Top Spin 2

[Diggler]

I prefer these training sessions than the Virtua Tennis ones. These are actually fun, for one

[Jebus]

Well I've played this game a bit more now and to be honest I don't think I've ever played a more frustrating and poorly executed game of tennis.

I think it might be like Marmite and you either love it or hate it and I'm fast veering toward loathing this game.

The annoying thing, the thing that pushes it over the edge is I feel I have absolutely zero control over my player...I can be pushing right and swing, and he'll go down and left and not swing at all.

Coupled with the fact that sometimes button pushes don't seem to be registered and sometimes you don't swing at all anyway, or the fact when they serve a certain side of you it just doesn't swing and you miss completely...

I just can't find anything to enjoy or like about the game...the loading times are absolutely appalling for a game of this day and age, the playability is just not there for me, I've won a single match so far only to be dominated by the obscene difficulty hike in the next round...the gfx are I suppose next gen and the sound is okay...

Overall I just feel gutted I spent ?40 on this, absolutely gutted.

As I said, anyone tempted by this game, RENT it first unless you love the Top Spin series, but since I've played Virtua Tennis I find this game klunky, and just plain bad.

First game on the 360 I've felt this way about, and I pre-ordered this yonks ago, was really looking forward to it. Is it that I'm not used to it? Well a sports game shouldn't take 3 hours+ to get used to in my humble opinion, of all games...a sports game should be highly accessable.

[Diggler]

Can honestly say I haven't had a single one of those control issues you mentioned.

[Jebus]

Can honestly say I haven't had a single one of those control issues you mentioned.

Well I promise you I'm not making them up hehe

Literally sometimes he just won't swing, no matter how hard or light I press a button...sometimes runs the wrong way...it's insane and driving me mad because I believe (despite high difficulty level and all that loading) there might be a good playable, POSSIBLE to win tennis game underneath.

[Shoju]

Well I promise you I'm not making them up hehe

Literally sometimes he just won't swing, no matter how hard or light I press a button...sometimes runs the wrong way...it's insane and driving me mad because I believe (despite high difficulty level and all that loading) there might be a good playable, POSSIBLE to win tennis game underneath.

It might be the timing method if it's the same as the prequel. It's different from Virtua Tennis in that you have to hold the button down as the ball passes the net then direct your player towards it, then let go and direct the ball as your swing starts. It takes some getting used to but it's still a crappy system and inferior to VT's method of getting power and direction on the ball.

[Jebus]

It might be the timing method which if it's the same as the prequel. It's different from Virtua Tennis in that you have to hold the button down as the ball passes the net then direct your player towards it, then let go and direct the ball as your swing starts. It takes some getting used to but it's still a crappy system and inferior to VT's method of getting power and direction on the ball.

So hang on, you're telling me that you have to swing before you move, so to speak? If so then thats ****ing stupid anyway! What on earth is wrong with moving to the ball THEN hitting it?

Seriously, if I've got what you've said correct...that is stuuuuuuuuuupid!

[Shoju]

So hang on, you're telling me that you have to swing before you move, so to speak? If so then thats ****ing stupid anyway! What on earth is wrong with moving to the ball THEN hitting it?

Seriously, if I've got what you've said correct...that is stuuuuuuuuuupid!

You hold the button down in advance then move, when your within range of the ball your player starts the swing of the racket. Yeah it is stupid and ruins the game for me, Im hoping for much better things from Power Smash 3/Virtua Tennis 3.

[Jebus]

You hold the button down in advance then move, when your within range of the ball your player starts the swing of the racket. Yeah it is stupid and ruins the game for me, Im hoping for much better things from Power Smash 3/Virtua Tennis 3.

**** this game! I've just thrown the controller at the floor in anger whilst playing this.

Any sports game that is THIS hard straight out of the box is not a game I'll waste another minute on, back to Oblivion...Expect to see this in the trade forum soon.

That control method is absolutely stupid.

Gutted, me? Yes absolutely because I've been desperate for a new sports game that isn't football or basketball to play, and this just is not it.

Oh and for the record, I've not thrown a controller at anything since Worms on the Playstation!

[Paulos G]

I bought this as tennis games are one of the few types that Mrs G will play. We had a hit around yesterday and were both a bit disappointed. Ah well, only ?35 I thought. I'll trade it in next week.

However, wanting to try and at least get something out of it I started a career mode today. Several hours later I had managed to win a few minor tournaments, won my first major tournament and broke into the top 100. Not only did I find that I'd gotten better but I'd had fun doing it!

I used to loathe marmite but now I'm a fan.

[Extra Terrestrial]

What a game.

I have put nearly 8+ hours in the game already since I bought it on Friday thus leaving Tomb Raider and Guitar Hero, to the lesser extent not being played very much at all! I am really enjoying it because it is the first game in ages that is hard and challenging from the word go and I like it.

I think this game might put (a lot) of people off when you try the first few minor tournaments to find that you are nowhere near their level
- no matter how good you think you are. I missed the first two minor events to use up at least 6 training events slots to build my character up and it works.

I have only played a few games on Live (player matches) and it is very smooth and easy to get into although the last match I played left a bad taste in my mouth as the player decided to switch-off his Xbox 360 console to prevent him from losing, which is quite annoying and sad.

The gameplay is quite difficult to grasp because the controls are different from any other tennis game, especially arcade affairs such as Virtua Tennis. I think this game feels tight; it gives you control but not the freedom to switch back/forehand shots at the last minute or let you reach the racket out - the game feels restricting in a way but it makes it more 'realistic' I guess.

The sound is quite barren though; why didn't the devlopers go to a PROPER tennis game and record the audio? It sounds like a Badminton game than anything. I wish I could be down 0-40 for me to come back to win the game for the crowd to go bloody wild not a low whimper that doesn't draw me in the experience.

More impressions later in the week.

Oh, for anybodies information - the game isn't a 10-day job because it is quite a lengthy game that has many modes to get through as well as the fantastic Live play. I bet the time Wimbledon comes round, I will get back into it and so will everyone who owns the game!

I think this is on par with the original so far.



:EDIT: Sorry to see that you are not enjoying the game very much Jebus.

[GordonJ]

...Also cannot understand about the whinging of not being able to change the camera when your at top of screen to be back at bottom...

Set the camera to 'zoom' or whatever the non 'far' option is, takes a while to get used to, but I just couldn't stand the default camera when I was at the top of the screen.

Won't developers think of us poor short sighted people

[Brats]

You hold the button down in advance then move, when your within range of the ball your player starts the swing of the racket. Yeah it is stupid and ruins the game for me, Im hoping for much better things from Power Smash 3/Virtua Tennis 3.

That's not true. You can move before you swing, but to get the most from a shot you need to power up the shot as you move when the ball crosses the net.

This is exactly like proper tennis. You don't see players like Federer run to the ball, then wind the racket back and play the shot. It's all one fluid movement, but it requires the player to commit themselves to a shot. This is why many people (including myself) prefer Top Spin to VT, because it captures the play and the tactical mindset of the real game, unlike VT which (although excellent) is more reliant on reactions. Witness net rallies on VT where two reasonable players can ping the ball back and forth several times at high speed. It's fun, but it's nonsense really.

[Simmy]

Fantastic Game ! Been looking forward to this as I did not get the original, and I'm loving every minute of it. Oblivion has been relegated from the machine at the moment, something I could not of imagined doing a week ago

Takes a while to get used to, and the learning curb is quite steep at first, but once you start to understand how the game plays, it really starts to flow.

Into my 3rd career season now, and just maxed out the points on my basic training, and moved into advanced training now. Got a few majors under my belt, and will be qualifying for Wimbledon tonight, as my ranking slipped while I was finishing off my training, pushing me out of the top 40.

I seem to of got most of the basic shots down now, and I'm positioning them better around the court. Risk shots are a complete nightmare though, I really struggle to get the timing right on those while under pressure. My spin serve is pretty mean, and I can pull off risk serves on every other go, although I do not find these are particularly effective atm, guess I need to get my speed from the 120's to the 130's ! Looking forward to getting the left trigger shots now from advanced training, need some more weapons in my arsenal.

Played quite a bit over live (player matches) and these are fantastic fun with friends. Not seen a hint of lag yet, and the game plays as smoothly over live, as it does in career IMO !

Only complaint so far would be that career only seems to allow you to play a total of five seasons (or so it seems from the manual) That seems very short to me, and does not give enough time for me to dominate the game Sampras style. I'm already nearing the end of my third season, and the domination is yet to begin

[Shoju]

That's not true. You can move before you swing, but to get the most from a shot you need to power up the shot as you move when the ball crosses the net.

Thats exactly what I meant when I described the the timing method. The flaw is that you cannot then position yourself around the ball to create different angles, cause when your get within a certain range the swing motion starts from the button you held down earlier. Another flaw is that it doesn't take into account the height of the bounce when you hit the ball, so the depth of your shots don't matter which is ridiculous. In real tennis if the ball is hit deep and close to your feet you struggle to get power on the shot but if it is short it sits up for you to clobber at the top of the bounce. Those things aren't taken into account in Top Spin, only the time you have to play the shot matters. So if I wanna use slow deep slices to set up an approach to the net like Henman does, I can't beacuse even if it lands right at their feet it can be blasted right back past me.

In VT2 depth of shot is really important and beacuse of that it captures the basic flow of real tennis (albeit simplified with some weird arcadey elements), in that I know where Im going with my tactics in a rally based off of real tennis. If I wanna postion myself to one side of the ball to get more angle I can do that. Serve & volley is handled much much better. Thats compared to Top Spin 1 mind.

As for rallies at the net, they won't last long like that if somone uses a lob or angles the ball across the opponent. There are plenty of misconceptions about VT2 due to it not being played enough competitively unlike an online game.

[Simmy]

Thats exactly what I meant when I described the the timing method. The flaw is that you cannot then position yourself around the ball to create different angles, cause when your get within a certain range the swing motion starts from the button you held down earlier.

I don't find that at all, I can position my self for back or forehand shots long before I have to get onto the relevent button, and still have enough time to hold it for full power. Infact I find if you press the button early your player will have a much longer swing, and will usually put the ball out on passing shots etc, so it is important to time your shots realistically, and not just hold the button for the desired shot from the moment your opponent has hit the ball. To me it is all about preemting your opponents next shot and getting in motion to cover it in enough time to position yourself correctly for your next shot. I also find that my deep slice return is pretty mean to missfoot opponents and fire off a cross court winner.