The emphasis with the 2005 edition is not only Tiger but also other legends of the game. Tiger (and eventually the player's own character) seems to be trying to firmly place himself amongst the all-time greats, emphasised by his place in the Hall of Legends museum in the game, although it would be hard to argue against that. Legends such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan are all available to play against, and offer up specific challenges for players in the slightly reworked single-player modes.

In the past, the character creation features in Tiger Woods have typically been some of the best in any video game, but in 2005 EA has excelled itself by creating one of the most impressive systems ever. Dubbed Gameface II, a vast number of options is available to players when creating a player. As well as the normal options of height, weight and general look, characters can now be customised with details such as laugh lines, freckles, ageing and a host of other minor alterations. For instance, players can now customise eyebrows according to their shape, length, surrounding wrinkles and even underlying bone structure.

In addition to creating the look of the golfer, players now have some options with the way they act and swing. Building on the preset options for swings, celebrations and failures found in past games is a new Create-a-Swing option. The type of swing, the posture of the player, the speed of the swing and the positioning of the hands can all be altered to create quite a unique swing movement. Most of these changes do not affect the actual game, although the type of swing chosen can certainly affect the power and accuracy of the shot.

These features just add to the number of options available to players, which include the hundreds of unlockable clothing and equipment items and movements available to players EA introduced last year. Including custom systems like the Gameface II and Create-a-Swing allows players to personalise the experience, and often fosters a creativity that is not normally needed in a video game.

Possibly the biggest new feature is the ability to 'Tiger-proof' all of the courses. Tiger-proofing is essentially changing the characteristics of a hole to make getting a good score even harder. Quite a large number of parameters can be altered, including changing the width, undulation, wetness and grass quality of fairways, bunkers and greens. The interface for making these changes is easy to use, with changes able to be immediately seen and retained or discarded. The results of these changes can be quite extreme, and while not changing the overall design of the hole, Tiger-proofing can certainly test even the best players.

Short of providing the ability to fully design a golf course, the Tiger Proof feature is an excellent alternative. Some seriously challenging holes can now be made and playing through a redesigned course is no easy matter. Multiplayer games benefit greatly from this feature, further extending their appeal and longevity. Even some of the single-player challenges have been made more difficult by using Tiger Proofed courses. The only disappointment is the inability to challenge gamers online to play on your Tiger Proofed course, or see what other online gamers have done to their own courses.

Of the courses themselves there are now 14 to play on, including eight licensed and two fantasy courses that are new to the series. Old favourites, such as Pebble Beach, TPC at Sawgrass, and St Andrews return, and are joined by newcomers such as the Greek Isles and Coeur d'Alene. These new courses maintain the excellent design of the series.

As it has been for the past few years, the size of the single-player mode is excellent, with many tournaments and challenges for players to compete in. The Legends Tour pits players against various minor characters before allowing them to challenge some of the legends of golf. In Legends Scenarios certain well-designed challenges are set for players, such as coming to win from behind or birdying all the holes.

The full PGA Tour Season Mode returns, allowing players to play in tournaments through a ten-year career. Additional to this mode in 2005 is a tour difficulty option. If enabled, this increases the difficulty of playing a round, requiring swings to be more accurate as well as making players fulfill certain conditions. With no real difficulty setting in last year's game, Tour Difficulty is certainly welcome, especially as veterans may find the standard game a little too easy. As well as these modes, Real Time Events returns, giving players challenges on certain days of the year, and with the other modes Tiger Woods 2005 provides a fairly comprehensive and long-lasting experience.

Visually, however, Tiger Woods 2005 is a bit of a letdown. While the overall look is satisfactory, many of the golf courses look quite artificial, especially in the choice of colours and textures for the grass. The player models look a lot better, especially custom creations. Their range of movement is good, although there are too many instances of mistiming and mishitting the ball that don't look quite right. While in the air, the ball moves fine but on the ground, and the green especially, its movement and speed can look quite unnatural. Neither the player nor the golf ball look to be connected to the course at all, creating quite a floating impression.

Things improve a little with the soundtrack of the game. BT provides an ambient techno background along with a few other uncredited tracks, providing a pleasing alternative to the hip-hop or rock tracks on most other EA games. This can also be augmented with the Xbox's own custom soundtrack despite what the back of the case says, although there is a few options to set this up. Whilst playing golf the same commentators from past years reappear, returning with a few of the same lines they have used before. It's inoffensive but bland, adding little to the game.

After the major improvements made with last year's game it is possibly not too surprising that Tiger Woods 2005 may simply be seeking to maintain excellence rather than make dramatic changes. The result, though, is a game that looks and feels remarkably similar to 2004. While the names of some of the modes have changed they have essentially stayed the same, as has the gameplay. Certainly including Xbox Live support would have improved the game immeasurably, but yet again we are left waiting another year for it.