PGA Tour 2K21 Review – For Purists And Newcomers Alike

Sports video games usually are typically extra arcadey than simulation, with easy-to-learn fundamental mechanics that make the expertise breezy off the bat whereas additionally having sufficient depth to enchantment to aggressive gamers. HB Studios’ The Golf Club collection has persistently defied that mantra by embracing the exacting challenges and unpredictability of golf since its debut title in 2014. With the 2K Games rebrand, I assumed PGA Tour 2K21 may intention to be extra like EA’s defunct golf collection. Instead, what’s here’s a refinement of The Golf Club 2019, with welcome new options and mechanical tweaks that make for a smoother expertise on the course.For these unfamiliar with the franchise, PGA Tour 2K21 is technically the fourth entry in The Golf Club collection that was initially self-published by HB Studios. It’s the second title to be revealed by 2K Games following The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA Tour, which 2K helped polish forward of its launch in 2018. The transition to the 2K Sports naming conference will possible garner extra eyeballs, however for devoted followers of The Golf Club like myself, you do not have to fret about HB Studios messing with the components an excessive amount of.PGA Tour 2K21’s main gameplay change comes with the movement you repeat again and again: your swing. HB Studios eliminated backswing tempo, which in flip promotes constant, crisp ball-striking. Every golfer in any respect ranges of play–including Tour pros–has totally different backswing timing, making this modification fairly welcome. Overall, I discovered it a lot simpler to get “perfect” tempo swings. That’s to not say the analog stick swing mechanics are too simple now. You nonetheless must make the transition to your downswing in a single clean flip to hit the golf ball on course; the elimination of backswing timing merely tosses one pointless variable out of the equation, liberating you as much as get into a pleasant groove. Solid swings have a cleaner and fluid look in PGA Tour 2K21, with pace feeling extra in-step with actual life.Unlike the extraordinarily forgiving Tiger Woods video games with the identical management scheme, PGA Tour 2K21’s swing mechanics depend on dialed-in precision, no less than once you play on Pro settings and up–a requirement for on-line matches. Get lackadaisical in your downswing and you will push the ball. Turn over too rapidly and you will pull it. Nailing the timing excellent is kind of satisfying and is essential to posting low scores.PGA Tour 2K21 has six swing problem levels–double the quantity from The Golf Club 2019–that may be additional custom-made to suit your ability stage. Beginners can flip swing timing off and revel in a much more forgiving expertise on one of many three beginner settings–though these are nonetheless more difficult than the EA Sports golf video games. On the other aspect of the coin, fanatics who plan on competing on-line can play on Pro, Master, or Legend–a problem stage that requires extraordinarily constant and exact swings to excel. It’s good that HB Studios added a bigger vary of problem settings with out hindering the core expertise. Golf is an extremely difficult recreation, and PGA Tour 2K21 showcases this whereas additionally being extra inviting to newcomers.PGA Tour 2K21 actually improves on the general high quality of the golf gameplay, however it’s not with out its misses. If you hit a wayward tee shot, the tough will probably be there to punish you. The thick grass is as unforgiving as earlier video games within the collection, a indisputable fact that makes me really feel conflicted. Tour venues are inclined to have nasty tough that penalizes golfers for lacking the green, however PGA Tour 2K21’s tough can rapidly grow to be relentless. On quick method photographs the place you’ve got a wedge in your hand, the ball tends to come back out cleanly with good timing if you happen to membership up. Outside of wedge territory and undoubtedly once you begin approaching 200 yards, the tough begins to get a bit wonky. Shots have a tendency to come back out low and may fall upwards of 50 yards in need of the place they’d land out of the green. This reality, for anybody who performs golf, is a head-scratcher at finest, particularly when you think about that popping out of the tough generally makes your ball go additional if you happen to catch a “flyer.” Even hybrids, that are designed to work nicely within the tough, carry out poorly in “heavy rough” and generally even “light rough” lies. Incentivizing hitting the green is nice, however the penalty for lacking the tough does not precisely really feel in-tune with actual golf.Other than the tough woes, PGA Tour 2K21 is probably the most spectacular golf sim to this point from tee to inexperienced. It provides you an arsenal of shot varieties to make the most of from full swings to chips and every part in between, together with full management over the trajectory of your shot. The flight path of your ball may be proven within the air, very like tv broadcasts of actual occasions. There’s additionally loads of customization to be discovered for the HUD. From enjoying with a clear interface to seeing every part on display from swing suggestions to lie angle, PGA Tour 2K21 has the entire mandatory bells and whistles, which ought to be useful for these studying the ropes. You can regulate inexperienced speeds, tee place, wind, and fairway firmness, organising every course even additional to match your ability stage. Spin on wedge photographs, even with gentle greens, nonetheless is not as pronounced as an avid golfer would count on, however it permits you to flag hunt figuring out that the ball will cease on a dime after one hop. And above all else, PGA Tour 2K21 has a satisfying loop that managed to offer me a jolt of pleasure nearly each time I hit an ideal shot.Once you get on the inexperienced, placing stays probably the most difficult facet of the collection. Estimating breaks and the proper pace takes time to be taught no matter whether or not you’ve got the grid-based slope on or off. A brand new putt preview system, which exhibits you the correct line, does assist with the educational curve. By default, you get three previews per spherical on Pro problem (extra on decrease difficulties, and none on Master/Legend), however you possibly can regulate that quantity as you see match. As they are saying, although, “Drive for show, putt for dough.” And PGA Tour 2K21 makes you’re employed for birdies outdoors of tap-in vary. One facet of placing that may get irritating are the cups, which routinely reject balls that hit the perimeters with good pace. Lip-outs are part of golf, however I am unable to depend the variety of instances I hit a putt that caught the sting and curled out, solely to cease inches from the outlet.The strong on the course expertise is bolstered by the incentive-filled overarching programs and deep recreation modes obtainable in PGA Tour 2K21. The 2K rebranding brings MyPlayer to PGA Tour 2K21. From the outset, you create your individual golfer utilizing a sturdy set of creation instruments after which head off on the race to the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour. You have the choice to leap straight to the Tour or take part in Q-School and a shortened Korn Ferry Tour season to earn your Tour card. The Golf Club 2019 had the FedEx Cup already, so the fundamental development is identical. That mentioned, expanded use of the official license and higher customization options make the profession mode extra compelling this time round.PGA Tour 2K21 has 15 actual championship programs and occasions. The Golf Club 2019’s six TPC courses–Sawgrass, Scottsdale, Boston, Deere Run, Southwind, and Summerlin–return and are joined by 4 extra TPC programs in addition to in style tracks like Riviera, Quail Hollow, Copperhead, Atlantic Beach, and East Lake, the location of the Tour Championship. The remaining programs that fill out the 32-event race to the FedEx Cup are designed by HB Studios. At this level, the one grievance I’ve concerning the schedule is that golf’s 4 Major championships aren’t current, however hopefully that may change in future iterations.Every course you step onto throughout the prolonged season–which you possibly can play as one, two, three, or full four-round events–is a delight, particularly the programs that the professionals tee it up at every year. HB Studios has replicated these well-known layouts to an genuine diploma of accuracy. And this time round, you will see actual execs on the leaderboards, together with Official World Golf Rankings primary participant Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Tony Finau, Jim Furyk, and 7 others.Throughout the season, you will set up rivalries with the professionals, supplying you with the chance to finest their efficiency over a brief stretch and unlock new gadgets. CPU efficiency varies primarily based in your settings, so you possibly can regulate their ability ranges if you happen to really feel like issues are getting too robust or too simple. Sponsorships include varied on-course targets, which may then be renewed or switched after the contract ends. “Rank up” with a sponsor like TaylorMade, and you will unlock new SIM Max tools. This is a stark change from earlier entries which solely had generic golf equipment connected to ability level–now you possibly can customise your 14-club set the way you see match with in style manufacturers like TaylorMade, Callaway, and Bridgestone.Critically, the brand new membership units imply that these enjoying with simpler settings aren’t dropping out on distance, as extra forgiving clubs–even the beginning set–have near Pro-level distances connected to them. The change is maybe most profound within the wedge recreation, as now you can select between extra lofts to fill within the gaps between golf equipment to your liking. Each membership has totally different attributes for distance, forgiveness, shot shaping, swing airplane, and distance management, permitting you to additional tweak what’s in your bag. Golfers are typically tinkerers–at least I’m–so having extra management over your gear provides to the general technique and preparation you are able to do forward of rounds at varied kinds of programs.Though PGA Tour 2K21 has 2K’s Virtual Currency, it is calmly applied within the profession mode, even in relation to brand-name golf equipment. There’s no must spend actual money on in-game forex to get new gear. You earn VC by enjoying rounds of golf and leveling up in any mode, which may then be used to buy new tools and outfits from manufacturers like Adidas, Under Armour, and Ralph Lauren. But as talked about, sponsorships additionally unlock new stuff you possibly can equip with out spending any VC. I’ve a full set of TaylorMade SIM Max golf equipment that I earned solely via my sponsorship. It’s a a lot friendlier method to MyPlayer, particularly since you can’t use VC to make your golfer higher.Overall, PGA Tour 2K21’s method to profession mode is a welcome change of tempo for sports activities video games, however there’s one obtrusive function which may show to be complicated for individuals who have a look at the quilt artwork. Justin Thomas is the quilt athlete, however you can’t play as him or any of the opposite execs in any recreation mode.You are locked to your created participant. In reality, you’ll possible solely see footage of the Tour execs and their names on the leaderboards. I say possible as a result of by default every event broadcast–your spherical of golf–is often interrupted by highlights from the professionals on different holes. This is your solely probability to look at them play within the recreation. The drawback is that these interruptions are fairly annoying and weirdly frequent. Thankfully, you possibly can flip off the printed cutaways and simply play your individual recreation. I think about the non-playable execs have one thing to do with the licensing agreements, however it’s barely irritating to not be capable of play an off-the-cuff spherical as among the finest golfers on this planet.Speaking of presentation, whereas it will not come as a shock to anybody who commonly performs sports activities video games, the commentating in PGA Tour 2K21 is fairly dangerous. Luke Elvy and Rich Beem give strong performances, however after a couple of rounds, you will begin to discover a ton of repetition in addition to repeated inaccuracies on the subject of your strokes and place on the leaderboard. I wound up turning the commentary off midway via my first season and listened to music whereas enjoying as a substitute. It’s admittedly higher than the asserting from earlier entries within the collection, however it nonetheless will get previous fairly quick.Outside of the official programs, PGA Tour 2K21 has a course designer and database that may quickly be full of user-created tracks. The course designer is pretty just like The Golf Club 2019’s, although it is extra easy and customarily simpler to make use of. You decide from a set of themes, modify the terrain, and select the format, together with the variety of Par 3s, 4s, and 5s in addition to inexperienced and fairway sizes. PGA Tour 2K21 auto-generates a course for you primarily based in your choices, which you’ll then tweak to your liking, together with eradicating and including solely new holes. You can add every part from particular plant and tree species to buildings and gates and far more, going so far as designing the surroundings within the backdrop. It’s a drag-and-drop system that is approachable whereas offering sufficient instruments to make your individual native course or a well-known present course to a tee. Courses made in The Golf Club 2019 may be imported into PGA Tour 2K21 as nicely.At the second, no less than on PS4, the course designer actually chugs, taking various seconds at instances to implement every change. I went again to match the designer with The Golf Club 2019 and located that efficiency is about the identical. While the designer actually is not as clean as the remainder of PGA Tour 2K21 expertise, it is nonetheless a powerful design suite that is certain to carry tons of cool programs to life. And even if you happen to do not feel like spending the time to design your individual course, auto-generating new programs is a neat method to play on totally different layouts with the press of a button. Each time you generate a course, the format modifications, even when the entire settings you’ve got chosen are the identical.Online Societies additionally return in PGA Tour 2K21. You and your folks can arrange a society–essentially a social hub the place you coordinate tournaments and create your individual seasons–and compete for the lengthy haul. Ahead of launch, I wasn’t capable of take a look at out the net options, however Online Societies was one of many cooler sports activities recreation modes in latest reminiscence in The Golf Club 2019, and PGA Tour 2K21 has an official society to hitch proper out of the gate to compete in opposition to the entire neighborhood. The use of VC in Online Societies appears a tad extra questionable, with event entry charges, membership charges, and even donations to the society. Solo Societies, which had allow you to play customized seasons in opposition to the CPU, is unfortunately lacking in PGA Tour 2K21, leaving gamers preferring to play solo left with the PGA Tour season as their major recreation mode.PGA Tour 2K21 improves on the principally stellar basis of The Golf Club collection, providing probably the most life like and pure golf expertise in a recreation to this point. There are nonetheless some minor annoyances that may briefly take you out of the expertise, however it presents a more in-depth approximation of the particular PGA Tour schedule and a soothing, streamlined method to MyPlayer. For probably the most half, PGA Tour 2K21 admirably captures the peculiar magic of the sport of golf.