We had the opportunity to thoroughly experience Tennis World Tour: the new title of Breakpoint e Bigben dedicated to one of the most famous and popular sports in the world. A sport for which, for some mysterious reason, a dedicated simulation was missing for years. In the era of esports and virtual competitiveness, a tennis title worthy of the name was a must. L'expectation, behind this title which had promised to bring back one of the most popular categories of sports simulations, was therefore enormous. Let's see, in detail, the strengths and weaknesses of what will probably turn out to be one of the most controversial titles of recent years.
TENNIS WORLD TOUR: A DUTY PREMISE
Let's start with a necessary premise. When the game was handed to me, the developers candidly admitted that what I would have in my hands would not be a definitive version of the game. The launch in fact, for reasons of marketing linked to the international tennis and the pull that they could have on the game itself, it was respected despite a not exactly idyllic progress of work. What many console players, eager to experience again the thrill of putting themselves in the shoes of a Federer or a Nadal, bought on day-one, was a version mutilated and incomplete.
Things have improved with the passing of the days, thanks to the copious release of patches and updates but to have a truly complete experience (although the developers have indicated in the 12nd June the date when the update work will be complete), we will probably have to wait until next year. Certainly not a point in favor of this Tennis World Tour. But it's time to tie your shoes and take the field.
RACKET IN HAND, THE FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Going into the details of the simulation, the game offers us a tutorial to learn how to juggle the various shots, the classics performances among thirty athletes of the ATP circuit (plus some past champions), the possibility of create our own player and to undertake a career and a section dedicated to match online. The simulation, which was proposed as revolutionary and capable of returning an all-round experience of the world of Tennis, is faced with a series of fairly gross errors. First of all the lack of sufficient animations and Motion ISO customized and specific for each athlete. The beat animations are only four or five, while the motion animations really seem to be identical for everyone.
ANSWER STROKE FOR STROKE: YES, BUT WHAT A TROUBLE!
Although the game provides for the possibility of hitting the ball in various ways, from tense shot, the slice, passing through the lob, the spin ball or the steal, we often see the ball changing its trajectory despite being out of the mirror of the racket. This makes it quite difficult to master the right timing with which to get on the ball to respond. Add to this the unfortunate idea of using the same stick to both move and direct shots. When we are near the ball our player starts the response animation automatically, but this does not always happen, so it often happens to arrive on the ball, press the button to load the force of the shot and maybe direct him to the intersection and see the our player who comes back, letting the ball slide to the end of the field. Quite frustrating.
The service mechanics aren't all that clear either. The tutorial explains to hold the shot down to the maximum apex of the ball in height. Well, I can assure you that putting in a first ball is really difficult. Just orient it a little with the stick to see it always end up outside the hitting area. Putting in a valid and powerful first is something that succeeds with a cadence of about one attempt in twenty. All these elements negatively affect a simulation that, at the moment, is not so bad, but certainly not up to the level of a modern title.
CAREER, SAVE ME
Once you have done the honors with the various tutorials, with the performances and with the single matches, it is time to try the career mode in which to pick up our aspiring champion. This mode is by far the most accurate of the title and is immediately noticeable. We are asked to customize our athlete, through the choice of height (from 1.70 to 2.08), of the batting ISO, of how many verses we want him to make when he hits the ball and in technical clothing. Once created we will face a monthly calendar, divided between tournaments, training, performances and rest, each able to give us experience, energy or bonus to the statistics. The mode is well done and exciting, and requires some planning in spending the points to build a player who does the things we like (divided into three skills: Attack - Defense - Service / Volè) and that gives access to some special abilities.
As far as the 'artificial intelligence the speech is very uncertain. The continuous patches are gradually refining behaviors that in the beginning were totally unpredictable. Our opponent in fact went from moments of apathy and static to phases of the game in which we were against an unbeatable champion. Fortunately, the development team is very active in this respect and now things seem more balanced, even if we are still far from absolute perfection.
A REVISABLE TELEVISION
As for the technical sector, apart from the few animations, the players are recognizable thanks to a good facial rendering and to customized garments for each of them. The commentary, completely in español and entrusted to the voice of tennis by Sky it is at least revisable. The comments are almost always lapidary and expressed after the end of a point and very soon become repetitive, managing to make everything fall into a monotonous banality instead of igniting emphasis and identification. The same thing can be said for ambient noises, where the public always cheers in the same way and always in the same situations. From this point of view, too, there is a lot of work to be done.
THE FINAL JUDGMENT
Tennis World Tour set itself the ambitious goal of reviving tennis simulations, but the first serve ended well off the court. Having released an incomplete and lame product to meet the needs of marketing risks enormously penalizing the work done by Bigben and Breakpoint. The game has numerous bugs and imperfections that deeply undermine the gameplay. However, a well-structured and engaging career mode is not enough to justify the purchase of a game that still shows major delays in development. The patch and update work is commendable, but the impression is that, to date, a lot of credibility has been lost. Our advice is to wait some time and follow the evolution of the title, to see what kind of game it will be after the update work and if with the second service they will be able to put in at least one valid.
Version tested on PS4, thanks to the free copy for the press provided by: Bigben interactive
