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The shot craft in PGA Tour 2K25 is beautiful and stays one of the best characteristic of the golf sports activities sport from 2K in a sequence that has excelled in that space. The multi-layered elements of making a shot, shaping it, serious about contact and spin, and probably using specialist photographs make the gameplay of 2K25 extraordinarily pleasant.
Evaluate data
Platform reviewed: PS5
Accessible on: PS5, Xbox Collection X|S, PC
Launch date: February 28, 2025
Nevertheless, the sport is just not as sturdy in different areas, and nonetheless stays firmly within the shadow of its competitors, specifically EA Sports activities PGA Tour. There are some acquainted frustrations in relation to repetitive, underwhelming commentary and unusual animation execution. There are additionally new annoyances like an abundance of obnoxious transition screens, but additionally oddities in issues resembling bag constructing and talent acquisition, whereas the absence of some main competitions and essentially the most well-known programs remains to be laborious to disregard.
Having stated that, 2K25 nonetheless represents a closing of the hole between it and its major rival a little bit bit, and the video games could also be even nearer in years to come back, particularly if 2K25 can proceed to construct round its superior shot craft and golf play.
The shot craft is robust on this one
Shot craft is on the very core of what makes PGA Tour 2K25 enjoyable and stored me devouring gap after gap, and event week after event week.
The sequence’ TrueSwing and EvoSwing options are high quality and supply a excessive stage of shot planning, execution, and suggestions. In brief, you possibly can tailor your photographs to situations properly and think about strike, spin, and shaping, whereas EvoSwing’s suggestions meter supplies you with outcomes immediately protecting contact, rhythm, transition, and swing path.
Throw in the truth that your golfer can smash 300-yard bombs off the tee proper from the start, and you’ve got the instruments essential to tackle all of the programs the sport has to supply instantly. What helps this are the intuitive controls too: the analog sticks on the controller present an intuitive solution to swing your membership, and the three-click methodology is current as soon as once more permitting for customers to make use of one button and timing by visible prompts to nail their photographs.
It’s value mentioning right here that though bombing drives for miles immediately is enjoyable, the default issue of the sport does make it simple to succeed at first: in my second spherical I shot a 58, 14 underneath par rating. Because of this, it’s undoubtedly value tinkering with the settings to search out the best stage of problem; there’s loads of customization right here and it’s value getting caught into resembling total swing issue, swing bias settings, and even what number of instances you should use the putt preview line.
Profession steps – and missteps
The profession mode in 2K25 affords greater than its predecessor and begins with the choice to select from 5 completely different archetypes that can govern what sort of participant you might be. These are fairly broad brush stroke sorts like ‘magician’ for these good at restoration and ‘massive hitters’ for many who crush the ball. There’s a very good stage of character customization on supply too so it is best to be capable to convey your supreme {golfing} avatar to life.
The general means to get into the MyCareer mode is easy, and also you’ll quickly be selecting the place to begin – within the beginner championships, or diving straight into the PGA Tour for instance. Your participant is fairly competent from the off and also you’ll be competing very quickly which is an actual plus level of the sport and its profession mode when you worth getting caught into competitions with actual gamers quick.
Participant rivalries make a return but additionally in message type with different execs dropping you a line providing to create a pleasant rivalry. This may add a bit of additional enjoyable to succeeding rounds of golf, and also you’ll get a reward for partaking them and successful – typically a beauty. You’ll additionally get extra social media followers too – although I’m nonetheless to find out what the advantage of extra followers really is aside from it being a common measure of development.
PGA Tour 2K25’s persona system is an attention-grabbing additional addition and your selections in conversations or interviews will let you be extra assured, bordering smug, about your sport, or will let you be a extra humble or reserved individual. From my time with the sport, I haven’t seen any enormous tangible profit to both but. Feeding into which can be the aforementioned rivalries, but additionally sponsorships, and the sport’s interview system.
This – together with the brand new chats along with your agent – is one other largely welcome one, however once more, one thing that has its personal oddities to lift an eyebrow. In a single sense it’s nice to see an enlargement of the profession to incorporate media duties and make selections on the way you need your avatar to behave and act on the earth. On the opposite, it’s unusual to get requested questions on being one of the best of all time after three event wins, and, as soon as once more, see the identical questions repeat very often.
Finest bit
Nailing a superbly struck shot is extremely satisfying in PGA Tour 2K25, and getting each single aspect of it proper is nearly as good because it will get. While you hit your first well-planned and thought-out shot to method a tough inexperienced by additionally hitting the entire candy spots in touch, clubface, tempo, and wing path, the sensation is immensely satisfying.
Sponsorship agreements share this type of double-edgedness too: it’s welcome to see your participant get wooed and approached by big-name manufacturers, but it surely’s additionally very jarring to get unusual affords resembling famous footwear and attire model FootJoy providing to supply my golf equipment. It won’t imply a lot to most informal gamers, however those that will acknowledge manufacturers and possibly even need their avatar to make use of them, are the identical ones who will discover it offputting.
These additions additionally give solution to certainly one of my specific gripes with PGA Tour 2K25: the sheer variety of transition and loading screens. After each single motion – be {that a} spherical, a chat along with your agent, or an interview – you’ll have a transition display screen pop up for just a few seconds. The frequency is extremely annoying, and having them pop up so commonly – particularly while you’re within the groove of transferring swiftly between event weeks since you need to play the golf a part of the golf sport – is extremely disappointing.
The week of a event consists of a follow session and pre-tournament occasions which assist to make every week really feel extra fulsome. Follow periods can be utilized to hone particular abilities within the week of the event if you want, and pre-tournament occasions like follow rounds can familiarize you with a number of the event’s holes earlier than the occasion. Sponsor occasions can then enhance your development with these sponsoring your attire, golf equipment, and balls too. Because of this, each week within the profession mode is stuffed with stuff to do which is superb – particularly as a lot of it’s the fantastic shot-to-shot gameplay.
What’s within the bag?
There’s loads of customization and growth to get into within the space of abilities and gear. As you play you’ll purchase expertise and talent factors which you should use to unlock abilities in broad-brush elements of your sport resembling photographs from the tee, restoration play, and extra. Plenty of these abilities are extra about growing forgiveness than something however the potential to progress that they symbolize is welcome and satisfying.
Some attributes shall be maxed out consistent with your archetype which is broadly agreeable, however some abilities and photographs appear to be completely blocked off by that very same selection. This additionally undermines the role-playing side of the sport a little bit. You’ll be able to bomb 300-yard drives immediately, however an influence drive or shot must be realized – or is unlearnable as a result of I’m not the best archetype. My wedges are as efficient because the tour professionals, however my participant has to be taught a choke down shot (gripping the membership a little bit decrease down the shaft). I selected ‘technician’ as my archetype and that meant an influence shot or knockdown shot was simply flat-out off the desk for my participant which looks as if unnecessary gatekeeping.
By way of gear, you possibly can construct a number of baggage (like loadouts in shooters, for instance) and easily enjoying along with your golf equipment increasingly results in a rise in proficiency in them. The utmost for every talent is proscribed by your archetype, which is an attention-grabbing manner of creating you persist with a set of golf equipment to get extra out of them. You’ll be able to improve golf equipment and balls with bolt-on fittings to improve them and their qualities, and in addition evolve them into golf equipment of a brand new stage over time too.
The extent of flexibility in constructing your bag is sweet, although does not permit for full and absolute selection. For instance, I couldn’t decide a 58-degree wedge for my bag and even see any driving irons to select. Spending a follow session on a driving talent can enhance your whole golf equipment which is unusual and negates the selection to give attention to a single membership a little bit – however I do want my proficiency with one membership making the remainder of them higher is one thing that may translate to my real-world sport.
My expertise with the quantity of branded golf equipment to select from has been disappointing because the vary of membership sorts is fairly small. In 2K23 I may recreate my very own golf bag with all of the 2022 golf equipment which allowed me to make my avatar extra like myself. I can’t try this in 2K25.
One stroke ahead, two strokes again
Sadly, the largely improved profession mode and the moreishness of the gameplay and shot craft is held again by some acquainted – and new – frustrations.
The commentary remains to be odd, repetitive, and underwhelming. I even had one time the place the commentators had been speaking a couple of replay of a spotlight clip over a whole gap that I subsequently performed which had the commentary completely out of sync. It’s boring, low-energy, and – the cardinal sin in sports activities video games – typically repeats itself to the purpose of annoyance.
Whereas pre-tournament follow periods are welcome and the boosts to attributes supply one thing extra, they’re topic to awkwardness; your character will do the identical animations like they’ve simply received a championship when saving par on a follow spherical gap, for instance. On this observe, I discover {that a} golfer’s wrist on the trailing arm appears fairly odd at deal with, as effectively, virtually showing as if it bulges ahead unusually and is overpronounced.
The looks of microtransactions isn’t too egregious or aggressive but it surely’s a disgrace they’re deemed mandatory in a golf sport by which its different parts promote you and your participant bettering and getting higher by merely enjoying.
For informal golf sport followers, PGA Tour 2K25 nonetheless scratches many an itch, and the jump-in-and-play side is superb, particularly given the satisfaction of crafting nice photographs. Throw in some enjoyable multiplayer modes like TopGolf, ongoing each day, weekly, and seasonal challenges and quests, and course design modes could effectively maintain dedicated followers and gamers could effectively maintain coming again for me with 2K25. For golf sport followers like me who grew up with EA’s Tiger Woods sequence, nonetheless, 2K25 is healthier, however nonetheless not fairly the best match for these wanting a full role-playing expertise.
Because of this, the sport nonetheless feels firmly within the shadow of its competitor, EA Sports activities PGA Tour. However, this isn’t a terminal comparability: there may be a lot enjoyable available with PGA Tour 2K25, and when you’re after an accessible, pick-up-and-play golf sport for the present era then that is it.
Must you play PGA Tour 2K25?
Play it if…
Do not play it if…
Accessibility
PGA Tour 2K25’s major suite of accessibility options lies in its intensive issue choices that may be tinkered with. There’s additionally the flexibility to decide on between holding or toggling buttons for the swing mechanic and a number of show and HUD, digicam, and audio choices to select from. Sadly there doesn’t appear to be a setting to vary the textual content measurement on display screen or any colorblind choices.
How I reviewed PGA Tour 2K25
I performed PGA Tour 2K25 for practically 15 hours for this evaluation, taking my created golfer deep right into a second PGA tour season having began within the Korn Ferry Championship. Whereas enjoying by the seasons, I toyed with all of the attainable methods to play a event’s sport week and in addition dipped into a number of of the web multiplayer modes.
I attempted each Efficiency and and High quality graphics modes – efficiency was my choice for the smoothness of swings and photographs – tinkered with the problem settings to tailor my expertise, snooped in regards to the store and retailer, and interrogated the talent timber and gear choices, whereas additionally going out of my solution to evaluate it to EA Sports activities PGA Tour which I nonetheless dip into once in a while.
I reviewed the sport on my two PlayStation 5 setups: a PS5 Slim with an Acer X32QFS gaming monitor and Yamaha SR-C20A soundbar; and a PS5 Pro with a Samsung Q6F 55-inch 4K QLED TV and Samsung soundbar. When needing to play with a headset, I performed with a SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 on the PS5 Slim and a SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless with my PS5 Professional (there aren’t any particular settings for the Professional). I used an everyday DualSense Wireless controller on each machines.
First reviewed March 2025