REVIEW : Tennis World Tour 2 (PC)
AO Tennis 2, developed by Big Ant Studios, took care of the situation of tennis titles. While it didn’t scream a miracle, the Australian Open branded title was still a step forward and demonstrated the team’s ability to engage in the genre. For this reason, the publisher has put a new product in the hands of Big Ant: the Tennis World Tour 2 review is here to take stock and understand how it went.
New engine and new animations
Tennis World Tour 2 starts from the basics, or rather from the graphics engine and it does so by changing direction from the past. New engine and new improvements that point the compass in the direction of the increase of the animations, of the consistency of the same and in the direction that sees the proposition of simulation more attentive to details. Tennis is based on a sudden “action-response” situation that requires quick and uniform readings, something that was missing in the playful re-proposal of Breakpoint.
Increase the number of animations and putting them into practice in a manner suitable for the aforementioned objective is, therefore, a great starting point for Tennis World Tour 2.
Service and response
The other great novelty in terms of play is the modification of the service. An excellent “joke” is an extra weapon for the players, an arrow placed in the quiver that can make the difference in the hardest matches. Starting from this concept, Big Ant has revised the service system, putting in the player’s hands the possibility to choose the effect and power of the blow. The height of the impact with the ball will also be chosen, all with a very effective and not particularly complex system. The stratagem used allows players to familiarize themselves with the various phases of the service and guarantees more skilled players greater possibilities in terms of the effectiveness of their shots. Not least the review of the exchanges.
In video games, the only way to try to reproduce this is to insert a timed response system. Hitting the ball with perfect timing and releasing the button even with optimal timing will therefore allow you to score insidious shots, vice versa they will be predictable and consequently not very effective. At this point a double-sided medal is inserted: on the one hand, the excellent work is done on the coherence of the animations and the reproduction of fun and engaging tennis and videogame feeling, on the other hand, a small harness within classic and canonical schemes that are not suited to current tennis, but perhaps to tennis in general.
If the control system does not undergo any changes compared to the classic canons of the genre at a playful level a system of cards comes into play that will modify your way of playing.
Yes, because through in-game currency you can buy cards that will offer you bonuses to you or cause malus to the opponent. These cards, of different values, will therefore modify your behaviour in the game allowing you to create real builds. For example, if you use two cards related to the service and two to the shots in a topspin you will know that during the game you will have to exploit those copies to obtain the greatest effectiveness. Both you and the opponent will be able to see the cards chosen by the other and therefore this will allow you to carry out potentially different matches in which the strategy will count.
Mode and outline
Then there is a whole set of methods that complete the content package. The online matches, friendly and ranked, which will be based on a renewed net code and which will allow players to compete to become the best in the world. The tournaments, also in this case offline and online, rather than the Academy, or the training mode in which to learn the basics of tennis. Obviously without forgetting the classic career. We will be able to create our alter ego and lead it from the beginning to the conquest of one or more Grand Slams. After you have shaped your player you will begin your climb to success. In this case, it is important to take into account the physical condition with which you will arrive at the tournaments, managing rest, targeted training or basic physical exercise will be fundamental. In short, a classic career mode, which however offers prolonged fun for tennis lovers.
What’s noteworthy is the licensed content pack which features 38 players all licensed and numerous tournaments. It seems a minor detail, but it is instead a factor that should not be overlooked, given that in this kind of titles, licenses have always made a difference. Then there are also the courts, which in the Tennis World Tour in addition to the four classics see the introduction of a new type of terrain: wood. Even the weather will affect gameplay, changing the yield of bounces on the playing surface. An interesting choice that enhances the work done by the team, despite a ball physics that occasionally stumbles on itself. We would have preferred a more responsive physics in terms of ball weight, which continues to be lacking in every way.
IMPRESSIONS : TOM CLANCY’S GHOST RECON BREAKPOINT EPISODE 3 (PC)
