GRAND SLAM TENNIS 2
For PS3
Price: Rs 2,799
Bag it or junk it? Try your skills against legends of tennis.
If you are itching to get back at Novak Djokovic for beating Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, you couldn't do better than to seek vengeance via Electronic Art's Grand Slam Tennis 2. When it comes to visual brilliance this game's is the best out there.
You can play your current heroes against legends like John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras, not to forget Roger Federer.
The Total Racquet Control feature is quite a revolution as you can control the angle at which you use the racket for precise shots. So every serve, lob, backhand, drop shot can be played by a subtle move of the analog stick in the desired direction with appropriate intensity. Don't expect to ace this in a jiffy but after some unforced errors you will finally serve and volley like Edberg or drive it down the line like Federer, even hit crosscourt winners like Nadal does. The Total Racquet Control mode is nothing more than a fine-tune mode in the game.
On to the Grand Slam Tennis career mode where you get to create your own player and manage the training and matches.You also get to customise the player's style of play-baseline battler, serve-and-volleyer, etc. With each match the player gets to enhance his play by opting for three or a five set match or try out a new style of play like power against finesse. Your player has to play the four Grand Slam tournaments and a couple of minor ones for 10 years. The goal is to secure the No 1 rank. Initially the training sessions are a challenge and but once you get the hang of the game it becomes mundane and you start wondering when numero uno mission comes to an end. Initially, based on your rank, the artificial intelligence indulges you and lets you win matches easily. But as you improve your ranking, the matches start getting tougher. We suggest you fully master the server-and-volley play. This way you get to win a higher percentage of matches you play.
The game's stand-out feature is the ESPN Grand Slam Classics where you get to live the legendary clashes between McEnroe and Borg or Becker and Edberg, to name few. The play-by play commentary is given by John McEnroe and Pat Cash. Initially they sound interesting and even witty but then you get to realise that they soon become too repetitive to enjoy.
Grand Slam Tennis 2 scores points for the visuals and mix and matches of players from different eras, but the game play becomes repetitive and boring after a while. The challenge can also be missing as you easily adapt to the demands of the game.
