Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 Xbox 360 game

The biggest change has been made to the putting preview, which is more realistic than previous versions, taking account of the fact that the ball will deviate from the predicted line if less than 100 per cent power is applied.

The preview line itself is easier to read, though, and because of this can be used only once when weighing up a putt. As you get only one shot at using the tool, this encourages you to read the contours and elevation of the green, giving a better and more realistic understanding of how the green plays.

Our sole complaint is that measuring out swing strength with the analogue stick is far less precise than it should be, with a swing of only a fraction of a pull-back providing far more oomph than it should. You can make allowance for this, but it seems a glaring error in a title that gets so much of the basic gameplay spot on.

The online side of the game has been speeded up by simultaneous drives so you don't have to wait for each player connected to your game to take shots in sequence. Instead, different coloured lines show the trajectory of each ball as it is played.

There are some new courses, with a wider range of terrains to freshen up the look and an even more detailed game face application so you can style your golfer's appearance to meet tour standards. On the commentary side, Scotland's Sam Torrance has been added to the otherwise transatlantic team. There's not as much humour as in PGA Tour 08 – they could do worse than getting Peter Alliss in for the next update.