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Virtua Tennis 4 Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Virtua Tennis 4 Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Don’t Break a Sweat

Tennis game developers have a hard job. The tennis game may follow a pretty simple formula, but as such requires a greater number of features and extras in order to have a lasting appeal and avoid the inevitable monotony of the back and forth gameplay. While Sega tries its hand with the latest game in their arcade series, Virtua Tennis 4, the overall product has noticeable flaws in every aspect.

Virtua Tennis 4 Screenshot

After firing up the game, the first thing you’ll want to do is peruse the professionals. So you pop into an exhibition match, but are quickly disappointed with the mere handful you have to choose from. While the expected greats like Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki, and Maria Sharapova are present, the sparse showing and lack of legends (save for Jim Courier and a Boris Becker-led trio found only on the PS3) will no doubt leave you underwhelmed. Looking for rejuvenation, you move on to the venue selection, but are deflated again upon finding only eight to choose from; the rest are all locked. Even after they become available, no licensing agreements were made, so while you may seek glory as the Wimbledon champion, you’re not actually playing Wimbledon.

The game has an abbreviated Practice Mode, where you’ll get quick lessons on serves, swing types, and ball placement. You’ll also learn about Super Shots, a feature designed to separate Virtua Tennis 4 from other tennis simulation games. The problem is that there’s nothing truly “super” about the shot. You build up the meter by playing according to your style, and once it’s full, you can perform a shot with a little more power behind it. Even though it gets the slow motion/close-up treatment, it’s still not impossible to return.

Virtua Tennis 4 Screenshot

Exhibition is the quickest way to get into a match against the computer or a friend. There are very few control nuances you’ll have to worry about, so it’s all a matter of moving to the ball and picking your shot. Fortunately, Sega has improved this formula since Virtua Tennis 2009, and diving for a ball only two feet away is no longer a worry. On the contrary, returning the ball is almost too forgiving, as pressing the shot button at an expected miss will often move your character into position to connect with the ball. Faster and harder shots are more difficult to return, and there are strategic elements in using the top spin, slice, power, and lob shots to maximize your success. While taking your stance and winding up, you can use the analog stick to place your shot. Slices are the most accurate shot choice, but unless you go overboard with your placement on a hard return, you’ll usually end up inside the court. Actually, I found many instances where my serve was clearly out, but the line judge shockingly failed to notice. With no way to overturn a call, you’ll get away with this over and over.

When you need a break from standard matches, head on over to the Party Mode. Here you’ll find several minigames, all of which break the standard tennis conventions. As with most minigame collections, some are better than others. The zaniest of all is the Egg Collector, which has you hatch chicken eggs by running over them, then guide them to their mother hens on either the right or left side of the court before they are squashed by oncoming tennis balls. The Bomb Match is also a treat, especially with a friend, as you volley a large time bomb like a hot potato, trying to make sure it’s in your opponent’s side of the court when the timer reaches zero.

Virtua Tennis 4 Screenshot

The World Tour is the main course of the game. You start by creating a character, which you can customize to some extent, but you don’t really have the full range of tools to create the off-the-wall characters you’d expect in Virtua Tennis. Your player then begins his or her first season of four, trying to rise in rank by doing well in matches, participating in training sessions (which are just minigames slapped onto the campaign), and completing publicity events. The world is turned into a giant (and extremely linear) game board, where you use a supply of random movement tickets in place of dice to navigate the globe. While definitely a unique way to work up the tennis ladder, it comes with drawbacks. First, you must analyze the map and strategize your path, but you’ll often not have the necessary numbered ticket to reach your target. In fact, you can miss major tournaments because of this. Most events yield a monetary gain, which you can use at the management office—if you land on it, that is—to purchase various tickets. Cash is also used to purchase gear in the Kit Catalogue, but each item must first be unlocked by completing objectives during the tour. You’ll find yourself doing more training sessions and publicity events than actual matches. With each only lasting a minute or so, they’re hard to get into and more of a nuisance when all you want to do is play tennis. Overall, the board design is an interesting concept, but when the movement strategizing overshadows the tennis playing, you’ll wonder if Sega should have gone in a different direction.

Multiplayer has a very limited selection, but it’s still enjoyable to find quick matches with strangers. You’re basically confined to ranked exhibition matches, trying to climb up the leaderboard by performing well. You can join up with friends in the clubhouse for more games, but that’s pretty much where the multiplayer feature ends. With a good connection, the matches have a nice pace, but the game is still marred by the simple controls and ease of returning the ball, making strategy, even against a human opponent, almost a moot point.

Virtua Tennis 4 Screenshot

Virtua Tennis 4 is a mixed bag of graphical niceties and odd choices. The shading is excellent, and there’s good use of bold colors. The watercolor introduction cinematics, complete with actual character imaging, do a good job representing the game. The matches are where you’ll find some disjointedness. The details and textures are definitely a big step up from previous games, but the character models could have been better. Getting a close look during replays, some faces are accurately rendered, while others don’t even look close. Sharapova, in particular (whom they also did a poor job on in Virtua Tennis 3), looks way off. Of course, as with all tennis games, the hair is the critical part to get right, and Sega nailed the bobbing and flowing animations perfectly. Visually, the biggest head-scratcher is the facial sweat. While good body sweat shows with drenched clothing clinging to the body, the obscenely large, white—yeah, white—beads of sweat on the characters’ faces give the appearance that their skin is melting away. The audience animations, which often cheapen the look of tennis games, are presented fairly well. However, with a palette that is far too selective between venues, things tend to look a little sterile.

Unlike the graphics, which have good and bad points, the music and sound must settle for mediocre and bad respectively. The music, while far from irritating, has no cohesive style. It seems to jump from trance to elevator music to Japanese-inspired pop. The sound effects are where Sega really slacked off. The player grunts are limited and only rarely match the actual grunts some of the pros make. Boring ball-hitting sounds and a lack of shoe squeaks suggest that very little effort was put into the audio. Even distancing was neglected, as the grunts from the player on the far side of the court resound equally if not more so than those from the player closest to the screen.

Sega had an opportunity to embrace an unorthodox approach to tennis. Virtua Tennis 4 could have been full of unexpected surprises which, although breaking away from realism, would have offered something different. While they may tout Virtua Tennis as an alternative to the simulation formula, all this game offers is an odd career mode and only a handful of pros and minigames to choose from.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.0 Graphics
Great shading and details, but the color palette is too tight, and character models are better showcased in other tennis games. 2.7 Control
Simple controls allow for virtually anyone to get into the game, but their overly forgiving design makes it hard to find a strategic edge. 1.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
A mediocre mix of music and possibly the worst sound effects you’ll ever hear in a modern title. 2.3 Play Value
Quick exhibition matches, both locally and online, as well as a few memorable minigames are enough for a quick fix. The odd career mode, however, is more frustrating than fun. 2.4 Overall Rating – Poor
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • All-Star Line-Up of 22 Players – Includes Nadal, Federer, Murray, Sharapova, Williams, Djokovic, Ivanovic, Del Potro and Wozniacki.
  • Brand New World Tour – Players take their customizable tennis pros into the big leagues where every decision they make affects their career path.
  • New Online Center – Players challenge each other from around the world using online match-making and tournament play.
  • Mini-Games – The crazy Virtua Tennis series’ signature mini-games are now in available in multiplayer mode and online.

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