Time to channel your inner Justin Thomas with PGA Tour 2K21!
PGA Tour 2K21 is the latest golf game on the market from publishers 2K and developed by HB Studios Multimedia Ltd and is the first golf game from 2K and the first official PGA Tour video game since 2015. Out now on PC, XBOX & PS4, let’s see if PGA Tour 2K21 is on par!
Gameplay
First off just want to say a massive well done 2K & HB, they have nailed this game.
PGA Tour 2k21 includes plenty of tutorials for newcomers to the games, shot suggestions and even a putting guide that will show you exactly where your putt will go, as long as you hit the power correctly. You can switch this off depending on your ability to read the greens and give yourself more of a challenge, kind of like the EA Sports Golf games used to have.
The game modes available from the start are PGA Career, Local match where you play against your friends or AI, then you have online where can play your friends or just jump in a lobby.
During the main campaign, you start off in the Q-School and work your way up until you reach the main PGA tournaments. Throughout your career, you will compete against a huge roster of PGA professionals including Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Ian Poulter and more.
Without giving too much away in the career, you engage in some rivalries but they all seem pretty pointless, it would have been nice for the commentators to talk about records, goals anything that would have created a bit of a backstory to the rivalry.
In PGA Tour 2K21 they also have a very intricate create your own course, leaving you fully in control, choosing what hazards you want, and all of the surroundings around you.
The courses that you create can also be published so that you can play them with your friends in online matches as well as by players from around the world. In addition to being able to create your own course, you can even import the courses that you made on TGC 2019. This also means that you can download other peoples creations, ranging from imitations of real-life courses to some truly interesting creative courses.
PGA Tour 2K21 plays beautifully with its very unforgiving style of play, one slight drag on the analog stick can cause you to really fade or draw your shot.
It’s awesome to see the officially licensed players playing a round with you, especially seeing their best shots in action replays.
Something I have asked 2K to look into adding if possible, is skill games. Skill games were a thing back on the Tiger Wood’s games and I personally think it would be awesome to have in PGA Tour 2K21 such as target practice, where you have 15 balls and you have to hit as many targets as possible. They could even add in a leader-board system so you can see how you fare against other opponents.
Graphics
PGA Tour 2K21’s graphics are good, but feel like your player and the PGA professionals could have used a little bit of work, making it feel like it has previous-generation graphics. With all this said, however, golf doesn’t require top-notch graphics, it was just something I noticed from time to time.
With dynamic cut-scenes and a seamless replay system, I was playing on PC at 1080p and experienced no frame loss what so ever. The realism of the game is phenomenal, knowing that if you don’t hit the ball cleanly, you could be landing in a hazard.
There isn’t anything I can fault this game for to be honest. I am so impressed with it.
Audio
The audio in PGA Tour 2K21 suits the game perfectly with calming music being played whilst in the menus. When you load up into the game you have the brilliant commentary team of renowned broadcaster Luke Elvy and Golf analyst Rich Beem.
The sound effects are brilliant when striking the ball, landing in the sand and in the water. All giving that amazing realistic effect.
Longevity
Longevity shouldn’t be a problem, so long as you are a golf fan and want to sink into a golf game that is it. You have multiple game modes to choose from as well as the option to restart your player’s PGA Tour’s.
Conclusion
Brilliant! Only maybe a few graphical issues but the gameplay is terrific. The game modes are exceptional, they really get you gripped as a golf fan and a gamer.
PGA Tour 2K21 made me feel amazing, like I was loading up the old school Tiger Woods games with my brother again. I haven’t had a game that has given me this much nostalgia in a while.
If they can add the skill modes into the game this would be a lovely addition, especially if there is a leader-board to give you that competitive edge.
I give PGA Tour 2K21 the Gold Thumb Culture Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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