Tennis is one of the most popular sports on the planet, but publishers are taking advantage of its potential to have nightmares. French costume Nacon has already made several attempts at AO Tennis, two titles on the Tennis World Tour and two approved entries for the Australian Open, but this time Calypso Media is historic. It’s your turn to give your own perspective on a sport. Having held Hawkeye at Matchpoint: Tennis Championships for quite some time, will it be the perfect forehand winner?
The biggest challenge for developers when it comes to tennis titles is to build an animation library large enough to accommodate a large number of gameplay scenarios. Considering a real tennis match on TV, it is very likely that it is related to the position of the player’s body with respect to the ball. Whether Novak Djokovic is distorting himself with an impossible slice serve return, or Polish superstar Igashifion playing a topspin pass shot, explain in the game to make the rally look real There are many things you need to do.
Australian developer Torus Games worked hard at a motion capture studio to make the effort as fluid as possible. This is a bit of a step forward from Nacon’s previous attempt. Developers were able to build a library of animations large enough to accommodate different scenarios, so warps that are common in other tennis titles are much less. This doesn’t mean that there are no nasty animations, it’s less common, and as a result the game feels more fulfilling on the pad.
Instead of making Topspin 4, the flag bearer of the genre, an ape, the studio instead adopted a simpler shot system. Use the face buttons to change slices, topspins, flat shots, and lobs. The shoulder button has several modifiers that allow you to prioritize volleys and drop shots. However, timing is less focused, but you can focus on placement and placement. This means that you can slow down the ball with a slice shot, bring it to the net, and then hit a real-life important pass shot to finally spin the table on the server.
When designing points like a professional player, it’s actually very satisfying. You can achieve some success with the push of a button and run around, but it’s rewarded to understand your shot choices and know when to use topspin volley and when to slug out at baseline. In fact, like real tennis, paying attention to your opponent’s movements, picking your place in the last possible second and keeping the ball out of reach is actually a lot of fun. ..
The problem is that the enthusiasm felt on the stick is not reproduced on the screen. Tennis is an energetic sport that is both action and emotion, but when you hit an important winner, the crowd never sees any guts poses or gestures. In fact, the game is strangely stagnant overall. The crowd applauds politely after each point, but there are no moments of gasping or tension as the rally develops. And even limited commentary often cannot be pointed out when you score match points. Instead, settle on a more reusable line focused on the setpoint.
The lack of overall atmosphere really kills the thunderous enthusiasm traditionally found on professional tennis courts. It’s even more pronounced when the bad Australian boy Nick Kyrgios is on the cover. He can’t try to call Hawkeye. There are no festive transitions. When the player returns to their seat, the animation library mentioned above begins to lose its luster as it plays. The illusion disappears a bit when you see all the players stretch exactly the same on every pass shot out of reach. None of the professional players included have the characteristic serve or sway.
These criticisms can almost certainly be due to budget shortages, but the other issue is just unenforced errors. For example, a campaign to see you climb the world rankings feels like a glacier in terms of progress. I play in various tournaments around the world, such as Garbine Muguruza and Kei Nishikori, but there is no way to get rid of the match. In other words, you will mainly play the best of the three sets of games to the full. In a tournament. There are some super tiebreaker events to break the pace, but expect to sit for over an hour to see a single competition.
It’s not too bad if you level up faster, but your stats are affected by gear unlocks, coaches, and training sessions. It takes dozens of hours to raise an attribute. This probably reflects the harsh nature of being a real tennis player on the tour, but in reality it means that the slow progress combined with the lack of excitement on the court will quickly burn out in the game. increase. We love tennis and we really like the gameplay here, but it was only a short time to endure the match points. Fortunately, you can save and end the match in the middle of the match and receive the minutes later.
Another drawback is that you rarely do anything other than campaigns. I have an online multiplayer that supports full cross-play and couldn’t find an opponent to test in the title’s pre-release environment, but I expect the package to have some life added. However, except for career mode, multiplayer, standalone exhibition matches, and some training mini-games, it’s basically a lot of you. Even doubles games are mysteriously lacking.
At least, the visuals of a standard broadcast camera are good. Player models, especially professional models, are generally ugly, but even if fans may lament the lack of licensed locations like Wimbledon and Roland Garros, the courts and arenas look great. If there are no bugs that cause tearing in the review build, the replay will look great, but the studio says it will be fixed soon with a patch.
Conclusion
Matchpoints: The Tennis Championships provide tools for playing realistic tennis rallies. The problem is the real lack of enthusiasm for a coat pair with a chunky career mode to absorb your enthusiasm. It’s fun to have fun here. Large animation libraries can make gameplay look relatively realistic from a distance, but tennis fans have to wait for the real winner to defeat the legendary Topspin 4.
