PGA Tour 2K25 review: Is this the best golf video game of all time?
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We’ve played it. We love it. Read our full PGA Tour 2K25 review here…
I’ve been playing golf video games since Golden Tee landed in my local arcade in the late ’80s, so you can imagine how excited I am when a new iteration drops.
This time, it’s 2K who are back with a brand new version of their popular PGA Tour game. We’ve waited a long time for PGA Tour 2K25 – not GTA6 lengths of waiting, mind – but two years and a lot of promises later, it’s finally here.
Does it live up to the hype? Let’s dive into my PGA Tour 2K25 review…
PGA Tour 2K25: At a glance
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Pros
- Three majors included is a huge step forward
- Jaw-dropping graphics and so much better than 23
- Much-improved career mode on and off the course
- The swing technology is the best yet
- Decent roster of PGA and LPGA players
Cons
- More should have been made of the majors
- Commentary team still grates
- Can be a bit fidgety working out the right settings
PGA Tour 2K25: First impressions
First of all, Tiger Woods is back. Which is always good. And he’s got friends, too. Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa have joined him on the cover. (What a shame their games have fallen off a cliff recently – but we can’t hold 2K responsible for that.)
The game opens up with a quick tutorial on how to swing the golf club. But first, make sure you spend a few moments admiring the views. The graphics – whether it’s the course in front of you, the mountainous backdrops, or the golfer – are glorious. If you played as much PGA Tour 2K23 as I did, you’ll notice the improvement right away.
After getting to grips with the mechanics – more on that later – the game opens with the opportunity to build your own character in the heavily-improved MyPlayer mode. I can’t lie to you, this is great fun. And weirdly important. (To me, anyway.) I spend far too much time in here, and I’m sure you will too. And why not? I am, after all, going to spend the next two years living vicariously through this virtual representation of myself, so it’s got to be right.
But then you end up wrestling with whether you go all out and treat yourself to a snazzy hairstyle and maybe add on a few inches (to your height), or do you try and recreate… well, you.
It’s not just cosmetic, by the way. This is where you will decide what kind of golfer your character will be. Are you a “greenskeeper”, a master with the putter? Or are you a “magician”, an expert at getting out of sticky situations? Maybe you’re a “powerhouse”, which hopefully speaks for itself. And do you draw or fade the ball?
In the end I opted to make my character 6-foot-4, gangly, with greying floppy hair, who wears Nike because Tiger and Jordan do, and sporting a scintillating power fade. I also feel like I’m going to need all the help I can get with the flatstick, so I opt to be a “greenskeeper”. Name and nationality. I punch in “Alex Perry” and “English”. Boring, I know.
Then a phone call! From an agent! This is new. I like it. How fun. My agent tells me I am the hottest new prospect on the PGA Tour (guilty!) and I must gather 10 million social media followers by the end of the season. This is where it gets really fun – with each interaction there are three options ranging from humble to downright cocky. This, it turns out, will determine your personality type.
Are you more reserved? Are you humble? Are you a bit of a showboat? You’re able to set your agenda right from the off.
Before you get into the game, it’s worth having a look at equipment – but that will all come as you build your profile and get deeper into the game.
PGA Tour 2K25: Gameplay
Right, let’s get to swinging a golf club. Now I’ve played so much PGA Tour 2K21 and 2K23 in the last few years that I’m pretty sure I’m close to some sort of world record. So I’m keen to see the differences.
Once you hit MyCareer, you’re asked where you would like to start: Korn Ferry Q School, Korn Ferry Tour, Korn Ferry Tour Championship, or PGA Tour. Essentially, do you want to work your way up from the beginning or do you want to jump straight into the big leagues? I picked the latter. (Obviously.)
There’s a lot more to do pre-tournament. There are practice routines you can undertake, as well as playing a few holes at that event’s venue, both with minigames designed to earn points. You can also, of course, dive right into the game.
I’m going to say it again. It’s remarkable how much the graphics have improved.
Just to give you a little taster, check out this side-by-side of the famous 7th at Pebble Beach and you’ll catch my drift:
Getting to grips with the gameplay and one cool thing they’ve added to the game is the number of settings around difficulty.
I’m playing on an Xbox controller and the swing mechanics are largely the same. You can choose between the right and left stick, or a three-click system (think those old PGA Tour games of the ’90s), but what’s happening on the screen has been massively improved.
This is all thanks to the new EvoSwing system which includes new shot types, ball flights, and improved roll physics. It’s just – what’s the best word? – cleaner. There’s even a super-easy, pick-up-and-go ‘Perfect Swing’ mode, which is essentially the video game equivalent of game-improvement clubs.
Putting is noticeably harder – and this is where the new training features will come in handy. And by harder I don’t mean worse, it’s just a different system to previous editions and requires you to really focus. A bit like real life, I suppose.
In the game, it’s clear that the plan here is to make a golf game that suits both the casual and the obsessive player. Want to just swing and go? Absolutely fine. Want to spend hours stressing over the fact your driver clubface is open by a tenth of a degree? Knock yourself out!
After your round there’s a full debrief from your agent who takes you through how many virtual dollars you made and how many virtual followers you acquired. There are even text messages. I have one from Rose Zhang, who would like to start a rivalry. Pick on someone your own size, Rose.
I accepted – because why not? – and move onto my all-important press conference where I answer questions from publications such as Golfer’s Digest and Golfing Glory Gazette while the personality bar will waver depending on your answer. I do wonder if that novelty will wear off by the time I’m several seasons deep. We’ll see. At the moment, it’s a bit of additional fun, but I’m not seeing the long-term benefit to building my golfer’s personality.
But that’s all irrelevant when you’re out on the golf course, rolling home birdie putt after birdie putt as you climb the leaderboard.
It is certainly worth spending some time getting to know which settings work best for you. In my first tournament, I won by 12 shots – and that was on what I thought was a hard setting. You can also mess around with the conditions of both the course and the weather, which are worth looking at to make it the ultimate experience for you.
By the way, have I discussed the multiplayer options yet? You can take on your pals (or strangers, up to you) in classic modes such as stroke play, match play, Stableford, and Skins, or there are 2v2 modes including fourballs and scrambles, and other online societies. Most importantly, though, you can play cross-platform. Swoon.
PGA Tour 2K25: The experience
Shall I mention how good the graphics are again? You will find yourself stopping every now and then to just admire the scenery.
But away from that, you get to play on a number of the top courses in the world. And the majors! How has it taken me this long to get to the majors.
With EA holding the licensing rights to the Masters, you won’t be able to venture down Magnolia Lane here, but 2K have countered that with all three of the other majors AND the PGA Tour’s flagship event. So make sure you hone your skills, because you’ll need to play well if you want to be teeing up at TPC Sawgrass for The Players, Quail Hollow for the PGA Championship, Oakmont for the US Open, or Royal Portrush for The Open.
It really is an excellent addition to the game, and the extra pressure to make sure you get into those tournaments is palpable.
Now, PGA Tour 2K25 is not perfect.
While the addition of the majors is a touch, it doesn’t feel like enough of a fuss has been made around the them once you do get there. In EA’s brilliant game from 2023, teeing up at Augusta felt like a real sense of occasion. In 2K25, I could just be playing in another run-of-the-mill PGA Tour stop.
Other small irritations include the commentary team, which has been ever-so-slightly improved by the addition of Andrew Catalon, even if his script does often grate. (“Wow, another shot on the green! We’ve seen that a lot today!” said no golf commentator ever.)
Meanwhile Luke Elvy is back with his book of clichés, and it still feels like Rich Beem is playing an exaggerated version of himself, while Henni Koyak offers very little.
Their scripts are clearly out of date, too. At one point, while I was eyeing up a lengthy birdie putt, Elvy and Beem were discussing Xander Schauffele needing “to take his game to the next step” if he wants to have any kind of legacy in the game other than being an Olympic gold medalist. Schauffele, of course, won two majors in 2024.
Frustrating for the golf purist, sure, but casual fans won’t care and I’m certainly not going to let little things like that spoil my enjoyment of what is an incredibly good golf game.
PGA Tour 2K25: The verdict
It seems pointless comparing this to its predecessor, and probably makes more sense to pit it against EA’s PGA Tour 2023 game.
Yes, just like the top level of the men’s professional game, golf’s virtual world is also divided.
Cards on the table. I loved EA’s game from two years ago. Would I be waxing lyrical about it quite as much if they hadn’t painstakingly recreated the most delicious golf course in the world? Absolutely not. It was very pretty, but let down massively by the gameplay mechanics, particularly when chipping and putting.
This is where 2K25 really stands head and shoulders above its rival. Everything feels more refined, more realistic. To put it simply: it’s better. It will come as no shock to anyone who understands the FIFA vs Pro Evolution Soccer rivalry that I was very much in the Pro Evo camp. PGA Tour 2K25 is the Pro Evo to PGA Tour 2023’s FIFA. (Which, I appreciate, makes sense given EA make FIFA, too.)
I’ve already had several people ask me if PGA Tour 2K25 is the best golf video game of all time?
And I’ve told them all the same thing.
Short of being able to get Golden Tee in your front room, it’s really very hard to argue against it.
Preorder Tiger Woods' new video game now!
Pros
- Three majors included is a huge step forward
- Jaw-dropping graphics and so much better than 23
- Much-improved career mode on and off the course
- The swing technology is the best yet
- Decent roster of PGA and LPGA players
Cons
- More should have been made of the majors
- Commentary team still grates
- When is PGA Tour 2K25 released and how much will it cost? Here’s everything you need to know!
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PGA Tour 2K25 review
