'Rory McIlroy PGA Tour': Release Date, Cover, Trailer, Features and Preview

EA Sports' golf series has made the jump to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The series has traded in Tiger Woods for Rory McIlroy as its cover athlete and taken on the powerful Frostbite engine to increase the game's visual appeal and drastically limit loading times.

Unfortunately for McIlroy, he'll likely have a lot of time to play his new game with his ankle injury keeping him sidelined for a while.

Nonetheless, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour releases on Tuesday, July 14, but it's available for Xbox One gamers who subscribe to EA Access now. In case you haven't had an opportunity to see the cover, here's a look at McIlroy sporting the shiny blue for both the PS4 and XB1 covers:

We can talk all day about the improved graphics, but seeing is believing. The official trailer for the game shows just how stunning the courses are in this one. Take a look:

Oftentimes, the first version of a sports video game series on a new console is lacking in the area of features. Usually, the enhanced graphics are put in place to mesmerize gamers while the depth is held back for the next version of the game.

Whether that's the case with RMPT, we can't say for sure until we've had a good amount of time to play the game, but here's a look at the most prominent features:

What Is Frostbite 3?

Per EASports.com: "Frostbite is a user-friendly software development toolset that allows Electronic Arts game designers to, simply put, make games look amazing."

If the early images, videos and community testimonials are any indication, the new engine is getting the job done from a visual standpoint. Matthew Ruhl lauded the game's "gorgeous" courses and other features:

Frostbite 3 allows RMPT to produce some of the most realistic outdoor environments you'll see in a video game. It also eliminates the loading time between holes. Together with the power of the PS4 and XB1, the entire course loads at the beginning of a round, and every hole is immediately accessible.

The Golfers

Obviously McIlroy is the star of the show, and no, Woods isn't a secondary player available in the game. Even without Woods, the roster of players is pretty solid—even though there's only 12 in all. McIlroy is joined by the following:

• Jordan Spieth
• Rickie Fowler
• Martin Kaymer
• Ian Poulter
• Keegan Bradley
• Hunter Mahan
• Brandt Snedeker
• Miguel Angel Jimenez
• Jason Dufner
• Patrick Rodgers
• Jonas Blixt

It would be nice to have the likes of Adam Scott, Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Woods and others, but we've yet to see any golf title with a really huge roster. Gamers usually want to create a player and take them through a career; thus the size of a roster isn't as big of a deal.

The Courses

There are fantasy courses that can be explored in the Nightclub Challenges, but on the traditional side, there are eight of the most popular venues in the sport available.

• Chambers Bay
• TPC at Sawgrass
• St. Andrews
• Whistling Straits
• Bay Hill
• TPC Boston
• Wolf Creek
• Royal Troon

With The Open Championship just two days after the release of the game, expect St. Andrews to be in heavy rotation for gamers during the first week of release.

Presentation

Aside from the visual upgrades, RMPT will also feature a brand-new announce team. Frank Nobilo and Rich Lerner of Golf Channel make their debuts with the series. Here's a snippet of their work via this sound file from EA Sports on SoundCloud:

It's hard to tell whether or not the commentary has taken a major step forward, but it is nice to see that the developers recognize a need for a fresh set of voices after featuring Jim Nantz and David Feherty for years.

The early signs are positive, but stay tuned for a full review of the game on Tuesday.

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