Multiplat Top Spin 4

[RoosterLad]

Very disappointed to hear that this game could be too easy. I would love a challenging tennis game.

Does anyone know if there will be doubles tournaments in this game or are they only in exhibition mode?

 

[LionMen]

Played the Demo a bit and the controls felt better than top spin 3 but like others said when you learn them it gets easy.

Fed and Nadal looked great in game but a few of the players in the menu screen made me go "who the f*** is that" Will probably buy but after I see a review on Gamespot or IGN.

 

[mattys123]

Oh, it's too easy is it?

There's this new "feature" they just put into games, it's called "difficulty level", and apparently you can adjust how hard the game actually is.

 

[HBK619]

Oh, it's too easy is it?

There's this new "feature" they just put into games, it's called "difficulty level", and apparently you can adjust how hard the game actually is.

mmmhmmm....

Wondering if the game is maybe a little easy, I did lose my first match (after not even looking at the controls on the load screen and literally learning everything on the fly) 7-5 but I easily won the 2nd match 7-2. Both were on 'Hard' difficulty.

 

[mattys123]

Yep, and on most games I have played, Hard is about the "medium" setting.

 

[LionMen]

Yep, and on most games I have played, Hard is about the "medium" setting.

so whats medium like?

 

[sacka]

so whats medium like?

I guess easy?
Hope there is no easy cause we have nowhere else to go.

 

[HBK619]

Yep, and on most games I have played, Hard is about the "medium" setting.

I don't get it...so what should I choose out of 'Easy', 'Normal', 'Hard'?

 

[Knighta21]

I don't get it...so what should I choose out of 'Easy', 'Normal', 'Hard'?

I think he thought there was an Elite/Legendary difficulty setting???
Still might get this though, Is the only thing you can do on the demo is play exhibition or do you get a look at the career mode?

 

[HBK619]

I think he thought there was an Elite/Legendary difficulty setting???
Still might get this though, Is the only thing you can do on the demo is play exhibition or do you get a look at the career mode?

Yep, just exhibition. Singles only too, no doubles.

 

[LionMen]

I think he thought there was an Elite/Legendary difficulty setting???
Still might get this though, Is the only thing you can do on the demo is play exhibition or do you get a look at the career mode?

You can only play a tiebreak (first to 7) with 4 players, Federer, Nadal, Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic.
You can't really do anything else so I don't really think it's a good representation of the game.

 

[gimp!]

Net play is still nearly impossible, as always...

I know it's only the demo, but I am serving and volleying quite well as Fed. Having a button to come in to the net works well, not sure if they have done it in previous games? I still can't serve very fast, not sure why. Will definitely be buying this one, looks like it will be good fun.

 

[caMoGFC]

i forgot to post about this earlier so nice bump.

downloaded the demo and played this earlier today with both the normal dualshock3 and the move/navi.

i played on normal first up for 2 games in a row and won very comfortably with the dualshock. i literally couldn't time ANYTHING well and every shot was terrible slow. i then bumped it up to hard and lost 2 straight games pretty closely but once again never being able to get the timing right besides maybe 2 shots over the whole time.
it was DEFINITELY my time with virtua tennis which made my timing so bad and it would take alot of getting used to.

next up i connected the move and navi controller.
was VERY easy to pick up and loved being able to add curve/spin to the serve and top spin to groundstrokes with racket angles and angle of swing.
i had a FAR easier time timing shots and in general everything i did was more powerful.
i won just as easily against normal as i did with the dualshock but had a lot more fun.

overall it feels alot more like tennis than any VT i've played and timing is a MAJOR factor.
i'm not sure i'll get it but it is def a bit of fun.

 

[MadTigerFan]

Very good

 

[gimp!]

Yeah been playing for a couple of hours, I think it's great. I put it straight on Very Hard and took the helpers off, it's a challenge. The only thing I am not liking at the moment is the serving, it's hard to clock a big serve, and the AI doesn't serve big at all.

Wanna try a game against Sampras next, hopefully he actually serves and volleys...

edit: he serves and volleys but just kicks in some dainty little serves. Still can't get one passed the great man!

 

[melbournemartin]

I suppose that it's deliberately made very hard to ace because, if it weren't, you would inevitably be able to get the ace timing exact and do them all the time. I may pick this up to play for a few weeks before AFL Live comes out. Are all points stilled scored by winners or unforced errors?

 

[RoosterLad]

I played a bit yesterday, only played doubles with a mate and the only mode is exhibition mode. The lack of depth is a bit annoying but I guess all the resources were pumped into the singles career.

The AI serves lack power, their placement was good at times I guess. Most points were decided by winners in the few games I played with the odd unforced error thrown in.

 

[gimp!]

I suppose that it's deliberately made very hard to ace because, if it weren't, you would inevitably be able to get the ace timing exact and do them all the time. I may pick this up to play for a few weeks before AFL Live comes out. Are all points stilled scored by winners or unforced errors?

You definitely hit your fair share of unforced errors. Hitting the wrong type of shot depending on court position and power of shot, mistiming shots...I mean you can hit the ball in all day if you just play normal shots.

Volleying is very hard, I can't get it down yet. But it's definitely possible to serve and volley. Drop shots when pulled off are awesome.

One thing I don't like either is the inability to return a serve with any sort of purchase, even with perfect timing. This is what makes playing against serve and volleyers almost impossible. I played a 5 set exhibition against Sampras and lost 6-0,6-1,6-0, I don't think I won a point when he was serving!

 

[JADED]

New to topspin (and only ever owned a few PS1 tennis games. Smash Court tennis, Actua Tennis and probably whatever the Kournikova one was... smashcourt 2??)

I cannot win
2 games on hard = 0-7
Switched it up to easy and had a 5-2 lead & still lost.

Haven't looked at the controls. I usually just mix it up so I'm confusing my opponent with my vast array or spin.

Last match - Serena vs Serena. Grunt = awesomeness. They've done well there.

Is it just me or do they play like there's concrete in their shoes? My mind knows where it's going to go after being an armchair tennis fan for many years (and as you said HBK, they're predictable) but the player seems very sluggish off the mark.

Edit - And I played the crap out of Tennis Arena. That may have been the first tennis game I bought.

 

[gimp!]

I haven't found any real problems moving the player around tbh.

They messed up by giving Sampras an annoying grunt, don't know what they were thinking there.

 

[Kopout]

Does it piss anyone else off that you can't see the opponent's full ball toss when serving? It's so off-putting as the ball carries above the line of your TV screen.

 

[HBK619]

New to topspin (and only ever owned a few PS1 tennis games. Smash Court tennis, Actua Tennis and probably whatever the Kournikova one was... smashcourt 2??)

I cannot win
2 games on hard = 0-7
Switched it up to easy and had a 5-2 lead & still lost.

Haven't looked at the controls. I usually just mix it up so I'm confusing my opponent with my vast array or spin.

Last match - Serena vs Serena. Grunt = awesomeness. They've done well there.

Is it just me or do they play like there's concrete in their shoes? My mind knows where it's going to go after being an armchair tennis fan for many years (and as you said HBK, they're predictable) but the player seems very sluggish off the mark.

Edit - And I played the crap out of Tennis Arena. That may have been the first tennis game I bought.

Yeah I definitely noticed the heaviness from the demo, if you overcompensate for a shot you can find yourself out of a point really easily.

Have you given the game a go with Move?

 

[pinkus maximus]

One thing I don't like either is the inability to return a serve with any sort of purchase, even with perfect timing. This is what makes playing against serve and volleyers almost impossible. I played a 5 set exhibition against Sampras and lost 6-0,6-1,6-0, I don't think I won a point when he was serving!

slice returns down the line do the trick for me

 

[gimp!]

slice returns down the line do the trick for me

even on very hard? doesn't work for me at all, just tried it. Serve, return, volley to the open court, repeat. i have only won one major tournament in career mode because there is always a serve and volleyer who beats me. That's annoying as well, there's probably 2 players on the whole tour who serve and volley and every second player in this game is a serve and volleyer. I come across this French player in the game all the time, a serve volleyer. I don't think a French player has ever some within a metre of the net in their lives.

Kopout, i would care about not seeing the ball toss if opponents actually served with any sort of pace. it's just little dinky serves.

 

[pinkus maximus]

even on very hard? doesn't work for me at all, just tried it.

nah, only on hard ATM. He was beating me convincingly at first but since I started the slice return I can't lose to him. When I say down the line I mean literally almost on the line. It's hard for him to get any power and precision when he's stretching out. Unless in very hard mode they become superhuman. If that's the case I'm not going to try it.