Since the golf-loving HB Studios joined forces with 2K Games to bring us the revamped PGA Tour 2K series in 2020, golf video game lovers have been eating extremely well. Combining the finesse of HB Studios’ previous experience in making The Golf Club with the undeniable presentation prowess of 2K Sports titles, it’s gone from strength to strength, which sets up PGA Tour 2K25 quite nicely.
The last game in the series, PGA Tour 2K23, launched back in October of 2022, so we’ve had almost two and a half years for the team to refine the experience further for this new edition. After playing a couple of tournaments and getting immersed in the impressively simplified career mode, I’m happy to say that PGA Tour 2K25 looks to once again deliver a golfing experience worthy of a championship.
It’s been a while since I’ve played PGA Tour 2K in any form, so I was delighted to pick up the controller and find myself doing quite well, quite quickly. It’s intuitive enough that, even after a few years between fairways, a flick of the right control stick to drive the ball down towards the green is instantly satisfying and simple to pull off.
This is likely due to new EvoSwing mechanics that have made it so that your golf can be more closely customised, with new shot types, ball flights, roll physics, and visual improvements. Your swing is broken down into four components: contact, rhythm, transition and swing path. It’s then measured and rewarded (or penalised) accordingly, which essentially means if you move the stick in a wonky way as you take your shot, you might send your ball flying into the rough. There’s also a “Perfect Swing” option, which reduces the material impact of external factors on your swing, simplifying things further.
“… approachability being built in was important for PGA Tour 2k25, and I felt it straight away.”
Chatting with the developers, that approachability being built in was important for them in PGA Tour 2k25, and I felt it straight away. They have some other tricks up their sleeve too, though. MyCAREER is back, and it’s streamlined for those who want it to be a little bit faster. I’m sure there will be purists who want to play every single hole of every tournament, but for those of us who want to progress through the career of your created golfer a bit more swiftly, there are Dynamic Rounds and Interactive Simulation.
Basically, only a selection of a course is chosen for play – maybe only 4-5 holes out of 18, for example – and the rest of the results are simulated based on those efforts. I appreciated how fast I was able to move through tournaments; in my session though, I was playing well (consistently getting Birdies and sitting atop the leaderboard). In the simulated rounds, I simply remained on top. I do wonder how it will work in closer tournaments, and whether or not the Simulation side of things is fair or not, but it gave me a solid feeling of career and character progression, while cutting my time on the course in about a third, which was very appreciated in this preview setting and would be perfect for nights when you only have 30 minutes for a round of golf, not a couple of hours.
There’s even equipment progression, a new level-up system for clubs and balls, which can evolve how you shape your equipment to match and enhance your style of play. In my play session, I didn’t see a direct impact of this, but little XP bars were certainly filling up beneath my clubs and balls, and I’m curious to see just how much “levelled-up” gear can affect my game, or whether it’s just RPG stuff for the sake of RPG stuff. I did however appreciate my influencer count climb on social media as I succeeded in tournaments and delivered compelling interviews after winning tournaments, keeping MyCAREER feeling fresh and dynamic.
I didn’t get to dabble in the Course Designer, which features all-new tools, surfaces and items, and of course online multiplayer will be a fun one to jump into once the game launches. It’s also the best-looking golf game I’ve seen, now releasing only on current-gen platforms, to really maximise how visually impressive it can be. PGA Tour 2K25 once again feels like the ultimate golf video game, and I’m looking forward to spending more time on the course in the coming weeks.
If you want to try it out for yourself, 2K Games have announced today that you can try PGA Tour 2k25 with a “First Look” demo, where players can:
- MyPLAYER Customisation: Players can create up to three MyPLAYER builds to discover the perfect combination to fit their desired playstyle and progress their MyPLAYERs from 65 to 70 OVR. Customisation elements include physical appearance, hair and body type, archetype, performance stats, and select gear and apparel;
- Local Match: The back nine at TPC Scottsdale and WM Phoenix Open are available to test MyPLAYER skills;
- Training: This area and lessons are fully accessible, providing the same experience featured in the full game;
- Quests: Featured for player onboarding and skill development.
Additionally, player progress will transfer from First Look to the full game, so you might as well get stuck in!
PGA Tour 2K25 is launching for Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and PC on February 28, with early access for pre-ordering the Deluxe or Legend Edition on February 21.
The journalist was flown to Sydney as a guest of 2K ANZ for the purpose of this coverage.
About the Author
Luke Mitchell
he/him
Luke spends his time making radio, playing video games, binge-watching TV, getting unreasonably invested in wrestling, hosting bear events and hanging out with his beautiful pets.
