Despite the unquestionable merit of trying to create a good modern tennis game, something many show no interest in, Tennis World Tour still falls short.
If in our recent PGA Tour 2K21 review we recalled that golf is far from reliving its best times as a video game, tennis is not far behind. For the second time this year and after AO Tennis 2, Big Ant Studios are back with a new game of the beautiful game of racket, with some fresh ideas but keeping the foundation of its previous title. And, in essence, it comes to repeat the same mistakes that condemned its predecessor to mediocrity but with the exception of some flashes of light that, perhaps, show the light at the end of the tunnel (or are the focus of an approaching locomotive in the opposite direction). Not that the game is a disaster, but it is certainly far from what could be considered objectively remarkable, and this is a mantra that will be repeated during each and every section of the text. It is allowed to play but there are always a number of objections that weigh down the final experience.
Tennis is difficult
Tennis, fortunately for those to whom we dedicate part of our professional activity to teaching it, is a difficult sport. Fortunately because we make a living out of it, of course, but also because in its complexity lies many of the most beautiful nuances of one-on-one competition that can be found across the sports spectrum. It is a game where individual technique, coordination, physicality… but also strategy, game plan, mental solidity and resistance prevail. And capturing all that is far beyond the reach and ambition of any video game, although there are undoubtedly other titles from other disciplines that have managed to better capture and represent the background beyond the surface.
The surface in Tennis World Tour 2 would be how licensed tennis players are represented, the realism of the animations, the behavior of the ball or the technical aspect in general. In all these cases it is plausible to say that the performance of the game is more similar to what we could see in the past generation than in the current one. The players have looks and facial animations that go from funny to funny at times, and it’s not an exaggeration. And this with the Nadal, Federer, Wawrinka, Paire or Isner type players: with the rest that make up the bulk of the unlicensed AI they often have that look of a plastic doll with interchangeable hairstyles that we could find on the shelves of the section of toys from a shopping center.
Sometimes we see details in the presentation that are well thought out: the two bottles on the bench when you play against Rafa Nadal, the linesmen singing the balls out by moving the arm correctly (although not when the ball enters) … but in general it’s one area where the franchise (or its sister franchise, AO Tennis) has a lot to improve on. Both at the level of textures of players and courts, ball boys that do not move, just a handful of models for the public, repetitions of points … A top finish is not essential to make a fun game, but it is important to take care of those little ones and not so small details when you want to give it a realistic finish, which is the intention of the developer. And there is a lot of work to do.
Fairness of options One of the most notable differences compared to AO Tennis 2 is the fairness of the game’s options. We can create a match or an exhibition tournament but the bulk of the single player time we are going to spend in career mode, in which we can create and dress our avatar quite simply and that’s it. The progression system of the game includes accumulating experience with which to modify our statistics and coins with which to buy equipment, most of them cosmetic but also to improve our skills. But we have no control over how to delve into any of the facets of our player, beyond putting a point in “attack, precision or defense” that will give a bonus to our stats in an understandable way. A much greater customization system would have been appreciated on which shots or facets we want to improve. There is licensed equipment (although most are not) and we will be able to create a racket “to taste”, but most of the time we will go with a ready-made one that is much cheaper and takes less time to unlock.
Within the campaign it is not that we find a myriad of options: tournaments of different nature and duration, exhibition matches, training and signing an agent or coach. This is how we have spent the years of our career eventually reaching the top of the rankings and winning all four major tournaments in the same year. The game allows you to extend the duration of the matches up to almost in real time, so if we are lovers of this option we must bear in mind that a Wimbledon match (or pseudo Wimbledon, the tournament is not licensed) can last a couple of hours of our time, depending on the rival and the difficulty chosen. Playing an entire season under realistic conditions can take us, literally and depending on the time available to play, more than it takes a real tennis player to play his own season.
A very high entry curve It must be said that our opinion after many hours in the game has changed a lot compared to what we had during the first bars. And with the first bars we spoke calmly about 10-12 hours, more than we would have dedicated to the game if it weren’t for trying to bring an Reviews as complete as possible. And is that Tennis World Tour 2 has a horrendous learning curve, even after doing the “tennis school” that serves as a tutorial. The system on which the success of a blow in the game is based is the “timing” of the impact, which is indeed one of the fundamental factors in reality. But no one explains well the fundamentals of that hit, the differences between hitting precision or applying power and how and when to apply each type of hit in the game. In our case, we went from losing each and every one of the matches even after lowering the difficulty one step to winning practically all of them and having to climb the difficulty one step. As is, from one game to another, when the system “clicked” on our head.
It doesn’t help either that the motion system is far from perfect; As we gain level, the problem is much softened but during practically the entire first year of competition we will observe with no little frustration how our character moves in the direction we do not want, often backwards but it is especially when he moves forward and we leaves sold in the middle of the track. This is a severe programming error that, fortunately, also affects the AI of the opponents and we see how very often they make mistakes that are inappropriate for players of their level. Because there are other errors that only affect the visual coherence of the character (my player has a two-handed backhand and when the ball comes over his shoulder he hits a hand for no reason), but there are others that directly affect the result of the game. game and here begin to have problems of releasing the control and turning off the console.
News that don’t work
One of the evolutions that have been incorporated into this installment is the card system; Each player has access to a series of cards that they can equip before each match and that are obtained by opening packs purchased with the currency of the game (and not with real currency). These cards can be activated during the match and theoretically provide immediate or long-lasting benefits to the match. Leaving aside how much realism this addition brings, the vast majority of the cards are of very little use. In other words, a 4% reduction in stamina wear when making a cut serve in the next 3 serves does not seem like a substantial improvement to us. Some, those that remove resistance to the rival, can be useful at a given moment but we have been able to “complete” the race without making use of them in almost no case.
To buy cards or equipment you need money, which we get after each game by finishing or completing missions. The missions are coming out as we play and, again, it is a functionality that is broken and must be broken. Sometimes we just hit two flat shots to win 500 coins and other times it asks us not to make any unforced errors in the whole set for the same price. But the worst thing is when he asks us to serve a direct serve when our rival takes out or asks us to win X points in a row and does not register them, so we are stuck with that mission all that remains of the set. Or suddenly we find an easy mission to complete and if our rival fails his first serve, he changes it. We do not know how much we have to play to fix this issue because although it is not fundamental, it is annoying.
Glimpses of hope
Although there are many things that do not work well and that the game essentially comes out in a state where it would appreciate more cooking time, there are times when you have a good time. It is not playing doubles, of course, because the game on the net is still as bad as in previous installments, but as we gain level and the matches begin to be balanced, there are good moments. Playing Dominic Thiem in “hard” mode in the Roland Garros quarter-finals (pseudo Roland Garros, again…) he had to decide on an exciting tie break in the last set as we traded mistakes and successes alike. In the highest difficulties the ball rhythm increases considerably and the time to perform the strokes with the perfect timing is reduced, also at the cost of reducing the realism since only in easy or very easy the speed of the ball is close to speed of a real match. Still, when we run side to side trying to move the best and force a mistake on them, the game is in its best clothes.
Playing online is also another possibility that we have successfully explored, promoting with some ease to the higher leagues given the inexperience of the players we were meeting, rather than due to our own ability. The system had the habit of matching the same players over and over again, so when one of them had lost against us and they were re-matched against us, the match declined and so we spent a few nights. But some of the online games have undoubtedly been the best experiences we have had at the helm: people with criteria who knew what to do and how, and it was frequent to hear some “bravo” from us or other words of encouragement and tennis camaraderie over the headset from our rivals. The game options are very limited but at least it is allowed to play freely except when one participant is laggy, which then is a complete nightmare for both contestants.
CONCLUSION
It is not necessary to dedicate yourself professionally to tennis to face Tennis World Tour 2 (as we imagine that our writing coordinator Francisco Alberto Serrano did not need to become a samurai to analyze Ghosts of Tsushima), but it does serve to exacerbate the disappointment suffered by lovers and practitioners of this sport delivery after delivery of products that do not reach the quality that not so long ago we enjoyed in consoles and arcade games. Big Ant and Nacon seem to lurch between their two franchises Tennis World Tour and AO Tennis, and we are the ones who suffer the consequences of it. In perspective, AO Tennis had a better foundation and TWT had better licenses and some superior finish, but we are still waiting for a product worthy of the height of the sport they represent. There are reasons to be hopeful but, at least for the moment, we will have to wait.
THE BEST
- Online gambling
- Title improves after (too many) hours with it
WORST
- The technical aspect in general
- Motion AI is not working well
- The news do not incorporate anything positive
Improvable
It may have acceptable elements and entertain, but overall it is an experience that will not leave a mark.
