When EA first launched the Grand Slam Tennis series it was a Wii exclusive as it took advantage of the system’s motion controls. The sequel, aptly titled Grand Slam Tennis 2, lands on all consoles with a more realistic presentation and approach to the sport. Having already reviewed the PS3 version, I took the Xbox 360 version for a spin, and while the game is technically sound it comes up a bit short of its potential due to a lack of variety.
Many people make the argument that tennis games really aren’t much more than a glorified version of Pong. I don’t agree. If it is done right there’s a lot to the video game version of the sport. Fans will appreciate the nuances such as the various types of spin you can put on the ball, the importance of angles, and a number of colorful characters both past and present.
Past tennis games that I have played have mapped the different shot types to the face buttons. In Grand Slam 2, EA introduces Total Racquet Control, which is a twin stick control scheme that is a great fit. Standard flat spin shots are handled by moving the right stick in the direction you want the shot to go. The quicker you press up the deeper it should go in the court. Want to take something off a shot? Ease the thumb stick in the direction a bit slower for more finesse. This applies to both more aggressive topspin shots and defensive slices too, which can give you more time to get back in to position. Much like a slap shot in NHL you can add power on the topspin by holding back on the stick before moving it forward. You simply pull the stick back and let it go for slice shots. Simple trigger modifiers allow you to do drop and lob shots. Serving is handled much in the same way as the other shots. While there is a power meter on screen it is very hard to time a good release by following just the meter alone. It is far easier, and natural feeling, to just time your swing with the animation on screen since you’re not focused on a power meter. This all comes with a bit of a learning curve but it is well worth it. Grand Slam 2 is easily the best controlling tennis game I have ever played. It feels very organic.
A robust 10-year career mode is at the heart of the single player experience. In this mode you can create your own character and guide them through the season schedule of tournaments. The focus here is on the Grand Slam events. For the first time in any tennis game, all four major tournaments are fully licenced and represented. If you’re not a tennis fan and thinking “what’s the big deal?” I put it on par with a game like Tiger Woods including The Masters. Speaking of Tiger, if you are familiar with the career progression in that game you will find yourself right at home here. As you play though the career you earn ability points which can be attributed towards increasing various stats including power, accuracy, speed and stamina. You can also acquire new clothes and equipment which may or may not offer a performance boost just like in Tiger. While you earn XP by playing the tournaments you are also offered opportunities to play exhibition matches and training mini-games to boost your stats and earn more XP.
As much as I like tennis I have issue with how plain the gameplay and progression is. There isn’t a lot to spice things up between events. Training mini-games lack the zest that other tennis games before have offered. There’s no bowling pins to knock down or anything like that and it hurts the fun factor of this game. While these things might not be authentic to the sport I found they helped to change things up in other games. The career mode is extremely structured. In order to get deep into this game you are going to have to love the game of tennis.
During the actual matches themselves there is a shortage of unforced errors. As good as the controls are everything feels a bit too automatic. You simply do not hit it out or into the net enough. Perhaps this is by design. It does keep the action going and points become more about hitting winners, which can help with frustration levels. There’s also a lot going on with the new control scheme but it does feel a bit off. The penalty for not getting the timing right seems to be a less effective shot that lands in rather than a great attempt at a winner that just misses its mark.
EA has a habit of often putting fancy taglines or names to features in their games. In Grand Slam 2, it is the Professional, Realistic and Organic AI system (or P.R.O. for short). To me this appears to be more about replicating the behaviours of the pros included in the game more than it is about actual AI. The individual subtleties that you will find watching each of the pros on TV are present in the game. Even Boris Becker’s subtle double clutch rocking before a serve is here. That part is cool enough and makes for a realistic representation of the sport. When it comes to the actual gameplay though I don’t feel the AI has evolved much past what we’ve seen in other games. Angles are still the key to your success and the money play of serving out wide, rushing the net and volleying cross court for easy points still applies. I’m talking about Dreamcast era tactics here and it still works effectively.
If you are an online gamer there are a good number of online options including ranked head to head and tournament play. It still surprises me that, to this day, no one has gone and given players the ability to create their own private tournaments like XSN offered on the original Xbox. You can replay several select Grand Slam moments as part of the single player. This is a nice diversion from the career portion of the game. There is no motion control in the 360 version, unlike the PS3 game that comes with Move compatibility. This is by no means a deal breaker for me. Unless there’s a major reason not to, I generally play multi-console games on the 360 since I pay for Live and prefer the controller. If you absolutely must have motion controls you have to go with the PS3 version, otherwise there’s no discernible reason to go with one version of the other.
As in the majority of EA games the presentation values in Grand Slam 2 are excellent. The visuals on-screen are a good representation of what you would see if you were watching on a TV broadcast. I’ve always enjoyed EA’s GameFace feature which allows you to upload a photo of yourself to EA’s website and then import it into the game. As I mentioned earlier, all of the 23+ pros that are included in the game are well represented graphically and feature many of their characteristic nuances, stances, and swings. The stadiums are faithfully represented even down to boom mics mounted on the walls to pick up the action to the specific shadows that get cast over the court and all of the courtside folks such as line judges and ball boys are on the court too.
The broadcast quality presentation continues when it comes to how Grand Slam 2 sounds. The oh-so-important sound of the ball hitting the racquet is well represented. It even echoes off of the stadium walls. Players grunt and exert themselves as you would expect them to do in real life, the crowd reacts appropriately to good shots and there is good in-match commentary between John McEnroe and Pat Cash. McEnroe, who also is a playable character; wooden racquet and all, is a bit stiff and repetitive at times though.
Grand Slam Tennis 2 is the best controlling tennis game and the most realistic version of the sport I have played. Unfortunately the career mode comes up a bit short causing this game score to fall within the above average range. It is just too much of the same thing over and over again with not enough in between to keep things fresh. That being said, I can’t say enough about the excellent controls though as they bring a level of feel and touch that you just can’t get by mashing buttons for different shots. High presentation values that approach TV broadcast quality make this a no brainer for fans of the sport too. If you are looking for motion control you’re going to have to go elsewhere as there is no Kinect functionality. In the end I think that with some tweaks to the career and the computer AI, the inevitable next game in the series has the potential to be a real winner.
