REVIEW: ‘PGA Tour 2K25’ Is Par For The Course

Get your balls ready and your clubs swinging because PGA Tour golf is back with PGA Tour 2K25. Developed by HB Studios and published by 2K Games, PGA Tour 2K25 is the sixth game in the PGA Tour 2K franchise and the first since PGA Tour 2K23 two years ago. While it does not revolutionize one of the world’s oldest sports, it does build on a long-running tradition and presents golf in its purest, most approachable form.

One thing HB Studios knows how to do is bring golf to life. The tutorial that pops up when launching PGA Tour 2K25 puts a club in your hand and immediately starts to showcase the game’s most crucial selling point; it’s so damn fun to play. You need to learn only a few mechanics to send the ball thwacking through the air, and PGA Tour 2K25 wastes no time serving it up to players.

Part of what makes the actual golf in PGA Tour 2K25 so good is the evolved EvoSwing mechanics. EvoSwing gives players even more control over how they hit the ball, allowing the most experienced players to tweak their shots just like a pro would in real life. You need to balance power, timing, and club control to hit the perfect shot. Even minor tweaks to the approach can drastically change the ball’s flight. This is a dream for more experienced players looking for a more challenging experience.

But PGA Tour 2K25 doesn’t just cater to the best of the best. Perfect Swing is a new option that reduces the effects of external factors on a player’s swing. This system is significantly more forgiving, allowing players to focus more on shot placement instead of perfecting the timing. That accessibility makes PGA Tour 2K25 much more approachable for anyone new to golf games.

New options make PGA Tour 2K25 more accessible to players.

The difficulty options in PGA Tour 2K25 are deep, allowing for some serious customization of how you approach the course. There are over 20 options to choose from, and the settings can be changed at any time during the game. It is nice to be able to mess around with things like rhythm preference and putt previews in the context of a round and not just in the menus in between playing.

This customization exists in the MyPLAYER creation as well. Players can choose from several different archetypes that have different attributes on the course. You can choose to focus on power instead of placement or become a master of putts. These stats affect how shots are taken and can be upgraded over time.

One of the few significant flaws in PGA Tour 2K25 is how upgrading your MyPLAYER works. Increasing attributes requires both Attribute Points and VC, the virtual currency used in 2K games. That VC is also used to buy cosmetic items, so tying it to player upgrades is an odd choice. VC can be earned in the game, but this system can also push players to spend real money on VC instead. It isn’t exactly predatory, but it sure doesn’t feel great.

The primary game mode is MyCAREER, which throws players into the chaos of the golf world as they work their way up to becoming the top-ranked player. While the tour can be grueling, PGA Tour 2K25 introduces a new Dynamic Rounds system that simulates some holes while letting players take charge for a handful each round. This is a lifesaver for players who want to get into a tournament but don’t have as much time to play.

Customization goes a long way in both appearance and stats.

Interactive Simulator mode works similarly but gives players complete control over which holes they play and which they don’t. This is a great way to allow players to experience as much or as little golf as they desire. Dynamic Rounds, specifically, is sure to be a hit with casual players because of how easy it is to approach the different in-game tournaments.

Players also have limited off-course experience. Interviews allow players to choose which personality to adopt, and winning events can gain popularity. More popularity means more prominent sponsors, although the sponsors’ benefit is not immediately apparent. Signing with Bridgestone, for example, does not give you new golf balls to use right away. It takes a little digging through the menus to learn that upgrading sponsors gives new items and upgrades, but those take time to earn and are not obvious at first.

Outside of MyCAREER, there really isn’t much to do. Players can hop into any of the 45 courses and play their own game, including a handful of more arcade-style games, but those are pretty limited. There is also a TopGolf tie-in mode that is sort of fun but not too in-depth. A partnership with the Tiger Woods-led TGL would have been a great new game mode, especially given the popularity of the new league. It’s possible more modes will come in future years, but it would be nice to see more than just the regular golf options.

The options outside of MyCareer are incredibly limiting.

PGA Tour 2K25 does have a reasonably robust course creator that can add to the fun. There are not too many community creations out yet, but this will be the perfect way to find new and creative courses to challenge yourself with over time. A cursory attempt at creating my own course didn’t go too well, primarily because I am not too creative, but there are plenty of options available for players to bring their dream golf course to life.

The biggest mixed bag in PGA Tour 2K25 is the visual performance. Most courses look truly next-gen, but the spectators watching and the backgrounds are noticeably low-quality. It is really jarring to see super-detailed grass on the course and then jarringly blocky houses and characters in the background. This is a problem most sports games deal with, but it would be really nice to see some effort made with more than just what takes up the foreground.

Performance also takes a hit when playing on the PS5 Pro. There are noticeable frame drops during swings, something that can seriously hamper the experience. Those drops don’t always happen, so they aren’t a deal-breaker by any means, but players should know that the experience won’t be perfect.

PGA Tour 2K25 is not a perfect game, but it does a solid job of bringing golf to life for new and experienced fans. Some new game modes and more improved visuals and performance would make the next installment a true classic, but PGA Tour 2K25 is a good step forward.

PGA Tour 2K25 is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.