What I Hope For From Rory McIlroy PGA Tour

So around a month to go until the first current-gen golf game gets released and this year it has a new cover star!

Rory McIlroy is coming to the cover.

Details of the game have been few and far between, and with the delay from June to 14 July, details are still hard to find. So what better way to get the juices flowing than by getting a wish list combined with what we do know.

So firstly the control system, it has been confirmed there are 3 choices when it comes to how you strike the little dimpled ball. Arcade, Classic and Tour, the first option gives you an easy setting, you pull back on the left thumbstick and hit through the ball by pressing up, a setting for everyone. Classic bring the 3 button click method, 1st click starts the meter moving, 2nd click sets the power and finally the 3rd click sets the impact accuracy. Finally Tour, power is set by the length of your backswing and speed of the follow-through with accuracy determined by how straight a line you make with the thumbstick, this final setting is for the purists, not giving you any assistance, no spin, no zoom and no aiming arc. It is just you and the ball, this is the setting I will be using.

Onto the details that are a bit more vague.

We know there will be a selection of real courses so we hopefully will be able to hit balls around some of the most famous courses in the world, including TPC at Sawgrass, St Andrews, Chambers Bay and more, but also noted in the trailer you will be able to play on some fantasy courses, including a course where you are tasked with hitting a shot over a battleship!

Once you have picked your course you will then need to pick a golfer, so far very few confirmed golfers are included, Rory himself, and Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, and Miguel Angel Jimenez, but surely there will be more golfers coming to the final game, but as yet a full list hasn’t been officially released. So this brings us to our custom created offering, with any sports game comes this so I don’t think that its too far fetched to imagine that a create your own golfer section won’t be included. I expect a decent line up of clothing options, and I would expect that while playing through career mode you unlock sponsorships from big name manufacturers including Nike, Under Armour, Adidas and more. Then onto your clubs, once again I expect a large lineup of available club manufacturers including Nike, Mizuno, Wilson, Callaway and Taylor Made to name a few. Then when you are ready to get out onto the course I am hoping that we will get a selection of golf balls to pick from, offering differing amounts of spin and distance depending on how you play your game. EXP points will be assigned to your attributes to make you a better golfer, and as with previous EA sports game, there will be some signature attributes, I would expect Long Drive, Spin Master, Short Game, things like that.

Modes, modes, modes, obviously you have the standard career, single round and online, but with online can bring so much more. Online tournaments have already been stated, but are you and a few friends able to just go and hit a few balls on a specified course, I certainly hope so. Also, EA, if I could earn EXP points towards my attributes while playing these games I would greatly appreciate it!

So there are a few things that hopefully will be included to make Rory McIlroy a game that you can sink lots of hours into, developing and improving your golfer.

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is coming to PS4 and Xbox One on the 16th July.