players must use an analog stick for control of their swing. They should execute the backswing smoothly and efficiently and accurately time the ball’s impact to ensure maximum results. A Big Hit Moment is a trademark of the series. It allows you to see your stroke in slow motion and reveals how well you have executed it. Once you’re on the green, putting is also controlled by the analog stick, with a line that shows how far back to stroke and a shot assist option to help you aim. EA Tiburon plans to bring the classic three-click control system to the game after launch.

Online play is available in unranked, tournaments, matches and other modes. Career mode, however, allows you to play on-course. You can make all the choices you wish for your player in Unified RPG. This allows you to choose the best options to help build your own golfer with the right skills, abilities and gear. In Career, you can even choose where you want to start, whether that’s as an amateur, on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour, or all the way in the PGA Tour; winning championships in the amateur circuit opens invites to more prestigious tournaments, giving you a meaningful feeling of progression.

Though it’s been a while since EA Sports released a licensed golf game, PGA Tour looks to pull out all the stops in pursuit of delivering the most realistic experience we’ve ever seen. Though I’ve long since fallen off the sim-golf genre, I’m already eyeing my tee time on March 24 when the game arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.