WITH the season just another winter storm away, there is no time like the present to get in a little indoor practice to keep the eye in. And it's the time of year when Electronic Arts releases the latest from its PGA series, which has always been one of the bench-marks for golf sims.
Not too dissimilar from what has gone before, PGA Tour 97 has a few new things to keep the public interested. Perhaps the most innovative of these is the real-time shot preview and the simulation "mode, both of which can be used with each other.
The realtime shot preview allows the player to see where the ball would land - assuming it was hit on its sweet spot. Therefore you can adjust your alignment, swing power and club to try to mirror the perfect shot. With simulation mode on, trying to achieve this becomes a little easier. In this [mode all you have to do is set up the shot.
Then the CPU takes over the hard part of trying to gauge the [parameters of the swing. This is ideal if you want to get to know a course (TPC Sawgrass and The Links, Spanish Bay are included), before you take on the professionals in a tournament scenario.
Another nice new feature is the risk measurement bar on the power indicator. This gauges how likely you are to succeed and the consequences if you don't. If you don't already have a golf sim and are looking to lift the gloom of these dreary days then you won't go far wrong with PGA Tour 97.
Graphics: 80%, Sound: 85%, Gameplay: 90%