Top Spin 4 for PS3 review

Top Spin 4 for PS3 review

The popular franchise Top Spin has returned with its latest reincarnation PS3 move capable Top Spin 4. Critics ranked this game at the moment as the game of the year with an amazing 9/10 and users voted similarly with an 8.3/10. Being a tennis fan could not miss the chance to buy this title and bought it a few days after its release. The fact that it was PS3 move capable affected my decision to buy this game dramatically since I’ve spent more than $100 on the PS3 move system and the navigation controller only to get stuck with these four titles Sport champion, NBA 2K11 and the also recently released Killzone 3. Since this game has two aspects the regular controller and the PS3 move system I will compare them separately as they will produce a completely different gaming experience.

Graphics

This game has amazing graphics and is considerably better than the old version of the game (and any other tennis game).

Sound

Nothing to talk about there because like real tennis commentary is only there when the ball is not played.

Players

This game has 10 male ATP players, 7 women WTA players and 8 legends. For me although the main stars are there (for the men at least) I would appreciate to see the Top 20 list of players there so that the game would become a bit more realistic (and challenging when you choose one of those players). The list of players that are there is :

MEN (ATP):

Roger Federer (Switzerland)

Rafael Nadal (Spn)

James Blake (USA)

Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

Andy Murray (U.K.)

Andy Roddick (USA)

Nikolay Davydenko (Russia)

Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland)

Gilles Simon (France)

Bernard Tomic (Australia)

Women (WTA):

Serena Williams (USA)

Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)

Ana Ivanovic (Serbia)

Vera Zvonareva (Russia)

Jelena Jankovic (Serbia)

Dinara Safina (Russia)

Eugenie Bouchard (Canada)

Legends:

Boris Becker (Germany)

Bjorn Borg (Sweden)

Patrick Rafter (Australia)

Ivan Lendl (Czech Republic)

Pete Sampras (USA)

Andre Agassi (USA)

Jim Courier (USA)

Michael Chang (USA)

Courts:

There is a nice selection of well designed courts in this game. Overall there are 40 courts.

Regular Controller:

When this game is played with the regular controller it is simply amazing. You won’t be able to stop playing this game, especially when you are playing with friends. Everything is about timing and the choice of shots is made with the buttons. Manual serve is made with the right analogue stick and its slightly difficult to master but fair enough it is the first serve we are talking about you don’t want people getting aces all the time.

PS3 move controller:

When I first got this game I was really liked that the title made some usage of my PS3 navigation controller (the only other title I have that uses this accessory is Killzone 3). However the excitement caused by the support for the navigation controller soon faded out as I realized that the title was only partly using the capabilities of the PS3 move controller.

The reason this title is not using the full capabilities of the PS3 move controller movement is because the controller is only used to time your shots the choice of shots is made through the buttons. As you can figure out this is no more challenging than playing with a regular controller which is disappointing. Personally because of the capabilities of the motion controller I was expecting something like the tennis titles that game out last year for the Wiimotion plus where the choice of shots was mainly based on your hand movement (although the Wiimotion accessory was not really responsive it still made the game more fun and with the precision of the PS3 move controller it could have been brilliant).

Is the game worth buying?

The game is worth buying if you are not buying it for the fact that it supports the PS3 move accessory. I loved the game and I am keeping it because it is really nice when you are playing with friends. The support of the PS3 move controller is a plus but after one or two games I expect people to sit down and continue playing with the regular controller as the game is equally challenging that way.