Grand Slam Tennis 2 – Game Review for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Where the first Grand Slam Tennis was a colourful and arcade take on the sport, Grand Slam Tennis 2 is a more much in-depth sports game. It has a detailed career mode and an abundance of official licensing from plays and courts, right down to the clothing
brands. As you would expect from Electronic Arts (EA), the game has been polished to its shine and thus is the best-looking tennis game to be made as yet.
With a choice between traditional button control, motion control on Playstation Move and a new kind of twin-stick control called Total Racquet, it is a flexible and exciting sports title that sits somewhere between the simulation of Top Spin and live arcade
action of Virtual Tennis.
Presentation
Grand Slam Tennis 2 roster includes a good selection of current and past players both male and female, from the William sisters to Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and cover-star John McCenroe, complete with 1981 hair. Their in-game
counterparts seem pretty authentic. Try to play Sharapova as a serve and volley net attacker and you will get to see that it will not work out so well.
Player likenesses, animations and movements are all really impressive. If you are looking at the game from the other end of the room, it can be easily confused for a real game of tennis on television, especially with all the ESPN branding.
Real courts, especially Wimbledon which is exclusive to the Grand Slam series, adds the extra authenticity to the tournament play. Grand Slam Tennis 2 does a real good job of capturing rhythm and nail-biting tension that exists in real tennis matches.
One thing is not so impressive is the play-by-play commentary done by McCenroe and fellow legend Pat Cash. You will begin to hear repetitions from about your third match onwards. Another unimpressive thing is crowd which is depressingly static, something
that most sports games in existence have managed to get right.
Gameplay
Grand Slam Tennis 2’s big idea is a new gameplay system that lets you control the racquet with the right stick. Inevitably, EA Sports is obsessed with making every sport on the planet playable without buttons. It is a nice idea, but it takes a long while
to learn how to use it properly. The training academy takes you through volleys, serves and baseline play step by step, but it is really hard at first. It does not help that McCenroe is on hand to slag off your performance with his commentary, which does not
turn out as the best way to learn how to play tennis.
Motion control on the Playstation is just as demanding. Unless you play a lot of tennis in real life, you will find yourself hitting a lot shots wildly without really knowing why because your wrist technique is lacking. The game does not offer training.
The fidelity is impressive though and with the passage of time, your technique will improve. There is no problem with using buttons to play the game, but it is definitely worth learning the Racquet System as its very satisfying and rewarding once you manage
to get the hang of it.
Grand Slam Tennis 2 makes up for the difficulty of the control system by making the career mode ridiculously easy at first. It is recommended to take a trip to the options menu to notch up the difficulty a bit if you want a bit of a challenge during your
matches. The mode is brilliantly detailed, though it seems to have been strongly inspired by Top Spin 4. There are plenty of stats, numerous challenges and exhibition matches to hold your interest over the course of season.
Verdict
Grand Slam Tennis 2 is as slick and professional a tennis game as you could have hoped for. Even though it seems to lack Top Spin’s passion for the game, the inclusion of Wimbledon and wider roster really does make a difference. There is room for improvement
in the pace of the career mode and variety of play, but the presentation is pretty much flawless.
I would rate the game 9.0 out of 10 for its wonderful presentation, wide range of players to choose from and detailed career mode.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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