Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 for iPhone and iPad

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 builds in last year's successful edition, adding some welcome new features as well as tightening up existing elements.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 maintains the swipe-based swing controls. To make a shot, you draw your finger down a meter and then swipe up to follow through. The angle of your swipe determines both speed and trajectory. Little errors can send a ball crashing into the rough, but you can make some pretty slick shots by purposefully sending a ball off at a slight angle and then putting a little English on it before it hits the grass.

The swipe controls are more accurate, which is always appreciated. But the new ability to hold your finger at the bottom of the meter to charge up a power shot gives Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 a nice little bit of arcade thrills. You can also swap the shot so you purposefully go for a lower angle (which is noted by a blue meter), which is useful for getting the ball out of the rough without accidentally hitting tree branches.

The other big new features are Closest to the Pin, which links Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 with your Facebook account, and Tiger's Challenge. The latter is a series of objective-based challenges. That's good, but far more interesting is Closest to the Pin. This lets you contest friends to see who can drop the ball, well, closest to the pin. You see your friends' portraits, which gives it a personal touch and is one of the smarter integrations of Facebook I've seen in a mobile game. And if you'd rather directly challenge a friend to regular golf, you can do so over local Bluetooth or WiFi.

Facebook Connect...Play Against Your Friends

As for the remainder of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, much remains the same. You still rub elbows with licensed professionals on real world courses such as Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. There's also a new Predator course in the mix. Also back: difficulty. Like past PGA Tours, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 doesn't mess around. If you want to succeed in a tournament, you better practice up because computer-controlled rivals rarely make huge mistakes.

One issue that requires immediate attention, though, is the commentary. Not only is it flat, but it's also inappropriate. (Not like that.) For example, on the very first swing of the very first hole, I was told there was still plenty of time to turn things around. Well, yeah – I just started.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 remains the top golfer you can get for iOS – there is an iPhone as well as iPad edition. The tighter swipe controls and new power shots are a big plus. The Facebook-linked minigame is also a cool add. The commentary is pretty rough, though, and the rest of Tiger might feel a little familiar to loyal fans. However, it’s still a nice evolution for the mobile version of the series and any golf fan will have a good time.

iPhone

iPad HD

Rating: 5 Stars

Review Reprinted from IGN.com, Original Article Source: http://wireless.ign.com/articles/115/1158576p1.html