Virtua Tennis 3 Updated Hands-On

We last saw Virtua Tennis 3 not so very long ago at the Tokyo Game Show back in September, and we got still more hands-on time with the game at Sony's Gamers' Day here in San Francisco, California. Scheduled for release in the spring of next year, Virtua Tennis 3 looks like it will be a clear extension of the realistic but easy-to-grasp style of gameplay that's made the Virtua Tennis series so great. We got to see a version of the game looking crisp, colorful, and smooth at 1080p resolution and eagerly played through several matches against what seemed like a purposely forgiving computer opponent.

This build simply features a versus-computer best-of-three-match exhibition mode and a versus mode for two human players. It appears that there will be 21 total tennis pros selectable in the game, though five of the character slots in this build were marked "coming soon." The game's many available tennis pros include Maria Sharapova, James Blake, Andy Roddick, Venus Williams, and more, and not only do these athletes look much like their real-life counterparts, they each have some sort of specialization that makes them play differently. For instance, one player might be adept at serving, while another may have a particularly powerful backhand. We tried out a few different players, and while these differences were not immediately apparent, neither is the depth of Virtua Tennis' gameplay.

Visually, the game is looking quite impressive already, with authentic-looking courts and crowds and some incredibly detailed animations for the players on the court. The players do move noticeably faster than you'd expect in real life, though, and during close-ups, their eyes don't look quite right yet. Considering how realistic most of the game already looks, we're hopeful that the visuals will continue to be tuned leading up to the game's release. What's important to note, though, is that the action on the court already looks great and runs nice and smooth.

The game is about as easy to pick up as they come these days. Only three face buttons are used to determine different types of strokes, and the longer you hold down the button before you swing, the harder you'll return the ball. Your player will automatically use different types of strokes in context, so a poorly planned lob over to your court will invite you to smash the ball back at the opponent, for example. Your player's momentum seems to figure a lot into the action, resulting in rallies that mimic real-life tennis tactics.

Virtua Tennis 3 could potentially make good use of the Sixaxis controller's unique features, but we'll have to see if Sega winds up implementing anything like that. Certainly, the controls are simple and responsive enough as it is already. Create-a-player and career-mode features are expected to be a part of the game, and we'll be anxious to see what sorts of online features make it in. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more on Virtua Tennis 3.