Great news for those who've grown tired of buttons: EA Sports' twin-stick stuff has finally made its debut on the Centre Court. Unlike Fight Night's tricky stick-swishing, the basics of Grand Slam are easy: left stick moves the man, right stick does the shot. Simple enough, but there's more here to master.
Flicking back adds slice to the shot, and back then forwards adds top spin. The speed with which you flick the stick affects the depth of the placement of your shot, and timing affects power and accuracy. Holding down the left trigger performs a lob shot where possible, while the right trigger is used to pull off a drop shot. Button controls are still in play for those that miss them, but the twin-stick controls feel hugely superior.
The historic matches of ESPN's Grand Slam Classics mode are great fun to dip in and out of, but the main career mode feels wafer-thin and lifeless, damaged by a difficulty curve that takes far too long to kick in. The multiplayer holds it together. If you aren't picking it up for same-sofa action, the Xbox Live offering feels pleasantly meaty.
Head to Head mode is Ronseal stuff, but Grand Slam Corner creates a Foursquare mayor-style mode that lets you raise your worldwide ranking on one specific court. There's also Battle of the Nations - a tournament that bumps up your country's standing with every win.
Playing alone feels slow and soulless, but the great controls and multiplayer features still make Grand Slam Tennis 2 well worth a bosh.
5 comments so far...
hujiki on 13 Feb '12 said:
Very Nice score, I will be playing loads of different games this year that i normally don't bother with but feel like branching out a little...
KernowDevil23 on 18 Feb '12 said:
Wow, I must say that I'm very surprised that this game has not received more of a welcome around these parts. Even though I played the demo on my PS3, I must say it's a fantastic game (especially with the Move controls). I'll be doing my usual and waiting for the price to drop before purchasing though, purely because I loathe to pay full price for anything!
SidTheSloth on 19 Feb '12 said:
Thing is Kernow, when Top Spin is already so good, it's kind of like 'why upgrade?'
I know Forza 4 is better than 3, but i didn't buy it because i'd still be racing a car around a track etc...
Obviously feel free to throw this example straight back at me when i get excited about PES/Fifa later this year!
KernowDevil23 on 20 Feb '12 said:
I know what you're saying but my angle is that the game offers full authenticity (obviously being from EA I suppose!) and the added bonus of the actual control method and I'm not referring to the motion controls.
The use of the right analog stick pretty much reinvents the wheel for tennis games and as good as Top Spin is, it can't offer any of the above. Oh and I will certainly remind you of the above when Autumn comes around again!!
SidTheSloth on 20 Feb '12 said:
Yeah the right stick thing did tempt me... Especially as i know how good the NHL series has been since they did the same... I'm not saying never, just not now - why on earth they didn't wait for Wimbledon (at least in this country) is beyond me? As it's EA maybe we'll get another version by then?