Ah, video game golf. Nothing beats a day at the links, unless it is a day at the virtual links on a rainy day spent indoors. For those of us whose handicap sucks rocks and will never see the sights of Augusta, Spyglass, or many other real world tournament showcases. It's nice to see a game that is so true to life and provides so much attention to detail that we can finally play there...if only in a video game. Tiger Woods 10 is EA Sport's latest and greatest golfing title and they are damn near closing on perfection with this series. Long gone are the silly over the top gaming that the series once brought forth as we are almost to the point that EA was once known best for with the PGA Tour series back in the day. In short, if you are looking for an easy pick up and play golfing title, you may want to try Hot Shots Golf instead... Tiger is the real deal.

Visually Tiger Woods 10 has stepped up a notch first off by finally getting rid of the odd frame rate drops during cut scenes and fly bys. The game now runs at a silky smooth 60 fps on every drop, on every hole, on every course. While some of the player models need some attention paid to, many of the game's stars look spot on, especially Tiger himself. The environments from the trees, water hazards, and sand traps are so detailed that you will fear them just as much as you do in real life. Added this year is a new weather feature that not only allows for atmospheric events such as wind and rain to effect game play, but if you log online, you will be able to utilize the game's real time weather feature that implements the exact weather conditions going on that particular course in real time thanks to the Weather Channel. The game's presentation, while basic, still has perfect placement for replays, overlays, event happenings, etc. The game doesn't rely on flash, and that in itself is part of the game's authenticity to the sport.

Commentary is once again presented by Van Pelt and Tilghman but unlike last year is not only more informative and chatty, but will even make erroneous calls only to be corrected by the other during a game. For instance, if you are shooting a shot from the fairway, Van Pelt may say, "This is gonna be short from the green", but if the ball bounces onto the green, Tilghman will respond by saying he was wrong. This is good stuff and is about as close to live commentary as we've come to in quite some time. The audience is also more responsive, so not only are you hearing the crowd reactions on shots you are making, but you may hear "woo"s and cheering from a few holes over as another player may have made a miraculous putt to move into first place. This is just a few notable and noticeable differences that just make this game feel like you are really there.

Gameplay is much like last year's effort on whole, but has been tightened and refined to allow for better club choices and shot selection. One major change that has taken place is the putting meter, which in this reviewer's opinion is the best version yet. The premise is simplistic, yet effective and gone are the, "you have to be a freaking architect" to read the green. Much like the rest of Tiger's short game, the putting is reliant mostly on touch and placement. This year's more user friendly putting meter allows for gamers to just feel the shot instead of weeding out every nook and cranny on the green. One downside to the new weather effects is when a weather pattern has run its course. Sure, the rain and wind will affect the ball's carry, speed on the green, distance hit on the fairway, pitching, etc., but once these events have taken place, it's like it never even happened. Greens quickly go back to being dry, so no puddles or muck affecting your stroke, for example. This is a bit disheartening, but I feel is not only a minute element that doesn't kill the game experience.

All of your favorite modes return such as online leagues, tournaments, deep career mode, practice rounds to improve skills, and so forth. The new Live Tournament modes, US Open and USGA Championship inclusions just add to the already enormous amount of bang for your buck that this series already delivers. What's more, you can even download new courses such as Spyglass to the game (you could have received a free download for the course by reserving at Gamestop). All in all, much like the man himself, Tiger is back and better than ever.