Top Spin 3
Review of Top Spin 3
The level of realism in tennis games has grown by leaps and bounds in recent times, with the jump to the next (now current) gen systems. Now, UbiSoft wants to up the ante with Top Spin 3. Does it ace the competition or is there a double fault in there? Let's find out, shall we?
When I first put the disc in to my system i had to sit through a mandatory install as well as a download- not exactly a promising start to me. I'm not a fan of these mandatory downloads, especially when hearing the size some games' take up. Truth be told, I think I was waiting 10 minutes before I could actually play.
Once things did get going, however, it looked promising. The game has a slew of the biggest names in tennis, including Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and as a PS3 exclusive character, Rafael Nadal (currently the #1 ranked player worldwide). Those who remember the stars of yesteryear will be happy as well with the likes of Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and Monica Seles among the available opponents, as are a number of other tennis legends.
Before one gets too far, you'll likely want to check out two areas in the game- the Player Creator and the tutorials. You will be able to customize your character in many ways- the possibilities are almost endless. Starting with one of several basic templates you can adjust everything from clothes to hair to animations. To help give that unique look to your player/s there is also a free-form facial tool. Just grab onto one of the dot points and stretch/ skew it however you like to make your on screen persona very much your own. The tutorials, on the other hand, will test you on various tennis shots from serves to returns and volleys. It's a very good idea to go in here to get used to the controls before jumping head first into the game.
A number of options await the player for game play modes. The main mode is Career, which lets you take your created player and work him/ her through the ranks from amateur to pro level, eventually facing off against the best there is. Winning tournaments also earns you XP to put toward improving your player in various stats like Service, Stamina, Returns, Power, Speed and several others. You can also go into Tournament mode with friends and CPU opponents, quick matches in Exhibition Mode and, of course, online play. The online is a bit limited with your choice of singles and doubles play with players able to jump right into a match using Quick match, Join Custom match to find a game using certain particulars or set up your own custom game with Create Custom Match. Something that is missing that could have worked out well is being able to set up tournaments, even if just up to 8 players. This could likely be added via a patch if the demand was there- to me, this would have been a nice extra touch.
Graphically, this game is as close to real as it can maybe get, shy of using photos. The various venues (40 in all) look exactly like their real-life counterparts, as do the players themselves. It looks like a good bit of motion capture was used, as the pro players look and act just like they do in the real tourneys. If you want realism in your tennis game, this is where it's at.
The sounds of the game are very well done, too. Everything from the grunts when playing a shot, to the bounce of the ball sounds exactly like the real thing. The music is done well also, with tracks from artists like Jarimoquoi, Calvin Haris, Boys Like Girls, The Go! Team and Franz Ferdinand.
Up until now the game sounds like a must for fans of the sport. Here comes the bad news! Unfortunately, the controls are rather hard to get used to. Movement and aim are both done with the left stick- not an easy feat if you're running left and want to get the ball in the right hand side of your opponents court. Another thing is the actual shots- instead of just pushing a button you must hold it to build up the strength of the shot and let go to actually make the shot. Serving takes a bit of a nod from the Tiger Woods golf series, with the option to use the right analog stick. This works ok but I found myself better off using the buttons. In the end, however, the controls hampered what would otherwise be a top-notch experience.
OUR PLEDGE: We promise that we have fully played 'Top Spin 3' before writing this review. The scores given above are our honest opinion and were not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or distributor of the game.
This review was written by Lyndon M STAFF © Absolute PlayStation
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