I have been playing both Master and pro and opted to stick to pro for now as the RNG of the tempo is crazy, ok let's break it down a bit...
Graphics
It's possibly slightly better looking than 2019 although its hard to discern. No real improvement here to warrant the triple A price.
Performance
Runs well enough, pretty much as expected on my mid range system.
Options
Brilliant, you have an amazing amount of options to tailor the game to suit any difficulty you choose to take on, they really knocked it out of the park with this improvement.
Shot mechanics
Tempo: Where do i start with this eh, 3 letters RNG or random number generator to the non hardcore gamers here. I gave equal time to master and pro and could not find any real rhyme or reason as to why i was going from hook to perfect to slice. The swing calibration does indeed appear to work, trouble is it only works for about 2 or 3 holes before you are back to hitting head scratching fasts or slows, mainly fasts for me. It's possible that my 360 pad is not the pad of choice with this, i would assume that they built and tested this tempo using a XB1 controller, point aside, even when i consciously tried not to hit a fast i still did on many occasions. I paid great attention to the tempo as i was playing and going from a fast to a perfect when both hits felt identical had me scratching my head whilst shouting expletives that Reagan Mc,Neil in the exorcist would have been proud of.
I played one career mode event where i was leading by 2 shots but had started to hit fasts shot after shot no matter what i did to cure it. I came to a hole that was pretty much like the 17th at Sawgrass, again i hit a fast...splash! so i quit out, went to calibration to hit 10 drives, came back and hit my 3rd shot to within 4 foot of the pin. This is really not how i want to be curing an inexplicable fast tempo, its a bit ridiculous. The tempo needs work in my opinion, its just too much of a lottery as it is. When you watch all the early access players, not one of them could explain or fathom it, RNG in a skill based game is about as welcome as ghonorhea. Maybe i will get better with it who knows, its actually fun when playing with a friend and a beer in hand, as we can laugh at each others misery as i did last night.
Partial hits: I do like this feature, its long overdue. If you play with the power bar on you get to see exactly where you need to be on the bar, if you play with it off you still get a clue by a slight rumble from the controller, this rumble is not a guarantee because by the time you feel it to the time you actually execute the shot you have probably added more power than initially required due to the late reaction. I like to use it only as guide during a quick practice swing, i then look at the back swing animation to pinpoint the moment of execution. Doing this is not difficult or easy in equal measures, i like it.
Putting: Putting with the power bar is easier than the putting in 2019 or PG, without the bar you will just have to practice to nail it down, the take back of the putter builds power much quicker than it did in 2019, in this respect its much like putting with a controller in PG, in a short space of take back time you can be putting 50ft plus...Be careful! DO NOT use the pad rumble to putt, before you can react you will have turned a 30ft putt into a 50ft putt.
Chipping: This feels very much like it did in 2019, its clunky and does not induce much feel. Some chip shots feel better than others but overall its not really been improved and the partial shot element is not needed most of the time. Many chips seem to lack roll, they kind of die a death as they pitch on, you can add some roll by de lofting the shot and angle of attack, but its just not enough to garner any real feel.
Pitch: This shot is now subject to partial shots and better for it, its is also subject to the RNG tempo so its not the get out of jail shot it was in 2019. Even though you can play these partial, the game always seemed to present me with pitch shots that needed no partial adjustment and as long as you hit a perfect or slight fast/slow you would stop it on a dime and clean up. It's improved but nothing really that special.
Bunker shots, splash: These are pretty much as they were in 2019, nothing special and not vastly improved, again you can partial them but more often than not you won't need to. When you fast and slow them they are not punished that much.
Overall, the shot mechanics are dominated by the tempo, TEMPO IS EVERYTHING!! until you get on or around the green at least. I think they have gone overkill on it, that's my opinion anyway.
Career mode: Up to now its been great, A.I. are adjustable on the fly and its been competitive and generally fun, the little cut scenes showing a rival making a hole out or a putt is a nice feature that makes you feel part of proceedings even though most shots i observed where chip in hole outs, i have not seen one A.I. highlights where the player leaves one on the hole from 150 yds. The chosen courses i have played thus far have been decent enough with the exception of one course called house on the hill, this was just a tricked up, artificially difficult course that has no place in a realistic tour calendar, a truly horrible design that does not reward good play, overall PGA tour mode is very good.
Multiplayer: Played a round last night with a friend, turn based connection was flawless, fast and good fun as we LOL at each others hooks and slices. Considering this feature never worked in the first two games its about time they got it right, and they appear to have done just that.
Overall: its a big step up from 2019, it's far from perfect and that tempo is the stuff of nightmares, i may end up turning it off and playing with legend swing instead throughout the career mode, providing i can tailor the A.I. to give the required challenge. Does this game warrant the £50 price tag? i guess it depends on the amount of time you put into it and enjoy, as a game on its own up against a beautifully crafted AAA title then no it does not warrant such a high price. I could compare this to F1 2020, a game that i will dedicate many many hours too, PGA 2K21 is £10 more expensive yet F1 2020 is technically much better and has a full, complete license, this tells me that PGA 2k21 is generally overpriced.
