Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 Xbox 360 game

Golf fans have been waiting for this update to the Xbox's best-known gold game with apprehension after the largely disappointing reception given to its predecessor.

The 2008 version failed to build on the success of the 2007 original, but PGA Tour 09 gets the series back to par.

Among the new features is a training mode, in which Tiger's coach highlights aspects of the player's game that could be improved based on shots in previous games and challenges.

In truth, these are little more than extended practice sessions of specific shots but they do provide a skills boost that applies to the next game.

Unlike previous games in the Tiger Woods franchise, the skills gained are not static – your rating in areas such as shot power and accuracy improve as you complete training challenges, compete on the tour and purchase improved kit at the pro store with your winnings. But play badly in the next game – for instance taking more putts to finish than on previous courses – and the rating goes down. This means concentrating on game basics and not just relying on previous achievements.

Another useful new tool is the club tuner, which analyses your natural swing using the analogue stick and suggests tweaks to aspects such as the degree of elevation on the face of specific clubs and a natural bias towards drawing or fading shots. You can then practice shots using the new settings, which we found to be of greater value than the actual training challenges.

The appeal of this title lies in its gameplay and this is an area where EA rules supreme. The analogue swing stick takes some practice but gives a fine degree of control over shot power. The application of draw and fade has been transferred to the bumper buttons, which if anything makes this subtle control a little too easy.

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