Still the leading tennis game for graphics and realism but some odd changes which are hard to understand why.
This review is to give a general first impression of the game, which will be quite brief and then I will highlight a few really negative aspects of the game that are hard to imagine that such changes could be seen as a way forward for this series.
So, straight to the game.
I found the visuals very similar in quality to the previous version. Maybe it is hard to make improvements in this area when the visuals were very good already so maybe the limit for graphical quality has pretty much been reached for the Xbox 360. The game had a slightly pleasing fresh feel to it which should be expected with it's new look, sounds and animations whilst retaining a reasonably solid Topspin feel to it although I did sence a little bit of a leaning towards Virtua Tennis type of presentation and shot style. This is NOT good! Some of the racquet swings have lost some realism maybe all part of trying to make the game more accesable to the casual player. I picked up the new controls quite quickly although I never personaly had a problem with the previous version which some players found rather difficult.
So, now if I may the key part of this review is to highlight some glaring faults, which are quite minor in a way...so hopefully could be patched, as soon as possible please.
Firstly, the crowd start to applaud a winning shot just a little too early. The point hasn't really been won for sure as far as us players can tell and yet the crowd start to cheer!
Here is my main gripe though. Behind the scenes, I love creating my own players, so this is what I did straight away. Now personaly, I like to create both male and female players and then make them all quite different from each other in looks and colour of skin tone etc. The player creator in Top spin 3 was very detailed if a little awkward to use. I was dismayed to find the new player creator in Top spin 4 has been simplified and dare I say, messed up! It is no longer possible to change many of the body features that could be done before. Players now will I believe, have far less variation than previously possible when making your own player. A typical example follows... I tried to make a petit female player but was unable to change hips, bottom, waist, bust or sholders as I could do in the previous version of Top Spin. There is now just one general slider for the range of slim to muscular. This is very poor and a real backward step for such a good game.
With such a basic body modifier, the game has lost some realistic body proportions that just look plain wrong! If a slim look is desired for the female player, the chest/bust area looks as if a player had a large bust, that has now deflated! The proportions (area of the bust) should decrease with a more petit player and take on a more pert shape.
Top Spin 3 had this just about perfect... so why change it?
It is also hard to add eye make up and judge the skin type in the player creator because the lighting on the face is too hard with dark shadows in the eye area making the task really difficult. Again, Top spin 3 was fine, so why change it?
I find it really hard to understand the thinking behind this!
To be fair to the game, I haven't played it too much yet and certainly aim to get into it at a later date. However, at the moment, I feel disapointed in the developers for taking a few backward steps, so it seems.
Will 2K be interested in responding to our concerns ? I don't know, but I guess I'm going to find some other niggles about the game when I play it next but I hope some things to delight me too.
Remember, this review is only a first impression and I have simply highlighted what I have found to be dissapointing and strange changes to the game.