Spork
20th May 2011, 07:06 PM
Now I have always been a fan of the Virtua Tennis games (or at least I've bought three in a row from them now).
This is actually quite a good game, they haven't improved the graphics ten fold, but that could be for quite a few reasons, however the game play has been improved quite a lot over VT3, first up in VT3 it was pretty much as if you were playing against robots which were programmed to act similar to human tennis players, however this has changed in VT4 - both you and the AI mess up shots every now and then, it is possible to trip over, hit the ball into the net, out of the court or simply to miss the ball and end up in a pile of mess on the ground.
The players all have their own characteristics, and they actually do something in this game, for example Sharapova is a hard hitter, and you definitely notice it if you are playing against her with a player whom may not quite be on the same level. Federer has the all round play, and Nadal is fantastic with defense, always managing to get to the ball if you try hard enough.
Another interesting feature which SEGA have chucked into this game is if you use your ability (good defense, good backhand, hard hitter) enough, it builds up a power meter, and once you get this meter to max power, then it gives you one shot which is hit harder and more precise than would normally be probable, however a good thing is that these are not 100% success shots - it is more than possible to defend these and even use them to your advantage if you also have max power.
I have only had the game for approximately two weeks, however it has done nothing but impress me - although if I am playing with women then I usually have music playing and the game volume right down as every one of them seems to grunt like a rhino every time they hit the ball which gets quite annoying.
The only other small issue I have with the game is that it is way too easy to hit the ball out of play, I'm not sure if there is something I am doing wrong, however using the WTA player anna chakvetadze I can hit it out of play at least once every 'game'.
EDIT: So far I'd give it 8/10 - that may be a generous rating, but it's all my opinion, I suggest you hire this one, or perhaps if you like VT games, or even just tennis in general, you will most likely take a fancy to this game.
This is the first game to be developed by the original Virtua Tennis Team Sega AM3 since 2006.
One thing I will add is that it would be cool if when you pause the game you can view the last play, sort of like that eagle eye thing or what ever it be called in real tennis matches.
Also at the end of the match, a highlights option would be cool, so you can watch over some of the better moments of the game. Generally improving replays all over would probably be a good idea, as even the instant replays are a bit too instant, they only show the last shot, instead of a bit more of the rally.
EDIT: Actually the only major thing which I'm not too happy about the game is that it's party mode is way too short, the games have 5 easy to accomplish levels (and there is about 9 party games). I guess it is so that if you actually play it with other people, then the controller gets passed around.
Am yet to try out the move features as I really don't care too much for move, even though I have it and have hardly used it.. Just one of those things I guess.
This is actually quite a good game, they haven't improved the graphics ten fold, but that could be for quite a few reasons, however the game play has been improved quite a lot over VT3, first up in VT3 it was pretty much as if you were playing against robots which were programmed to act similar to human tennis players, however this has changed in VT4 - both you and the AI mess up shots every now and then, it is possible to trip over, hit the ball into the net, out of the court or simply to miss the ball and end up in a pile of mess on the ground.
The players all have their own characteristics, and they actually do something in this game, for example Sharapova is a hard hitter, and you definitely notice it if you are playing against her with a player whom may not quite be on the same level. Federer has the all round play, and Nadal is fantastic with defense, always managing to get to the ball if you try hard enough.
Another interesting feature which SEGA have chucked into this game is if you use your ability (good defense, good backhand, hard hitter) enough, it builds up a power meter, and once you get this meter to max power, then it gives you one shot which is hit harder and more precise than would normally be probable, however a good thing is that these are not 100% success shots - it is more than possible to defend these and even use them to your advantage if you also have max power.
I have only had the game for approximately two weeks, however it has done nothing but impress me - although if I am playing with women then I usually have music playing and the game volume right down as every one of them seems to grunt like a rhino every time they hit the ball which gets quite annoying.
The only other small issue I have with the game is that it is way too easy to hit the ball out of play, I'm not sure if there is something I am doing wrong, however using the WTA player anna chakvetadze I can hit it out of play at least once every 'game'.
EDIT: So far I'd give it 8/10 - that may be a generous rating, but it's all my opinion, I suggest you hire this one, or perhaps if you like VT games, or even just tennis in general, you will most likely take a fancy to this game.
This is the first game to be developed by the original Virtua Tennis Team Sega AM3 since 2006.
One thing I will add is that it would be cool if when you pause the game you can view the last play, sort of like that eagle eye thing or what ever it be called in real tennis matches.
Also at the end of the match, a highlights option would be cool, so you can watch over some of the better moments of the game. Generally improving replays all over would probably be a good idea, as even the instant replays are a bit too instant, they only show the last shot, instead of a bit more of the rally.
EDIT: Actually the only major thing which I'm not too happy about the game is that it's party mode is way too short, the games have 5 easy to accomplish levels (and there is about 9 party games). I guess it is so that if you actually play it with other people, then the controller gets passed around.
Am yet to try out the move features as I really don't care too much for move, even though I have it and have hardly used it.. Just one of those things I guess.