I feel I've spent enough time with Tiger Woods '11 and a couple of PSN demos that I can give a well informed impressions piece. What follows is my experience with the Playstation Move after owning it for a weekend.
Having shot four full rounds of golf on Tiger Woods '11, I have to say that the only setback EA's golf game using the Move is if you're not wishing to use a 100% shot, things can become anyone's guess as to how much power you'll end up putting on the ball. But other than that one area of the game which can honestly be worked around (the last round I shot four under par) everything else sparkles. The one-to-one tracking is there, and the swing is a very accurate reproduction of your real life golf swing. Just like in real life, I tend to slice the ball, and I was amazed that it picked this up. You'll see that you can create slices and hooks on purpose to shape shots for various situations. Using the Move with Tiger Woods '11 is very much like hitting the real golf course, but without all the walking. I truly believe that if you played this game enough, you could work kinks out of a real life golf swing based on how well the technology reads what you did in your swing. I watched my brother-in-law fly open with his hips, and just as in real life, the ball hooked like crazy. It's scary good at determining the result of your swing input. Then we come to one of the most frustrating parts of any golf game, motion based or not, once you reach the green. Putting is no mystery as you get a "sweet spot" to aim for that will allow you to sink your puts. Reading the greens, just as in real life, is the challenge here. It took me the better part of 4 rounds to begin to read the greens very well, but now that I have it down, the game has gotten significantly better.
If you're buying Tiger Woods '11 because you believe it will be a great game to use with the Playstation Move, you won't be disappointed. Just be prepared to be as frustrated as you are in real life golf, because what you're signing up for here is an incredibly accurate depiction of real life golf.
Disclaimer: The next impressions are based on the demos of full games. While Veteran Gamer has some coin to spend on this hobby, the spare coin for this paycheck has been exhausted in purchasing the Move and Tiger Woods '11.
The next game that I gave a shot in testing out the Move was EyePet. EyePet is a cute game geared more towards a younger audience, though it's a great tech demo to show adults what the Move is capable of. The game really could have done much of what it accomplishes with the Playstation Eye alone, and it does remind me of some of the old EyeToy games. You are able to use your normal hand in addition to the Move controller to interact with the little creature that will jump into your living room on screen. The magic is what the Move controller can turn into to play with this pet. In the demo, you give your EyePet a bath and draw an airplane for it to fly. The Move tech is pretty flawless in implementing the accessories onto the end of the Move controller. For those with younger children, the $40 for this game is nearly a no-brainer.
Lastly, I took Tumble for a spin. Tumble can best be described as an odd spin-off of Jenga. Sure, you're working with blocks to stack a tower, but there is much to do with the tower. The demo gives you a taste of the game, allowing you to play the tutorial as well as 4 levels. Each level gives you a set of medals that you can earn based on things you do in the level. Most levels have several medals available. Two of the four levels in the demo revolve around building a tower as high as you can. You earn bronze, silver and gold medals depending on how high you build the tower. But there can also be secondary medals that can be achieved as well, ranging from achieving a gold medal winning tower in a certain amount of time, or building the tower in such a way that it touches a target. The other level type appearing in the demo is the destruction type. In these levels, you blow up a tower that has been built already and try to scatter the pieces as far as possible from the center. This is great fun to be sure. I spent nearly 20 minutes on one level trying to achieve the "Home Run" medal, which was quite challenging. There appears to be much to do in the game, but I digress from my purpose here, previewing the Move tech. In this game, it's very, very precise. Working in 3D space is no easy task, and the tech works fantastically. The hardest part of this particular game is figuring out a comfortable "center" position, but the game makes it extremely easy to set the center position and send you back off to play with the blocks. There are some hiccups when you're getting very precise in that it will sometimes get a little jumpy, but nothing that is going to ruin the experience at all. This is a game that at $10 on the PSN, I certainly wouldn't mind purchasing and doing a full review on.
So based on this, should you buy it? The answer isn't a simple one. If you're a nut for motion-based gaming, it's a must own. You will undoubtedly enjoy many hours of fun, and many of the titles in the launch library for the Move will likely appeal to you. If you're someone like I am, that likes the allure of motion-based gaming, but couldn't stand to use the Wii with its last generation graphics and lack of any achievement or trophy system, I'd say this is worth your money to buy. A couple of existing games will support the Move, with Tiger Woods '11 already patched, and Heavy Rain will be receiving a patch this week. These two should keep you busy until (hopefully) more comes along. If you're a complete motion curmudgeon, you owe it to yourself as a gamer to at least give it a try. You may be surprised at how much fun you have with it.
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