Two steps forward, three steps back.
Tiger Woods 08 seems to have taken what little 07 had going for it, flipped that on its ass and then reigned down horrible add ons in the form of salt on the wound.
The graphics really need to be built from the ground up with a whole new engine for 09 because the one used in 07 and 08 are just horrible. The golfers show lots of detail in the face, but everything else, courses included are horrendous. Worse though are the animations. They're choppy and seem incomplete and make the smooth swing of Mr. Woods himself, seem like a hack swing by yours truly. The camera angles are once again an ugly spot on an already stained shirt that is 08. The create a golfer has been improved by the ability to take a picture of yourself and impose it in game to make a virtual you without playing with the original layout for hours. In theory this sounds great, but the system has flaws enough to make it a challenge in itself to work properly, but when it does, it's great.
Gameplay wise, they have ruined the swing stick system. Making a straight swing is God awfully hard, and when you even miss swing a minor amount, you aren't going to recover from it easily. The good addition though, is the ability to control draw and fade. Instead of using the swing stick like in previous installments, the bumpers control it pre-swing making life much easier.
Sound joins the graphical side in the next to unbarable category. The commentary is weak, the audience is just badly done, and the effects are used to mininum effect. The music...well it's what every other EA game has, and always had. Enough said.
I don't want to bash the game too much though, as it still is a solid golf game once you bound over the obstacles in your way. They have added more courses and golfers, and a great new ability to post shots to be challenged by others online. The latter addition is broken though as of this review, and it doesn't seem to work to full effect. Hopefully they will update and fix the bugs in the system.
All in all the game does a decent, bearable job of bringing us another golf game that stacks just enough with the previous entries to be at least a rent for those of you seeking a golf fix.