Tennis world tour 2 ps4 review
It’s the kind of system that would go well in Mario Tennis if the cards added fireballs or piranha-plants to the court, but vague and seemingly ineffective stat increases on a game that is otherwise a simulation of the sport just doesn’t work. Effects are minimal, such as a small percentage increase on how effective your volleys are for a game, but it just doesn’t feel much different as if they hadn’t been there at all. You’re given 30 cards to begin with and you can buy booster packs from in-game currency, but they really don’t feel like they add much to the game at all.
You can boost yourself and, in a twist, negatively effect your opponent as well. It turns out that you have the ability to play cards that can impact in-game performance on the court, such as power, precision, endurance and agility. I didn’t play the original and with no explanation of what they were, I was confused when these rectangles appeared at the top right of my screen. There’s also this baffling Skill Card system, which pops up frequently. There’s also no tutorial or way of understanding how you actually progress, and it’s missing that sense of achievement to help push you along. Gameplay is even more taxing when your player is a low level, too, which simply highlights the problems with the on-court action itself. Training and tournaments get you out on the court, but otherwise it feels boring to progress through. I guess what I’m saying is that if you continue to stick with the game, you will see yourself vaguely improving, but the systems lack the depth and nuance to be compelling for more than a few matches. Indeed, after several failed games of getting destroyed even on the normal difficulty level, the shot timing began to click, but there were still too many inconsistencies that continues to stop me from feeling like I was really getting it. Once you do get into the rhythm of how the game works, having a rally with your opponent does feel good enough. Other times, the stiff animations often meant that my player would miss the ball entirely or not even take a proper swing at it, which left me frustrated and considering a John McEnroe-esque throwing of my controller. Tennis World Tour 2 is available on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
It’s based on speed and power, but I found it really challenging to nail the timing and get the shot that I wanted, often resulting in the ball sailing out. AO Tennis 2 remains the best tennis game available right now, so just stick to that. This is something AO Tennis 2 did quite well, so it’s strange here to see a regression. There is a timing system that is difficult to master, mostly because there aren’t strong on-screen indicators to let you know how you’re hitting the ball and the impact you’re having on its trajectory. When it comes to sports games, gameplay is king, and Tennis World Tour 2 is a mixed bag to say the least.