EA Sports PGA Tour Review: Teeing off a new generation of championship golf
Courses/Visuals
This by far is where EA Sports PGA Tour shines the brightest. It’s easily one of the best-looking golf games of all time. There are 30 courses in the game (28 real-world and two fantasy), with some familiar names as well as some fresh new tracks. Many of these are on the PGA Tour schedule in the real world while others are non-schedule courses that are ranked among the top layouts in the world. Augusta National, without a doubt, is the most popular course on the game’s list.
A couple of the biggest additions include Tara Iti, the beautiful New Zealand course designed by Coore & Crenshaw which is still relatively new, and Teeth of the Dog, the longtime breathtaking tropical course designed by the legendary Pete Dye.
We also see historic courses make their debut like Southern Hills and The Country Club which is one of the four original USGA courses. And then of course we have the iconic EA golf trio of TPC Sawgrass, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews reunite (Pebble was absent from Rory McIlroy PGA Tour). The golf ball will also react to the different terrains of each course, adding an element of realism to each swing.
All of the courses, including the returning fantasy courses Wetlands and Lighthouse Pointe, look absolutely stunning. You can play some of the most beautiful holes in golf in the game and just soak it in before you hit your next shot. Seeing holes like 13 at Augusta, seven at Pebble, or three at Torrey Pines under certain settings just takes your breath away. And the addition of the gorgeous Top of the Rock par-3 course offers a great change of pace.
Player Customization
One of the most important aspects of sports games or any game for that matter is character customization. Many times, we want to create our characters to best suit our style from the hairstyles to the gear they wear.
In EA Sports PGA Tour, you can of course customize your golfer. The appearance options are fairly limited at the time of this article with some face options and pretty limited hairstyles but there’s enough to get by in the meantime.
As for apparel, there aren’t a ton of options either when looking at the store but you can unlock new gear by completing challenges. Also, the options you see in the store are enough to kick-start your golf adventures in the meanwhile until more things are added. Just don’t expect outerwear, t-shirts, or other untucked apparel if you’re looking to fire the game up at the time of this piece. Just polos, pants, hats, shoes, and gloves from brands like Nike, Under Armour, Addidas, Linksoul, and Titleist. There are also some Masters polos available as well.
The biggest strength of the golfer customization in EA Sports PGA Tour has to be with the equipment. You can do the usual things like changing clubs but there are also more options for shafts and grips including some SuperStroke grips for putters. You can even customize your golf bag and unlock brand-new ones by completing challenges, buying them from the store, or owning the Deluxe Edition. You can change the towel, change the handle of the bag and even change the club headcovers.
This is a relatively simple but very cool feature as it makes the short cutscenes more aesthetically pleasing as your trusty caddie carries your fancy bag. You can even customize up to five bags so if you want a different style, you can switch it up anytime, just like with outfits. Playing the Masters with a green bag just looks awesome.
Online Gameplay
Looking to tee it up online? Well, there are a few ways to go about doing that. You can play against up to 16 other players simultaneously on different courses, including Augusta. You can choose to go play the Competitive mode which has everyone playing with much more difficult settings or you can the Social route which has all players teeing it up with the easier settings.
Then, if you want to battle it out with other players in a non-direct fashion, you can play in tournaments that are set up regularly. This is something that makes its return from Rory McIlroy PGA Tour along with the simultaneous play (only, in RM, you were able to play with up to four players).
Playing tournaments is fun and a great way to net you some in-game currency to use to go buy new apparel and equipment. The Social/Competitve simultaneous play can be a lot of fun as well but at this time, it’s hard to get many players to join in. Sometimes, you’ll see one to 3 other players join so hopefully matchmaking can be improved because it is fun when there are more players involved.
Overall, EA Sports PGA Tour is a fun playing round of virtual golf. Some slight tweaks to gameplay, store and appearance options and better connectivity in online matchmaking will give this game a major boost. A 60 fps update would really take this next-gen golf game to new heights as well. But career mode is fun and authentic, the courses and graphics look fantastic and the swings feel really satisfying.
EA SPORTS PGA TOUR (PlayStation 5) Score: 8/10
EA SPORTS PGA TOUR is not very far from being an incredible golf game. The course list is immensely strong so far and they look outstanding while career mode offers some depth with both the ability to play in both Tour events and in the slew of challenges. Meanwhile, the gameplay is just a 60 fps update and minor swing change away from being superb. Slap in better online matchmaking and it’s a shot down the fairway. All in all, EA SPORTS PGA TOUR is a solid par at the moment but it’s really close to carding a birdie.