EA Sports PGA Tour Review: Teeing off a new generation of championship golf

Title: EA SPORTS PGA TOUR
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: EA
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 (reviewed on)
Release Date: April 7, 2023

EA Sports PGA Tour is here and it brought the major championships back as well including The Masters Tournament. The last time we saw an EA PGA Tour game was Rory McIlroy PGA Tour back in 2015, which had all of the majors except The Masters.

With The Masters and Augusta National making their triumphant return, the iconic golf course graces the cover of the game, as it it did back in 2011 when Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 dropped, the first game that featured it.

Aside from Augusta, the game features 29 other golf courses and includes newcomers such as The Country Club, Southern Hills, and Tara Iti among others. Each of these regularly ranks in the top 30 on the “Best Golf Courses” lists.

They also plan on adding more iconic tracks too in Los Angeles Country Club, Oak Hill, Royal Liverpool, Olympia Fields, and Marco Simone. We’ll dive back into courses a little later but we’ll be teeing off this review with the gameplay.

Gameplay

The overall gameplay in EA Sports PGA Tour feels both different and familiar at the same time. The familiarity is things like the swing plane line, the putting meter, etc. The difference is largely within the animations of the swing.

In the past, swings in the game felt more fluid but in this version of EA Sports PGA Tour, they feel ‘heavier’ than usual. It’s not just a quick down and then up on the analog stick. You have to hold it down a bit longer to reach the top of the swing before following through.

It takes time to get used to but once you get it, it’s fairly easy to use. That said, you can actually speed up your swing under your golfer settings. This doesn’t make a massive difference but it does help a little bit.

The putting has this heavy feeling as well but it was kind of like that before, just a bit slower this time. But aside from swing fluidity, the animations themselves look really good. And the way each swing feels is very satisfying once you connect with the ball, it’s just the pacing.

There are several shot types you can use too, giving you a chance to get more creative with your shots. There are multiple shots for each area whether it’s off the tee, in the fairway, on sand, or even on the green, there are plenty, including the always mesmerizing stinger. Having these shot types are a welcome addition to the game.

Then of course there is the lack of a 60 fps setting as the game is currently locked at 30 fps. The game still looks and plays well overall, but a 60 fps update could really enhance the overall feel of the game. Supposedly, EA is working on implementing this so we shall see.