Osiris3657

I realize this thread will get maybe 2 replies, but oh well.

I never played the first one since it was released exclusively for the Wii. The demo is out now on Live (and I'm assuming on PS3).

After playing it I don't expect much. The game plays more like Virtua Tennis than Top Spin.
The players seemingly slide across the court rather than run. The designers did a very poor job of replicating trademark serving motions and groundstrokes of the players (although in the demo you only get to play as Nadal or Djokovic).
Also I was playing as Djokovic and was hitting one handed backhands...wtf?

There's this "true racquet control" mode where you swing the racquet with the right thumb stick. It sucks.

I really do like that they have commentary now (from Johnny Mac and Pat Cash) and I like that they have the rights to all the GS tournaments. None of this "British Open" bullshit.

...I could still find myself buying this when it sells for less than $20. I hate myself!

thelwig14

The sliding and lack of trademark animations were my two biggest complaints.

I love the atmosphere and presentation. I read also that there are 128 man tournaments.

I am going to buy it unless it gets ripped. VT is too arcade and I actually like the speed of GS2 and better netplay than TS4.

Osiris3657

I preordered it even though I didn't like the demo. I have a soft spot for tennis games

bluetoast

I haven't bought a tennis game in a long time, but I'll try out the demo today. Top Spin and Virtua Tennis are still the high points. But it's promising that the actually have the Grand Slams, hopefully the actual courts are replicated properly as well.

Quake1028

I pre-ordered. The Top Spin series is my favorite sports game series of all-time. I hope this one can compete.

Michael Corvin

Still waiting on a tennis game to match the original Top Spin.

Osiris3657

This won't be it

bluetoast

Does this have doubles?

Osiris3657

Yes. (never seen a modern tennis game that doesn't)

Osiris3657

One thing that I just cannot figure out is how the roster for tennis games are determined. How cool would it be to have the top 100 players on each tour available to play (with occasional live updates to reflect current rankings).
Some of the players that have been chosen for tennis games have just been mind boggling. Andreas Seppi (Andreas fucking Seppi, the ultimate journeyman player) has been in two Virtua Tennis games. Why?? Laura Robson....huh? Brendan Evans was in Top Spin 2...has that guy even been in the top 100 before?
If the NBA, NFL, MLB allow all their players to be replicated in videogames the WTA and ATP should do the same.

I also wish you could play as a real player in career mode rather than always creating your own.

bluetoast

I agree with that. You always have like 16 players max, and the tournaments aren't really realistic. It would be fun to start from the bottom and do smaller tournaments, and eventually work your way up to a GS, or replay classic matches, something other sports games do.

Osiris3657

actually this game will have that. From Amazon's description page:

"ESPN Grand Slam Classics - Relive the most memorable moments in tennis. From Borg vs. McEnroe to Nadal vs. Federer, play your way through history while unlocking up to 25 amazing Grand Slam moments."

EA also released this yesterday

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z1ZxT8Fxrv0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

DVDChris

It's because of a lack of a players union for Tennis. With the NBA, NFL, and MLB, all the players are part of a union. The sports games sign contracts with the union to allow ALL players be part of the game. With Tennis, there is no players union, so every single player needs to sign an individual contract. This could get into crazy deals where some people think they should get paid more than others to be in the game.

Osiris3657

Strangely enough Jordan was almost always replaced with a fake player in NBA games. Wonder how he got out of that.
Barry Bonds was also replaced by a fake player as well in MLB games for a few years.

Larry C.

Forgive my ignorance but I haven't bought a tennis game in ages. For online play does it let you create a tournanment online instead of the usual pvp?

DVDChris

Reviews are coming in.

OXM gave it a 6:
http://www.oxmonline.com/grand-slam-tennis-2-review

But OXM UK gave it an 8:
http://www.oxm.co.uk/38466/reviews/g...nnis-2-review/

Why are there such discrepancies?

SexualPudding

It's one person reviewing each game and the number score is arbitrary. Does a review score really matter?

Maxflier

Just tried the demo and it seems just as good as any of the other tennis games I have played. I will be
buying it.

DVDChris

It's more about one person says they don't like it, the other says they do. I just found it funny since it's the exact same company.

sauce07

I haven't bought a tennis game in years but this one caught my eye and I pre-ordered. This will be my last tennis game for years.

Quake1028

Now to get to 5PM....

Osiris3657

8.5 on IGN...huh (no video review to post). I have my 360 copy and will play it in a few minutes.

9.0 Presentation
It's consummately professional and slick – although it does feel a little soulless sometimes.
9.0 Graphics
Player likenesses and animation set a new standard for tennis games.
7.5 Sound
Commentary is repetitive, sound effects are effectual and music is largely absent.
8.5 Gameplay
The fundamentals are good and the new control system is largely successful, but the pace of the career mode is slow and there's a lack of more unusual game modes.
8.0 Lasting Appeal
Ten seasons is a long time to play the career mode, but the online play will keep things consistently interesting for competitive players.

Osiris3657

This one is more accurate, sad to say.

And the discrepancy is that one guy liked the control stick, the other didn't. I didn't.

Osiris3657

Take the IGN review with a grain of salt. I wasn't surprised when it was by some guy I'd never heard of and not one of the main editors.
This game is worth about $30, maybe. I'd say it's a more polished Virtua Tennis, but Top Spin 4 is far superior. Animations are still clunky, errors are few and far between, the control stick play function sucks, players do NOT have their trademark swings or play styles (Nadal was hitting one handed backhands (not slices) and was rushing the net a lot). The ball seems to float and the players glide across the courts rather than run...and damn do they get to every ball. The commentary by Johnnie Mac and Pat Cash must be about 50 lines each, because it got old real fast. Repeating the same things over and over.

Barth

Not to take anything away from your review, and I appreciate your comments, but you posted this all within 30 minutes after starting to play it. Can a game really be judged that fast?

Also you posted this a few weeks ago...

"...I could still find myself buying this when it sells for less than $20. I hate myself!"

yet you obviously bought it already.