A 'love'ly game of doubles.
(sorry, couldn't resist)
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Looks like fun? Well I'm afraid to
disappoint, but it isn't. To state the decisive fact, the gameplay in Actua
Tennis is best phrased as comic. Let me explain. You can perform 4 basic
shots; lob, back spin, normal and top spin, all of which I think are fairly
self-explanatory. You've also got a 'extreme shot' button, which takes a bit of practice
to master, but it can be used to great effect if performed accurately. All of these
manoeuvres are respectably re-created and they all work as you'd expect them to in real
life, but this is not where the problem lies. |
The game's single catastrophe is only revealed when you see the game in motion. Any ideas
yet? I gave you a hint there: 'motion'. The way in which the players walk and run is quite
simply obscure. Gently push the D-Pad right and what happens? Good old Tim Henman charges
across the court as if he's just seen his long lost cousin in the crowd! No matter how
gentle you are, your player always moves uncontrollably fast, making precision movement
almost impossible. Due to this just about every game turns out to be a mad, chaotic,
run-around, instead of being a perfectly timed pile of pleasure. No matter how hard I try
at having fun with Actua Tennis, sadly the enjoyment never
appears.
Graphically
Actua Tennis is fairly convincing. It's evident that Gremlin
have spent many long hours making sure the motion capture is spot on, which it is, except
for the running of course. The courts are big and clear, the ball leaves an authentic blur
effect when bashed across the court and the players are detailed and realistic. Hats off
to Gremlin for making the players recognisable, no matter which character you pick, he or
she is sure to look like their real life counterpart. About the only other thing left to
mention here is the frame rate, it lies somewhere in the middle of being good and bad. All
of the player animations look smooth and fluent, but occasionally the ball appears to
travel rather slowly, which is particularly comical when you consider that it's meant to
be travelling over 100 MPH at times. |
When you score a point the crowd subtly clap their hands - Unfortunately it looks more
like they're tying to hollow out their belly buttons!
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Anything
else?
Well it's obvious that Gremlin have spent a lot of time
and money researching all the different players, court locations and tournaments etc. In
total there are 64 real life players, 32 men and 32 women. There are 10 selectable courts,
with each one being in a different part of the world. Court surfaces vary, but I can't say
I've noticed much difference between them. All of the players handle pretty much the same,
the only difference I've really noticed is that certain characters seem to be able to
serve faster than others. It's all very well having a game packed full of official and
real people, but if the game doesn't actually play well then all that work and research is
put to shame. I'm sorry to say that this is the case with Actua Tennis.
  
Check out the realistic looking players, they're great until you watch them run.
About the only other thing worth mentioning about Actua
Tennis is the sound. Again we've got another case of good and bad. The sound
effects when the ball bounces and is hit are all very good, as is the noise of the crowd.
Gremlin, like most developers these days, have paid a few official Tennis commentators to
do the speech for the game. This is all okay and the quality of recording is impeccable,
the only problem here is that the commentary is so rare you hardly ever get to hear it.
You only occasionally here the odd sentence said when something dramatic happens and all
you get then is something like "she's got to get this one on target", hardly up
to the standard set by the perfecto game, World Cup 98. On a
plus point Gremlin have included authentic grunts which the players make from time to
time, and yes, it does seem to happen just a little bit more often with Monica
Seles.
That's really all there is to say about Actua
Tennis. It could and would have been a top game if it weren't for the
ghastly gameplay, but as it stands it really isn't worth bothering with. If you're
desperately after a decent tennis game at the moment then your best bet would be Smash
Court Tennis, which is quite ironic considering Namco's game must be at
least 2 years old. If you can wait a while then do, I think Namco are currently working on
a follow up to Smash Court, which should be a real ace. It's a
shame Gremlin's game isn't that ace, as they've already proven to us that they can make
above average sports games (Actua Soccer 2, Premier
Manager 98).
Sorry Gremlin, but walking away is
the best thing you can do to Actua Tennis.
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