I was lucky enough to get my hands on an early build of PGA Tour 2K23 a couple of weeks ago and put it through its paces, the early preview build really impressed me and left me excited to get my hands on the final game, that day is here and PGA Tour 2K23 from HB Studios and 2K sports is finally here, read on to see me put the game through its paces and find out if it is a hole in one!

PGA Tour 2K23 is coming at you bigger and better than ever this year with an expanded roster, including Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, a more involved career mode and an all new mode called Topgolf. I stepped into the MyCareer mode first as I usually do in sports games and set about creating my player, the player creation system is adequate but I would of liked to see some more detailed customisation options here such as body size etc, how else am I going to create my very own John Daly? The facial hair customisations also looked really off when trying to apply them to my character, after a while though I managed to make a character that was pleasing enough to my eye, and I was ready to step on to the course.

This year there are 3 control methods to choose from over the 2 available in the previous version of the game. Added this year is the tried and true 3 click method of control for those who grew up playing old school golf games such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour, this is a great addition for people to be able to step into the game straight away with a simple control system, my preferred method of control though is using the right analogue stick to swing my club, though it takes a long time to master the intricate and tricky swing system I find that this method of control gives you the best feeling of satisfaction when you pull off a great shot, so much so that I recommend that you own a game pad if you are buying this game just so you can experience how great this method of control feels for yourself. HB studios promised more depth in career mode this year and they have definitely delivered, your created golfer earns skill points as they progress on their career from being an amateur to a professional golfer.

The way the skill system is presented is really clever and allows you to really customise your golfer to maximize your strengths and improve your weaknesses in other areas. The skill categories consist of driver, wood, hybrid, iron, wedge and putter, the points you earn can be put into each of these areas to improve your game but they also only activate in certain situations, for instance, you can put points into a skill that will give your timing a boost off the tea but the skill will only activate after you have 4 poorly timed shots and will then deactivate again if you hit a fair way in regulation, having the skills only activate under certain conditions gives the skill system a real sense of depth and I spent a lot of time trying to work out where to spend my skill points. It’s not only the skill system that improves your player though as you will earn various fittings as you progress through the game and these will also give your player certain advantages in one area at the cost of a disadvantage in another area, for instance you could get a boost to your power stat at the cost of accuracy, this system adds another layer of depth to how you want to customise your character.

Of course, golf is not all about skill points and you will also get access to clothing as you play through the game and this year’s version features the most brands ever with gear from Adidas, Black Quail, Ben Hogan, Bridgestone, Callaway, Cobra, Dude Perfect, FootJoy, Goodr, Greyson, Hugo Boss, LinkSoul, Malbon, Mizuno, Nike, Penguin, Ping, Puma, Royal & Awesome, TaylorMade and many more. The career mode is fantastic whether you choose to jump in playing on the Korn Ferry Tour as an amateur and make your way to the professional ranks or jump straight into the game as a professional, there is a lot of fun to be had here.

The presentation in 2K221 was adequate but a bit bare bones compared to a lot of other sports games, and I get it, its golf, it is not like the real broadcasts of the sport are of the in your face style of the NBA, however I am glad to say the presentation has been improved a lot this year, to me the lighting and courses themselves seems to have been improved quite a lot, along with a lot of the textures in the game, camera angles also appear to be more in line with an actual PGA broadcast. Of course, it is not only the graphics that count for presentation, and I am glad to say the sound has been improved, the ambient sounds of a golf course such as insects chirping, birds singing and the wind blowing really set the atmosphere here and do so by being sparse rather than overloading you with background noise. Rich Beem and Luke Elvy return to provide the sparsely peppered commentary that is heard in real life broadcasts and this year are joined by former professional golfer Henni Koyack who does a great job providing a more detailed look from down on the course, it is also nice to have a female voice to balance out both Beem and Elvy. The commentary can get a bit repetitive after a while but in all reality, there is only so much commentary you can fit into a golf broadcast before it becomes unrealistic.

PGA Tour 2K23 doesn’t slack off when it comes to courses either, 17 courses return from 2K21 along with three new courses, Wilmington Country Club, The Renaissance Club and St. George’s Golf and Country Club, with more courses promised after launch. The courses all look great to me and have been meticulously designed by studying there real life counterparts. Returning this year is the fantastic course designer from 2K21, you can literally go wild here, creating courses that are accurate to their real life counterparts or making a course that defies the laws of physics, the course design tool is really well laid out and provides both amateur and professional designers with all the tools they need to bring their creations to life, you can also import courses that were designed in PGA 2K21 into 2K23 which is a fantastic feature.

The other major edition this year is Topgolf, Topgolf was apparently created in Watford in the United Kingdom and features a set up more akin to a driving range than an actual course and features large targets that need to be hit to score and uses RFID technology to assure accurate measurement of where balls land and whether they hit targets. This mode really reminded me of something like disc golf and would be a lot of fun to play with friends or other players, unfortunately I was unable to find anyone online to play with but this was most likely due to playing a review copy of the game or the servers not actually being open until the game officially launches, there was a huge missed opportunity here as far as presentation goes as real life Topgolf features lots of pumping music and flashing lights to play up its fun party atmosphere and the experience in game is quite bland compared to all of the examples of the real life sport I have seen. Perhaps they can add in a more party like atmosphere in a future update.

PGA Tour 2K23 is a fantastic golfing experience, the new features in career mode and the updates to the presentation being the major additions to the game this year and all of these are great additions. If you have never liked golf games in the past then there is probably nothing here to change your mind and make you a fan of the genre, but if you do enjoy golf games then PGA Tour 2K23 from its large amount of licensed courses and equipment through to the newly expanded career mode is an absolute joy to play, the game is a must buy if you are a fan of golf.