My love for the Tiger Woods series is well documented around GameSpy HQ. I fell in love playing the Xbox edition in 2003, and then fell even deeper playing both the 2004 Xbox and PC versions. At this point, it would be easy for EA to sit back, make a few simple tweaks the series and let the sales keep rolling in, but for Tiger Woods 2005, it looks the developers are continuing their march, making lots of improvements to the best golf game on the planet.

The first major change is to the highly acclaimed "EA Game Face" system, introduced in Tiger Woods 2004. That system, which rivaled the type of custom character builder you'd expect in an RPG, allowed you to customize almost every aspect of your golfer, from hair, skin color, facial features, and body type to nearly 1,000 different articles of clothing. This year, that system's getting a significant upgrade, simply titled "GameFace 2."

In addition to last year's features, "GameFace 2" will allow you to adjust your height and pick an age for your character, from 8 to 80. The addition of texture blending means you won't have to pick between two particular skin types -- you can pick any two and create your own custom mix, creating an infinite number of possibilities. There wasn't any shortage of characters we could create before, but the new system should make it even easier for gamers to create onscreen representations of themselves (or anyone else, for that matter) to play with. It was also interesting to note that characters age as you play over a series of years -- your height will change, your hair could go gray, you skin could get blemished, and you could even lose a few inches after a lifetime of collecting balls out of the drink.

The second major addition to the series -- "Tiger Proofing" -- took a bit of explanation. Basically, there was a point in previous games where -- if you'd built your character's stats up enough -- you'd be totally unbeatable. Today's golfers are obviously stronger than in the past, and golf courses have adapted to maintain a challenge; that's sort of the same concept behind "Tiger Proofing." Five "legends" have been added to the game -- Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Seve Ballesteros -- and as you beat them, you earn "Legend Coins" that allow you to edit and modify courses in the game. What this evolves into is a mini-game where you have to build your own Dream 18 holes and then win on your new golf course.

Next up was "Course Face," which was really an unwieldy way of discussing some of the graphical enhancements to the game. As always, this Tiger Woods game should look nothing short of fantastic, and now there are special effects such as seasons changing depending on what time of year you're playing. A tournament set in the spring might have of lush, green grass, while that same course six months later might have more of a brownish tinge and trees whose leaves have all fallen off. We were treated to an accelerated look at a single course evolving over the course of a year -- each season had its own distinct look, subtly fading from one to the next. There's also a "time of day" feature being implemented, so shadows move across the course as the sun sets during each round.

On the links, playing the game should remain mostly the same as before, using the mouse or analog sticks to simulate your swing. However, the putting system is being changed a bit to make it a bit more challenging. Before, you could use caddy tips to hit even long putts with an amazing amount of precision; now, those tips will be vary in accuracy depending on how close or far away you are from the hole.

One of the few complaints directed towards Tiger 2004 was that it included a lot of the same courses as the previous year's game. I didn't really think this was an issue, as there were several new courses included with the new game as well. Whichever camp you fall into, you'll want to save your previous versions of Tiger, because there will only be three old courses returning for the 2005 edition -- there are 11 new courses being added, for a total of 14.

Finally, there's the question of multiplayer and Internet play. About my only disappointment with the Xbox version of Tiger 2004 was the fact that it didn't support Internet play -- the PS2 and PC versions did. Well, hallelujah! -- Microsoft and EA have finally sorted things out and the Xbox version of Tiger will be playable via Xbox Live this fall. That alone should make the new version worth picking up for Xbox owners, but regardless of what system you're playing on, it looks like Tiger's about to get better yet again.