Patrick Elliot
Shaun InguanzoTop Spin 3 Review
July 24th 2008 04:06
2K Sports hits a winner
TOP SPIN 3 is the most complete tennis simulation on the market offering challenging gameplay and an entertaining online mode.
Forget Virtua Tennis 3 - this is the game that tennis fans must buy.
Top Spin 3 is frustrating at first, given its steep learning curve.
But spend some time at the Top Spin Academy (training mode) and soon you'll be matching it with the likes of Federer and Nadal.
The biggest change Top Spin 3 brings to the table is the hitting system. Previously, tennis games including Top Spin 1 and 2 had it so players would charge shots by holding buttons.
The earlier you charged, the more powerful and precise the shot. There was barely a skill involved in this method.
Top Spin 3 still requires you to charge a shot for more power and precision, but you also have to release the button to swing at the ball.
Release to early or too late and your shot will not go where you intended, or be as powerful as you wished.
Hit it precisely, and your shot, while not always a winner, will make the other player work harder. A perfectly timed shot can often turn the tide in an exciting rally, and like real tennis, skill under pressure will determine the winner.
From here on in, Top Spin 3 is what you'd come to expect from a tennis game. The US, Australian and French Opens are fully licensed (Wimbledon is not although it's still there as 'London') with realistic looking surfaces that play as they should.
There are 20 players including several legends, including Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg, and Monica Seles.
A Career mode where you can create a player and rise to the top of the tennis crop is available, as are Exhibition and offline multiplayer modes.
And, of course, online play is what Top Spin is renowned for, and that mode has returned with the option of playing exhibitions using real players, or a World Tour using your created player.
Online is laggy unless you're playing someone from your own country, but even at the worst of times I managed to enjoy online play - it just took some readjusting from both players.
Like Top Spin 1, two players in the same living room can go online against another two players in a doubles match - guaranteed excitement and a great way of integrating online play with sofa play.
Risk Shots have returned in Top Spin 3, but they function with subtle differences to the game's predecessors.
Instead of having to pull and release a trigger ala taking a free throw in basketball games, you now hold the right trigger as you swing with any of the face buttons. Again, timing is the key here, and failing to properly time a risk shot is a guaranteed lost point.
Some people will hate this system, but to offset the frustration is a Line Shot button. Think of it as a poor man's Risk Shot - not as powerful, but when used it allows the player to hit a shot wider than by not using it.
I found it to work more often than not, and really make your opponent have to run and stretch for the ball.
Risk Shots and Line Shots are best used when you have stable footing - a credit to the game's simulation focus.
Let it be known that Risk Shots are best used for putting away points, not as a l33t gamer's power button. The idea is to use strategic play to open up the court and then steady, aim and fire.
Top Spin 3 is realistic. From the player models, to the licensing, player grunts, and surface dynamics. And most importantly, its gameplay.
This is a game for true tennis fans, not people who like to bash things around a court with a stick. Enjoy.
Player 1: "Urrghh"; Player 2: "Arrgghh". Proof that the drama in tennis is not scripted with words
TOP SPIN 3 is the most complete tennis simulation on the market offering challenging gameplay and an entertaining online mode.
Forget Virtua Tennis 3 - this is the game that tennis fans must buy.
Top Spin 3 is frustrating at first, given its steep learning curve.
But spend some time at the Top Spin Academy (training mode) and soon you'll be matching it with the likes of Federer and Nadal.
The biggest change Top Spin 3 brings to the table is the hitting system. Previously, tennis games including Top Spin 1 and 2 had it so players would charge shots by holding buttons.
The earlier you charged, the more powerful and precise the shot. There was barely a skill involved in this method.
Top Spin 3 still requires you to charge a shot for more power and precision, but you also have to release the button to swing at the ball.
Release to early or too late and your shot will not go where you intended, or be as powerful as you wished.
Hit it precisely, and your shot, while not always a winner, will make the other player work harder. A perfectly timed shot can often turn the tide in an exciting rally, and like real tennis, skill under pressure will determine the winner.
From here on in, Top Spin 3 is what you'd come to expect from a tennis game. The US, Australian and French Opens are fully licensed (Wimbledon is not although it's still there as 'London') with realistic looking surfaces that play as they should.
There are 20 players including several legends, including Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg, and Monica Seles.
A Career mode where you can create a player and rise to the top of the tennis crop is available, as are Exhibition and offline multiplayer modes.
And, of course, online play is what Top Spin is renowned for, and that mode has returned with the option of playing exhibitions using real players, or a World Tour using your created player.
Online is laggy unless you're playing someone from your own country, but even at the worst of times I managed to enjoy online play - it just took some readjusting from both players.
Like Top Spin 1, two players in the same living room can go online against another two players in a doubles match - guaranteed excitement and a great way of integrating online play with sofa play.
Risk Shots have returned in Top Spin 3, but they function with subtle differences to the game's predecessors.
Instead of having to pull and release a trigger ala taking a free throw in basketball games, you now hold the right trigger as you swing with any of the face buttons. Again, timing is the key here, and failing to properly time a risk shot is a guaranteed lost point.
Some people will hate this system, but to offset the frustration is a Line Shot button. Think of it as a poor man's Risk Shot - not as powerful, but when used it allows the player to hit a shot wider than by not using it.
I found it to work more often than not, and really make your opponent have to run and stretch for the ball.
Risk Shots and Line Shots are best used when you have stable footing - a credit to the game's simulation focus.
Let it be known that Risk Shots are best used for putting away points, not as a l33t gamer's power button. The idea is to use strategic play to open up the court and then steady, aim and fire.
Top Spin 3 is realistic. From the player models, to the licensing, player grunts, and surface dynamics. And most importantly, its gameplay.
This is a game for true tennis fans, not people who like to bash things around a court with a stick. Enjoy.
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Comment by Glen Atwell
Computer Game
can't wait to have a crack at this.