Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is all about the setup. How do I juggle all of the different variables: wind, slopes, hills and weather? The act of shooting is almost secondary to the meticulous amount of setup that each shot might take, but the reward for sinking the put or flopping in a terrific approach is what makes Tiger Woods 10 great.

Somehow, EA Tiburon has found a way to deftly strike a delicate balance between giving you too much information and not giving enough. When putting on the lower difficulties (of which I have no shame in admitting I played most of the game on), for example, you’ll be able to bring up a “putt preview” which will show you where the ball would go if you were to putt from your current position. This is a good way to catch subtle slopes that might send your putts careening past the cup and allow you to properly gauge accordingly, while still managing to not make you feel like you’re getting your hand held. This approach is present throughout the entirety of the game — for example, on drives and approaches, you’ll want to tinker with where you place your shots. Pressing the B button places an aiming reticule on the course, allowing you to see where your ball will approximately rest if everything goes well with your swing. However, you’ll have to take into account the valleys and hills that might be waiting for you on the course, as well as the wind direction. To help you if screw up, the game allows you to influence the spin the ball has. The effect is slight, but can be very important to whether or not you sink a birdie or par.

Despite all the information and control that the game provides, make no mistake — Tiger Woods 10 is challenging. Perhaps I’m just as bad at virtual golf as I am in real-life, but even in amateur mode I rarely found myself shooting under par. But thankfully, it never feels like you’re being cheated by the game — every time I hooked or sliced a drive or missed a put, I knew that I screwed up and should have had better judgment or timing.

Even with the long learning curve, there’s plenty of content within Tiger Woods 10 that will help you refine your game. In addition to exhibition, career and online modes that are packed to the brim with different mini-games and other assorted gameplay treats, the game also offers two very cool modes: Live Tournaments and Tournament Challenge. In Live Tournaments, you’ll be able to take part in daily and weekly events where you can test your skill against others in the Tiger Woods community. This particular mode could add tons of replayability to the title if you’re the competitive type. Tournament Challenge is a bit reminiscent of the “classic games” setup in Madden NFL 09, only in this mode, it’ll be memorable shots or performances by different PGA golfers. It’s probably more for fans that want to relive some of their favorite moments, but as a general sports fan myself, I appreciated the history lesson.

With all these different modes, it would be a waste if EA didn’t bring some new courses to the table — and thankfully, they did. There are six new courses in Tiger Woods 10, bringing the total to 16. The six new courses are Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines, Turnberry, Pinehurst, Hazeltine, and Oakmont. All of these courses are rendered beautifully, with the exception of some muddy textures when you get up close. While the courses are undoubtedly beautiful, the presentation isn’t without its sore spots — the chief culprit being the dreadful announcers. When you’re doing poorly in the game, the announcers lay it on you pretty thick — to the point where I simply muted them. With a game having a learning curve such as Tiger Woods 10, you would think that someone would tell these two to tone down the insults.

Try as they might, the announcers cannot put a damper on this otherwise great game. There are some other complaints that could be leveled at the game, such as forcing players to play a continuous 18 holes without the option to save their progress — but theses are just nagging complaints. For hardcore and casual golf fans alike, the depth of control and strategy, as well as the breadth of content being offered is too much to pass up.

Verdict: 8/10