Reviews of the new tennis game for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.
There was a time when sports games were a genre in vogue. There were titles covering all disciplines, with few exceptions. We never forgot football, basketball, golf or football (especially for our readers beyond the puddle), but there was also fencing, judo, surfing, darts, bowling, ping pong. And tennis. There were quite a few good tennis games, from Top Spin to the well-known Virtua Tennis. And in 2018, after a season of electronic shortage in the world of racket, we had two disappointing deliveries separated by a few weeks apart. Just 18 months later, and with the help of Big Ben, the second part of one of them arrives, which, although improving, is still below the desirable quality standards. AO Tennis 2 is already among us being a clear upgrade to the version of 2 years ago but with still much tennis to improve.
Of all the things that make up the sensations of a tennis match, there is something that AOT2 does particularly well: the concept of timing to hit the ball. It is the most unique mechanics of the game and the core on what turns everything else. If we manage to hit the ball at the appropriate time, we will get the right power and direction and if we hit too early or too late the results will be out of our control. Depending on the difficulty that we have established, it may even be that the ball ends up on the net or outside, certifying that the fault – which is something very common in this sport but very rarely represented in the video games of it – is a factor that has to be take into account and with which we have to live.
Good ideas, bad basics
Getting used to the system is relatively simple in theory (an indicator appears next to our character and we must press the buttons until it reaches the top without going over) but in the middle of the points while trying to think what to do or react to the blows of our rival, it costs a little more. Hitting good punches has positive effects on our performance during matches, since being late and hitting reduces our character's aerobic capacity and makes us more tired. As a concept, this mechanism that incorporates the game seems very successful: it is visual, it is easy to understand, it hides mastery to improve and is consistent with what this sport itself is. Its implementation within the game, when it depends on other accessory but equally important factors, is already something else.
And is that the main problem of AOT2 is that, as was the case with its predecessor, the game has not just handled well. The control of the characters, the way in which we transfer what we want to do to what our player ends up doing on the screen, is often cumbersome, often clumsy and, in some cases, fits very little to what is considered realistic. This in principle is not a problem, as long as the objective of the game was more arcade and less simulation, but it is not the case. The fluidity in the movement is something important to give a sense of realism in any sports game but in those titles where there is a single protagonist on screen (tennis, boxing, etc.) it is capital; and we see very often large jumps between transitions, a terrible magnet effect towards the ball that sometimes completely blocks our tennis player and a questionable hit selection due to it.
This does not happen every time, be clear. If we just move the player from left to right, we generally have a good feeling at the controls. Even when moving backwards, turning sharply in direction to reach the ball, we observe the weight the player has when moving. But when we have to get a ball off or especially in vertical movements, AOT2 suffers from the beauty. The management of the latter along with anything that has to do with approach shots or races to the network is the worst thing that has the game and one of the great subjects pending to improve in future installments of the saga.
Points in tennis are earned with a combination of 5 factors: power, direction, height, effect and depth. In a real match, also at a high level, it is very common to see how the players mix the blows to get the opponent to fail or get a ball that is more easily attacked. This is how modern tennis is played (from Agassi, more or less) and with the exception of the service and volley players, with a residual representation both in the circuit and in amateur tennis, this is how the sport should represent a game that want to replicate the sensations in a more or less realistic way. AOT2 puts all the emphasis on timing, which is not wrong to do, but forgetting that the sport is much deeper than that. It doesn't matter if one has a thousand options available: in our case we focus on improving a single blow (flat service, flat right and flat back) keeping the rest of the statistics at zero and that was enough to win game after game.
Full of options
Along our way to become number 1 in the world and win all the grand slam both singles and doubles we were able to disrupt quite a lot with career mode; This mode is the main experience for a single player and incorporates in one place both the dispute of the games themselves and the management of the calendar, sponsors, training and much of the paraphernalia that surrounds the world. We can configure one or a tennis player at our whim and make him dispute both in the male or female circuit, giving him his own style and assigning skill points to initially improve his strokes.
We will start very low in the ranking and we can barely participate in Future or challenger court tournaments, reserving the ATP 250, 500, 1000 and GS for when we are more experienced; It must be said that after an update of the game the difficulty levels were softened, because at first it cost a lot to win even normal games and it is appreciated. As we earn money we can improve statistics and access new tournaments that will give us more money. We must maintain a balance between playing, training and resting because each displacement adds an extra cost to our health and we must choose wisely when to fight and when it is better to use that week to do nothing and recover our physical state.
There are many trainings that we can do, which in turn are done with simple mini-games that allow us to raise the theoretical maximum of our character with that blow. For example, if we train the reverse cut, our maximum statistics will rise in that particular blow but not in the flat reverse or with top spin; the same for the three hits of the right, backhand, 3 services, volley, balloon and left. We can even practice the service from below, something extraordinarily unusual and that we believe has been represented in the game because one of the players included in the official list is the Australian Nick Kyrgios who has recently “popularized” this form of service. Kyrgios is one of the licensed players with the also Australian De Miñaur and Barty, as well as Pliskova, Lerber, Stosur, Cilic, Monfils, Verdasco, Wawrinka and the one who covers the cover and on which the game revolves, the number one Rafael Nadal world in addition to many others. All of them with their characteristic style and their styles represented in the game.
There are some good details in the matches that show that the game is gradually being spoiled a little more: the way in which the line judges are placed during the serve and recover their position, the “reeds” that can be stuck when you are late for a blow, the possibility of requesting a ball can be checked or the fact that it hits the tape and falls on the other side of the net. But there are also details that show that maceration time for AOT2 has been lacking, minor details that take away realism from the experience. For example, 7 rounds are not played in any tournament except in a grand slam: the pictures of a 1000 master are 64 players with bye (free first round pass) for the first series heads, there are no ball catchers, no players they celebrate that someone fails the first service, the volleys cannot go faster than a serve, the side effect occurs very occasionally in tennis and a bad blow has no more effect on the pulmonary resistance of our character than a 25-ball rally. Many of these things are of relatively simple solution, which leads us to think that the game would have appreciated a slightly longer baking time.
Another thing is that technically it does not look like a first level title; It is clear that we are not talking about a study or a triple A investment but there is a clear margin for improvement in most of what is involved in the game. From improving transitions between animations such as polishing control to giving the audience a certain personality of the meetings, especially at the visual level. Also the characterization of some of the licensed characters would appreciate a little more work and the physics of the ball, although their behavior is generally quite regular, they often perform jumps and reach speeds that challenge Newton's laws beyond even the mythical Prince of Tennis or Oliver and Benji.
CONCLUSION
AOT2 clearly improves with respect to its predecessor and is no longer the broken game we saw in 2018. Its multitude of options, the correct integration of calendar management, sponsorships and others and improvements in the technical aspect attest to the willingness to Big Ben to improve the product. However, it is still weighed down by a very improved gameplay, the polishing of some accessory details to the game to give a greater sense of realism and the need to understand more deeply what the sport of tennis has been. This goes beyond licensing more players or tournaments but the ability to give a more complete and satisfying sports experience to those of us who have been looking for a title that meets expectations. We look forward to the next installment of the title that builds from the good foundations we have today.
THE BEST
- Timing mechanics
- Multitude of options for trasteo
- In some moments, good feelings especially online
WORST
- The technical section
- The game on the net and doubles in general
- Lack of real depth in its playability
Improvable
It may have acceptable elements and entertain, but in general it is an experience that will leave no trace.
