List Price: $32.00
Sale Price: $14.95
Today's Bonus: 53% Off
Within the past few days, I've gotten in to this game. As someone who plays tennis for real, I have to admit some of the same thought processes go in to the way you play this game. If you let go of the button (for whatever shot you attempt) and catch the ball on the rise the shot will be stronger than if you catch it late. One of the improvements in TS4 over 3 that I enjoy is that it's easier to charge your shots. If you are the type of player who begins his/her backswing as soon as your opponent connects with the ball, a-la Venus Williams, you have a closer shot at doing this in TS4 as opposed to 3. In TS3 you had to actually get to the spot quick and then push the button. The controls in TS4, overall are better.
As stated, I'm still a bit fresh with TS4, but so far it seems to be a much better game than TS3. There are quite a few veterans, and current players to choose from (more comments on that later), every month there are events to attend as you build up your status, fans, and even attempt to just reach the level of a rookie where you'll be allowed to play in major tournaments.
I have to restate something mentioned in an earlier review. When you have a long rally or even in situations where someone is constantly volleying off shots at the net, the crowd really gets into it. You hear the build up and then when the point is won, there is a brief explosion of applause. It's a nice touch that really puts you in the game. Additionally, there are quite a few choices in the way you can view the game. There is the traditional TV view and then you can get in as close as if you were one of the rear line judges behind your player. One thing to note with this, if you do zoom in to this level there is an occasional camera lag if your opponent should hit a wide angled shot that pulls you off the court.
A few CONS:
For the most part everything you see in the other reviews is spot on. I just want to add something a little different. As a guy, I'm surprised that I'm the first one on Amazon mentioning this, but where are the women? I do not understand why there are current male players in this game (Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Blake, and Roddick) as well as male legends (Agassi, Sampras, Chang, Becker, and Rafter), yet the women only have the current female stars. And those stars are very few. We have Serena, Wozniacki, Safina, and a few others. C'mon y'all. Where's the love? How in the world can you skip over Kim Clijsters? She and Wozniacki have been going back and forth for the #1 spot for the past year. Why is it that most tennis games can only include one Williams sister? Schiavone, Stosur, Li, and Sharapova (who I am not a fan of but still deserves respect) are all in the WTA top 10 yet they're all missing from this game.
And you can't tell me that there aren't any female legends that don't deserve a spot on this game. I mean above all you could have at least included Billie Jean King and the ageless wonder Martina. I understand Justin Henin recently retired. She deserves a spot somewhere on here. What about Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, Chris Evert, or Lindsay Davenport. And come on, what about the only person, male or female to have won the Golden Slam. (I'll let y'all look her up.) Even my wife knows some of these women belong on this game.
Lastly, would someone please get a license to put Wimbledon in a game? Maybe I've missed a few games, but c'mon are they that strict with the name? Oh, and because I have a bit of a connection that way, how about some love for the tournaments in Asia? I'd love for my player to play in the Bangkok Open or in Japan.
TS4 is a really good game. I have to take a star off simply because it seems like y'all are trying to insult the women out there.
Oh one last thing. If 2K really wanted to go all out for realism, you have Lendl in the game but don't have McEnroe. ..........yeah, you put Courier (no disrespect intended) in there over McEnroe. What's the deal, is Johnny Mac too difficult to animate? Come on. You cannot be serious. (smile)
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Top spin 4,the latest in a series that spans since the original xbox, has gone with what is tried and true with them and makes another amazing game. Since I havent seen anywhere online, Im going to go into a bit about the online world tour. But 1st the general gameplay.*General Gameplay*
+ The player models look very good and very fluid.
+ FPS does not slow down often during gameplay.
There is never any lighting/weather change.
Once I booted up the game, the 1st thing I did was play a match between Agassi and Sampras. The player models looked very strong ass I went into the game. Then I started to play. With playing, the controls seemed very confusing at first. I was always getting things like too lates and too soons and my stamina was completely drained by the end of the 1st point. After I got the controls down, the game started getting a lot more intense. I remember sitting jumping up when I get a point because the game was so close. I ended up losing the game after a 1:20 minute game. I just sat there pissed off, and I knew that this was going to be a game that I love because of things like this.
*My Player*
My player mode works similarily to other years, with going by months. One thing that I thought that was a great addition is that you level up your players stats whenever you use them in gameplay, not just during Career mode. The creating of models was very easy to use.
Now for my favorite part of the game
*World Tour Mode*
World Tour Mode is an online "career" for your my player. You compete in tournaments with your my player against other people with a similar skill level (which is based on how many times you upgraded your my players stats)
The lobbies are easy to go around and playing a game was the best part. I found that no matter how many games I played online, there was NO LAG! That was exciting for me because the online makes a game replayable for me, instead of just repeating the story line. After playing a bunch of games, and finishing top 5 on the Online Leaderboards, I realized how much fun and how much competition there will be between people online.
*Conclusion*
I give this game a 9.5 out of 10.
Main points:
+ Graphics
+ AI Difficulty
+ World Tour
+ My Player
Lighting/Weather
Fans
Best Deals for Top Spin 4 - Xbox 360
I was worried about Top Spin after Top Spin 3. The controls were too difficult and twitchy, I thought, but with Top Spin 4, the game is back and terrific again.I could see where they were going with Top Spin 3, emphasizing timing and shot selection instead of 'hold the A button' which had gone before, and in Top Spin 4, they got it right while making the controls disappear, and after a very, very short time, I felt I was playing the game instead of fumbling with the controls.
Even with that ease, the game continues to show great depths. After taking three characters from nothing to 'Legends', I'm still discovering the nuances of serve placement, serve type, and defensive recovery.
My only major complaint is that playing a serve-and-volley style is much more difficult than the others, and at the higher levels, I found that my serve-and-volley guy lived at the baseline, even when serving, with only the occasional trip to the net when I thought one volley could finish the point.
Starting out, I was a little worried because they game is on the easy side, and I was about to adjust to a harder level. If you run into this problem, wait until you get to the semi-finals of your first major. The game takes a jump in difficulty. It stays that difficult for those last two rounds of majors, dream matches, and special tournaments, like the ATP Championships, and it gives a nice bump and lets you know those tournaments are special.
Great game. Highly recommended.
Honest reviews on Top Spin 4 - Xbox 360
The best tennis game in the market. True simulation!! I would have loved more real tennis players. They have a few of legends and a few of the best players right now. A total of 12, but I miss more women legends. Where is M. Navratilova, C. Evert, S. Graff, A. SAnchez-Vicario, etc?The gameplay is just perfect. The only thing they need to improve is the music (always the same 3-4 tracks), the career mode, which is very simplistic, and have more ways to play the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment