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Top Spin 4 Review

Posted on 01. May, 2011 by Freak_c in Games, News, Peripherals, Reviews

The first tennis game to offer Move support and the first tennis game released this year. Sports games and motion controls are a match made in heaven, so I was very excited to be able to get my coffee table out the way, remove the dust from my Move controller and start playing some tennis. Found out if 2KSports’ Top Spin 4 can serve us an ace or return a double fault?

There’s something which many sports game lack, and as a substitute offer the arcade feel. The real thrill of professional tennis is the edge-of-seat excitement of witnessing the skilful precision of two top athletes battling against each other and trying to anticipate the return shots before they have even happened. The excitement on those nail-biting final points, the energy of the crowd in the stadium and the physical endurance that comes with these battles for those precious title points.

2K Sports Top Spin 4 haven’t really managed to pull this off but boy have they gotten close. Yes it’s still a simulator tennis game but you will have many nail biting games, during your career play-through. Even while watching my friend play the game I was on the edge of my seat during an impressive 30 hit rally.

There are a few things that help to achieve this experience, firstly is the presentation. The game looks great but the character models are simply brilliant. There are just over thirty famous tennis stars including some of the classic players such as, Pete Sampras, Borris Becker and Andre Aggassi. These are modelled really well and look as though they are in your TV, Top Spin 4 wisely replicates their playing style as closely as possible, further adding to the excitement of facing them and ensuring that you are always drawn into the game.

This is thanks to the very extensive in depth character model system that you can use to create your own tennis super star. The animation of the characters is truly noticeable and earns a mention as the movements are so precise. Forehands, back hands and serves all are performed with such precisision that you would expect from these professional athletes.

The second area where the game draws you in is in the controls. Lately many of the sports games on the market are offering games with some of the most confusing and high learning curve controls where the odd few are offering something simpler. Top Spin 4 on the other hand offers the best of both worlds, you can get your simpler style of playing which once learned you can play with those controls all the way to the grand slam. While at the same time performing some complex shots such as top spins, slices and lobs fairly effortlessly. But if you want to dig a little deeper the game offers you that challenge as well.  The game leads you to the academy section from the get go to familiarize yourself with the controls. If you go the advanced route you are set for a higher learning curve but once mastered it truly is rather satisfying while playing.

With the Move controls on the other hand the scale is a little different. You are required to play with the navigator or DS3 for control of your player. You cannot play with simply one Move controller, which was disappointing for me. It was more of a task remembering to move your character to the ball after each shot, I would have much preferred the option to turn on an automated character movement allowing me to then swing my arm around like a mad man. Like a Wii type tennis option. Another thing to mention is that many times the camera lost my Move controller or my Move controller was out of range, this was even more frequent trying to setup a two player game with the Move controllers. There just isn’t enough space for both parties to swing there arms and remain in view of the camera. Also it wasn’t the easiest task setting up a two player Move only game, we ended up returning to the default DS3 only option and enjoyed the game more. The Move option is fun, yes, but comes off gimmicky, I recommend playing with the default DS3 controller for less frustration and more enjoyable gaming experience.

This is a sports game and therefore all the standard modes that you would expect to find are there, yet the career mode is one of the most extensive ever seen in a tennis videogame. The real sense of career progression as you level a character up does start to make it feel like you’re really on tour. Or simply jump into an exhibition match with one of today’s, or yesteryears’ stars, choose your playing surface and pick from one of the handful of fully licensed major arenas, with versions of Roland Garros, and the US and Australian opens, as well as the O2 Arena for the ATP World Tour Finals. A strange and disappointing lack of Wimbledon was a let down from this otherwise extensive game.

A note on the 3D: I was lucky enough to be able to play a bit of this game on my buddies new 3DTV, shot Justin. The 3D of this game is fairly decent and does give you the depth of the tennis court. One problem I found was the little icon indicator under the player was the thing that was most 3D and was distracting as it always grabbed your focus rather than the ball or players. But otherwise it’s a great inclusion to the game.

Conclusion
Top Spin 4 is to date one of the best tennis games on the market and offers something for every body. If you just want a quick exciting game with simple controls or weather you want a challenge with in depth controls and career mode, even the option to play with motion controls and in 3D, its all here for you! Great sound, graphics and gameplay, the game serves an ace no problem. This truly is the ultimate tennis game for everyone.

8/10

A huge thanks to Megarom for supplying the game for review.

Tags: PlayStation Move, ps3 review, Review, Top Spin 4