Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams are on the cover of 2K Sports' new game, Top Spin 4.
*The cover shown is the American version. There are different cover players in different regions, as the European version features Andy Murray and Ana Ivanovic. This review is for the Xbox 360 version.
Introduction:
Well, welcome to the first Video Games Guide Review Week! As you might have learned, this was supposed to happen a while back, but who cares now, let’s just get this started. The ratings will be out of 5 points for each category.
Visuals/Graphics
VGG Rating: 5/5
Why: I popped this game in the second I got it and the first thing I said, and I quote myself, “Wow!” The graphics are stunning, and absolutely AWESOME. These graphics are the best I’ve seen in a sports game since…I don’t really know, actually. The players look and play very realistically, and I was very happy and surprised to find the very large collection of tournaments and venues. A big problem in tennis video games has been licenses, as the other tennis game I own is Virtua Tennis 3. This game blew that away completely from the start. But one of the first things I checked was how many actual tournament names they had. I was surprised, 3 out of the 4 Grand Slams were properly named and looked exactly like the real thing. And I don’t think it’ll be long before we call the “Dublin Championships” Wimbledon, don’t you think?
What I’m talking about:
You see what I'm talking about?
Player Selection
VGG Rating: 2.5/5
Why: This is one of the very few bad parts of this game. The main focus was incorporating old players into this game, and to put it mildly, 2K Sports succeeded, and the amount of old players and variety is through the roof. But the problem here is new players. There are plenty of questionable calls here. No women’s legends? OK, not many players have been very….oh…dominant in the women’s game that aren’t playing now, but not one? That’s not right. Not to mention a bunch of omits and players who shouldn’t be in there. On the men’s side, why on earth is James Blake in the game? He’s been irrelevant in tennis for years now and the only reason why people remember him because he once was pretty good, but people, 2K Sports included, it’s time to let go of James Blake. Seriously. Where is David Ferrer? I know he gets hardly any public love, but how is he not here? Ditto for Robin Soderling, Gael Monfils, Jurgen Melzer (news flash: he’s #10 in the world, for those of you who didn’t know), Nicolas Almagro, Mardy Fish (Where are the Americans? I know American Tennis isn’t great now, but why Blake and not Fish?), and Mikhail Youzhny, among others. Man, I would LOVE to see Juan Martin del Potro and I know it might be a year or two before he’s in, but Milos Raonic. I know that del Potro is in Virtua Tennis 4, but I’m not doubting this game, just read on to find out why. And that’s just the men. Also in the Blake category for “Why’s he here?” is Nikolay Davydenko (didn’t deserve it, he’s not worthy), Gilles Simon (?), and Bernard Tomic. I actually think that Stanislas Wawrinka deserved getting in. He’s underrated, in my opinion. On the women’s side, in the James Blake category I have Dinara Safina (Has 2K Sports noticed? Safina’s 74th in the world!), and Eugenie Bouchard. Um, who is Eugenie Bouchard? Let me check….OK, she’s a junior player. WHAT? A junior player is in Top Spin 4??? How? Anyway, in the “Why is she not here?” category we have Kim Clijsters (2K Sports just decided to not have the #2 player in the world?), Francesca Schiavone, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na, Sam Stosur, and Maria Sharapova. Look, that’s 6/10 players in the top 10 not in the game. Lovely. I still don’t get the huge difference between the amount of men’s and women’s players.
What I’m talking about:
Who is this? Oh yeah, it's Eugenie Bouchard. And she's in Top Spin 4.
Game Modes
VGG Rating: 4/5
Why: The Career mode is just awesome. The realistic side to it is just amazing. The only downside I see is that you can only play one tournament a month. In Virtua Tennis 3, it’s once a week. I like that better personally, but whatever. I love the progressing of stages from Rookie and going up all the way to star and legend. I find it very realistic. I think I realize now why you only can play a tournament a month: Because playing tennis and being the best is a slow process, and that’s the way of showing it in the game. Well done 2K Sports. I’ll admit, I haven’t played much of the other formats, just a few exhibitions, which are great as well. Admittedly, I haven’t really played the other formats, which are King of the Court and Top Spin Academy. Those two don’t sound all too great, I’ve done them each once, they were average. Obviously the main focus was the Career, which is very, very good. You can hire and fire coaches, improve based on their strengths, and there are activities you can do to gain fans and Experience Points (XP) to get better attributes. Those two stats are key to be a good player in Career mode.
What I’m talking about:
If you get the game, be sure to spend a ton of time on Career mode, you won't regret it.
Gameplay
VGG Rating: 4.5/5
There are the usual buttons really, a topspin shot, a lob, a slice, and a hard shot (or normal shot, whatever you want to call it). Add RT to X, and you get a drop shot. Pretty simple controls, but very effective. One of the only troubles I’ve encountered is that players miss a lot of balls by overrunning. A good thing is, though, at least there are misses and balls hit into the net. That is a rarity in other tennis games. A lot of times when I run up to the net to volley I hit it straight into the net. The way you swing is that there is a timing message such as “Too Late” or “Too Early”. Depending on how good the message is, the better the shot. “Perfect” is the best. When it’s “Too Late” the shot decreases, and if you get “Too Early”, the shot is normal, but not as good as it can be. The great thing is the gameplay adjusts to the surface. On grass courts, the ball goes fast and low. On Clay, slow and high. The players slide on clay as they do in real life. It’s awesome to watch.
What I’m talking about:
Players slide on clay, just like the real thing.
Conclusion/Final Word
This one is a great game, I highly recommend it. If you’re a tennis fan, what are you waiting for? Get it now! If you’re a new tennis fan, get this game too. You’ll learn some more about old players. And if you’re not a tennis fan…that’s too bad.
Overall Rating: 16/20=80%
The rating is lower than it should be, just the lack of player selection pulls it down a ton.
Video Games Guide 