Given that McEnroe is upsettingly harsh in his judgement of your positioning and timing in the Academy, it's a surprise when you jump into a match and find that even if you completely fudge a shot, the ball will almost always stay in play. Grand Slam Tennis 2 offsets the difficulty of the new control system by being incredibly easy on the default settings. I play with a combination of the two control methods, using the stick for serves and baseline play and buttons at the net. You can, however, always use buttons as well if you like. It also crumbles quickly during net play, where there just isn't time for a flick of the stick in the split-second that you have to make a decision on a shot. The system isn't perfect, though – once in a while it will confuse a heavily-angled top-spin shot for a slice, which isn't disastrous unless it's the decisive point in a tournament final. There's a real sense of control over the shot. It's worth the effort, though, as twin-stick play is nuanced and satisfying once you get the hang of it.
#GRAND SLAM TENNIS 2 PS4 REVIEW HOW TO#
(It turns out that having John McEnroe shout at you all the time is not the best way to learn how to play tennis.) A training academy takes you through serving, baseline and net play step by step under the terrifying guidance of John McEnroe, but it's a difficult process for anyone accustomed to using buttons. Learning to use these controls well enough to take advantages of the subtleties takes hours. You push forward for flat shots, pull back for slices and flick forwards for top-spin – but it's a lot harder than it sounds. Continuing EA Sports' apparent obsession with making every sport on the planet playable without buttons, it's a control system that lets you determine your shots with just the analogue stick alone.
The game's Big Idea is something called Total Racket Control. Grand Slam Tennis 2 feels soulless despite a slick presenation. It does a great job of capturing the rhythm and nail-biting tension of real tennis, where hours' worth of play can come down to a single decisive point. When it comes down to the fundamental s of play, though, Grand Slam Tennis 2 really knows what it's doing. It's a far cry from the first Grand Slam Tennis' stylised take on the game, and the Top Spin games' clear passion for tennis doesn't quite come across here. Everything down to the menu screens is faultlessly professional.įor all this slickness, though, it feels a little soulless. Watched from a distance, Grand Slam Tennis 2 looks very close to an actual tennis game on TV, especially thanks to all that ESPN branding. The inclusion of Wimbledon – as synonymous with tennis as Wembley is with football, and a heart-breaking omission from every other tennis game on the market – makes a big difference to the feeling of realism.
It's not just their looks that are authentic, but their playstyles, too try to play Sharapova as a serve-and-volley net attacker, and it won't work out so well. Grand Slam Tennis 2's roster of licensed players is strong – from the Williams sisters to Nadal, Federer, Andy Murray and cover-star John McEnroe, complete with classic 1981 hair – and the likenesses, animation and general realism in their movement and flow of play is top-class.
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