Ahh golf, a wonderful pastime; all that fresh air, brisk walking and appetite building exercise, a beautiful, serene game just perfect for a Sunday afternoon. I wish could get to the links more often, but alas things like lounging around and working off hangovers tend to get in the way. Good thing for me then that those fine people at EA Sports have churned out another massively licensed title, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, allowing me to get out there and mix it up with some of the world's best golfers. Okay, it's not exactly the same as a trip up to your local course, but if you open a window and let a nice breeze through it comes pretty close!

After chucking it in and getting through all the usual EA Sports licensing and shameless self promotion with various golfing stars manfully assuring you that 'It's in the game', TW2004 gives you one of the wackiest opening intros around, which starts the game on a surprisingly upbeat note. Past this, you're obligated to run through a short tutorial about the play mechanics, which then opens up the rest of the game. And what an enormous game it is. Every conceivable play mode and option has been included along with more than a few inconceivable ones. The only noticeable omissions are the lack of an online play facility and a two-player career mode, online play only being available in America for the PS2 and PC versions, missing it out altogether for Xbox and Gamecube.

One of the best features is the create-a-golfer or as EA call it, the Game Face mode. The only part of my anatomy that wasn't catered for perfectly by the multitude of sliding scales was my nose; anything from eye colour, to gait, to the brand of shirt can be changed and whilst it's not as comprehensive as something like Smackdown, it's certainly much quicker to use and gives an excellent likeness no matter what you look like. Strutting up to the tee is infinitely more fun when your on-screen persona looks so much like you, giving TW2004 a real edge over the competition.

Other than the Game Face mode, however, there isn't much else new to the series. New golfers and courses have been added, the EA Sports Bio, which allows you to track your accomplishments over the whole EA Sports range, enters the golf scene and you can now play real time events throughout the year. This is where TW2004 falls down, as there simply aren't enough extras to make owners of the previous instalment dig into their pockets again.

That said, for the rest of us TW2004 has options coming out of its ears, with buckets of play modes like the traditional match play, stroke play and loads of tours. On the less conventional side of the fairway are modes such as speed golf, which sees you running up the course after your ball, trying to sink it in the least time and battle golf, a kind of gambling affair where the winner takes the loser's golf club! On top of these are the real time events, multiplayer vs. and co-op modes and the real meat of the title, the PGA tour. For anyone out there with the intestinal fortitude to play through 400 odd hours of golf, TW2004 offers up to ten years of tour seasons. This is a truly daunting task and one that I doubt many will complete. Credit where credit's due though, this does display the commitment to sports sim fans that EA are famous for and at the end of the day, more is (usually) better than less.

A key factor in TW2004, as in life, is cash. In order to build up your character's nine stats and buy new clubs, accessories and apparel, currency must be won. Large sums of money are up for grabs in the tours and playing like a pro will net you lucrative sponsorship contracts. Kitting yourself out in sponsored garb adds extra to the deals and even more cash can be won from friends in the multiplayer modes.

As for the play mechanics, they remain almost completely unchanged. This is no bad thing however, as TW2004 gives you a perfect balance of complexity and intuitiveness. The analogue sticks direct the swing, allowing you to control the power and put hook or slice on the ball and power boosts and spin can be achieved by rapidly hammering the shoulder buttons at various points in the shot. The real beauty is that it's so wonderfully difficult to get right every time, just like real golf. The smoothness of the transition from backswing to shot is an important part of the dynamic and the shot type and club selection make sure that there's always more than one way to approach the green. It's a well thought out system with little room for improvement and it's definitely the most complete one on the market today.

You can't say that TW2004 is the prettiest title around; although the character models are well animated and the environments are both beautiful and expansive, the rendering is a little off and at times the ragged polygons take away from the realism. The camera does its job and the ball physics are spot on, so it's easy enough on the eye, but a bit more refinement would have enhanced the experience significantly. Unexpectedly angry rock forms the base of the playlist, along with a few skater tracks none of which, surprisingly, sound out of place even in the tensest of rounds. The soundtrack can be muted during play, or pumped up to ridiculous levels, so if the music irritates, you can swap it for the more realistic bird songs, applause, thwacks and thuds associated with golf. The all important commentary is not up to the high standards of Madden but despite being a touch samey the commentators don't annoy and their banter is helpful enough to make it worth listening to.

There's no competition if you're after a golf title and don't have TW2003 - buy this, as it's the best there is. It's a bit like the great Tiger Woods himself: reliable and at the very top of it's game. The trouble is that it can't be recommended to those of you who already have last year's title. On the one hand, I applaud EA for producing an excellent quality title with appeal for the amateur and enthusiast alike, but on the other hand derision is due for churning out such similar titles every year. Admittedly that's a wider issue and the fact is that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is a really good laugh, especially with a couple of friends and lets you get all the fresh air and exercise you want, without even leaving your living room.

Reviewed by Tom LeClerc for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).