PGA Tour 2K25 Review – Clean, Crisp, Compelling

PGA Tour 2K25 Review

Golf is a pretty laid-back game. Fresh air, little bit of exercise, lots of time to make your moves. PGA Tour 2K25 embodies this perfectly, at least for me. I’m not good at sim golf, but that feels totally alright in this case. You can fine-tune your experience to be as stressful or simple as you’d prefer, and again, the pace is rather forgiving. On top of that, the whole game looks and feels terrific. Of course, having never played 2K23, I didn’t realize how much better this game looks.

In particular, the courses have been greatly improved. Someone posted an image of the same course in both games, and it’s more or less night and day. This level of detail permeates the whole game. It feels like you’re watching a broadcast of an actual match, which is wild. It’s not perfect, but it’s immersive. Things like applause, announcer chatter, dynamic lighting, and proper camera work all add to the experience. The music is infectious and slick, the sound effects are crisp, and the actual moment of impact sounds perfect. But all of this isn’t what kept me playing. No, that came down to the gameplay loop.

Just One More Round

MyCareer mode has you playing tons of matches, conducting interviews, training, and accepting sponsorships. All of this flows seamlessly together. The loading screens (on PS5 at least) are a second or two at most, and your actual matches are quick and satisfying. Plus, the simulated match bits blend nicely with the hands-on gameplay. You’ve got a bunch of pre- and post-match banter from the announcers, but you can click through that easily. The interviews are zippy, and the sponsorship system is very lean. In other words, you have very few barriers between you and the actual gameplay, even in the MyCareer mode.

As someone who doesn’t play much sim golf, the difficulty settings in Tour 2K25 are intimidating. But, I appreciate how nuanced they are regardless. Perfect Swing (the game’s easy mode) is on by default, and turning that off was downright humbling. That’s only scratching the surface, however. You can mess with so many more detailed settings in the menus. Every element of your performance, CPU behavior, course behavior, and the matches themselves can be tweaked. I haven’t fiddled with too much myself, but I can see the vision.

One setting I changed immediately was the controls. Tour 2K25 uses either stick controls or the three-button system for shots. Personally? It’s buttons all the way, baby. Stick controls seem like pure psychopath stuff, like you’re ceding control to the whims of some angry digital god. I was forced to use stick controls during the online matches, which is why I stopped playing online. Maybe that will change once the game is out?

No Middle Sliders

I love creating deranged characters in games. The more unhinged the better. Tour 2K25 has some pretty decent options on this front, though body shape is a bit grounded for my tastes. On the other hand, you can make a huskier golfer if you’d like, and that rules. The restrictions make sense, since the game has a host of swing animations that need to fit certain frames. To that end, every character you whip up will look fluid and natural while swinging their clubs. Your golfer also has like, classes to choose from, starting stats that dictate their strengths and weaknesses on the green. It’s a level of detail I greatly appreciate, even if I don’t always fully understand it.

Tour 2K25 is crammed with ways to play. I spent a lot of time in MyCareer mode, but you’ve also got ranked matches, quick play, training, ranked tours, societies, and Top Golf. And if you’re using your custom golfer, pretty much all of it earns you experience. The single-player grind is a little slow, but you can adjust the difficulty to speed it up. But more than gaining levels, all these modes are a perfect way to sharpen your skills. Which I desperately need, as I’m so awful at sim golf.

Fine With Failure Somehow

It all seems so simple at first, but this game gets complex fast. You’ve got wind, elevation, shot strength, angle, and club choice to consider. Among other things, honestly. It’s not an exhaustive list. But I never felt overwhelmed. Instead, I treated every failure as a learning opportunity. And the game is good about reinforcing this. There’s always another tournament, another match ahead to change the outcome. Plus, you’re earning that sweet, sweet experience the whole time. So it never feels like your time is being wasted, even if you’re getting your clock cleaned.

As a sim golf acolyte, I picked a great time to get into the genre. PGA Tour 2K25 is slick, seamless, and pretty compelling. You’ve got a bunch of ways to play, and an endless amount of mechanical customization to mess with. If you want a particular kind of match, at a very specific difficulty setting, you can make that happen. I was mashing buttons through the post-game interviews, but the actual games are excellent. I’m thrilled they have so many control schemes to choose from, especially since stick controls are so egregious. The courses look awesome, your swings feel precise, and every stroke sounds excellent. If you’re looking for that next great sim golf game, PGA Tour 2K25 should be your first choice.

***A PS5 code was provided by the publisher***