Grand Slam Tennis 2 Review
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
Platform: Playstation 3 (Reviewed), Xbox 360
Release Date: Out Now
Grand Slam Tennis 2 is EA’s first foray into tennis games on the PS3 and 360 – its predecessor was only released on the Wii, with the PS3 and 360 versions being shelved in favour of releasing a more solid sequel. The original Grand Slam Tennis was quite successful on the Wii, using the console’s motion features to their full capabilities and producing an entertaining game – especially when played with a partner. The games shift to the more powerful consoles has required EA Canada to completely redesign the game to take on more powerful graphical capabilities, in order to create a more realistic experience and to incorporate the use of a standard controller while still maintaining a challenging game.
As soon as you start up you’re greeted with EA’s standard menu template and the option to enter the tutorials, which explain the various types of ball control and how to manoeuvre each shot with the controller. Throughout the tutorials you’re coached by tennis legend Pat Cash, who provides commentary throughout each match and is one of the players on the “Legends” roster. The tutorials are extremely useful in explaining EA’s new method to
control the game, dubbed “Total Racquet Control”.
While using a classic controller both analog sticks are the games main input methods. The left stick controls the movement of your player while the right stick manages the Total Racquet Control. This new feature allows you to control the type of shot you play as well as its power and positioning. For example when lining up a shot, if you pull back on the right analog stick your player will wind up to prepare for their shot. Then by rolling the analog stick forward, your player will follow through and play a shot with top spin. Depending on how fast and how far you roll the analog stick determines the shots pace and distance, and by aiming the stick left or right you can obviously control it’s direction. As well as dispatching shots with top spin, flicking the right analog stick makes your player play a standard flat shot and pulling back and releasing the right stick plays a sliced shot. While it sounds like a lot of options dictated solely by the right analog stick, you easily get used to the controls and when to play certain shots. Total Racquet Control is optional though – a standard arcade button mapping is also available. The game has Playstation Move support (no Kinect support), but I never had a chance to try this out.
The game displays an astounding level of realism. On the player roster there is a total of twenty-three usable players divided into current players and past legends. The four Grand Slams are available to play in career mode, with three playable courts from each competition and some fabricated EA courts are available to play on top of all that. As mentioned above, in-game commentary is provided by Pat Cash and John McEnroe covers the analysis. The commentary is very well put together, but you will notice that there are quite a few lines that get repeated after you play only a handful of games. The graphics are crisp and realistic. In-game advertisements add to the feel of the game and give each match the appearance that they’re being shown live on television.
As well as a standard career mode, you can also play out some classic tennis moments in the ESPN Grand Slam Classics mode. Each match has its own separate requirements that grant bonus points if they are fulfilled. The more points you accumulate per match, the more match and difficulty tiers you can unlock. This was the mode I found most challenging and the most fun. The AI can be quite tough at times and long games can get very tense, which is surprising when playing against a computer opponent.
EA Canada have done an excellent job with Grand Slam Tennis 2, producing a brand new game which is definitely on par (even better?), with the big name tennis titles such as Topspin 4. It isn’t a game that will only appeal to tennis or sports fans either – Grand Slam Tennis 2 can easily enjoyed by even the most casual of gamers. With its arcade style control option first time players can give experienced players a good challenge, making the game a solid alternative to FIFA when playing some games with a group of friends. If you’re looking for a sports title that you can continuously come back to, look no further than Grand Slam Tennis 2.
Score: 8/10
