Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[tinpanalley]

I had very low hopes when I saw the screenshots. Having played a few games with the demo, I am thrilled. I think the graphics, gameplay, presentation, sound, and ambiance are the best I've ever seen in any tennis game for any platform. Matched only by ATP World Tour Tennis a few years ago on the PC. It is not an arcade tennis game for people who want a quick match in 6 games. This is clearly aimed at players who want a more true to life, properly paced game. Tennis is one of the most horribly executed sports games in history. When it's just arcade fun, it's fun but not realistic at all. And it seems that lately, the more realistic a game tries to be, the worse it comes out. But this is something different. If you watch a lot of tennis, there is a feel captured in this game that no other tennis game I've ever played has achieved.

2K has done what I think makes any sports game instantly realistic and true to life: it recreates the experience of watching the sport on television. Watching a sport live and watching on television are two entirely different experiences. And the ambiance of most sports games suffers because of a slip-up in this area. They use TV style presentation and audio with camera angles that no on-field camera person could ever attain and with overly dramatized moments that simply never occur on television. For most of us, it's TV that reminds us of how a sport feels. Top Spin 4 seems to understand that thoroughly and then built a solid title on top of that frame.

Sad that people simply don't watch anything but the US Open with any level of interest in this country. And even then, only when an American is still in the tournament. I suspect this game will sell better in Europe.

[Smallberries]

Time to go check out the demo.

My worry is that the the single player career mode will get really stale, just like in the previous versions. Those games were way too easy, even on the hardest skill difficulty, and after mastering the controls, I'd consistently beat Federer 0 and 0. Not fun nor realistic. TS3 lasted me about a week and I was done. If the dev doesn't up the difficulty and find ways to improve the drama of career mode, no thanks.

Also, the music in TS3 was some of the worst I've ever heard in a game. That was almost enough for me to trade it off right there. Ugh!

Sad to hear that there's no commentary. Would have been nice to hear some quips from the cheesy Brad Gilbert and the witty Mary Curillo along with court analysis from the likes of Mac or Drysdale.

[breakitdown]

Impressive! Can't wait to buy

[Araxen]

Game is nice, but I question some of the roster choices. James Blake is included but guys/gals like Del Potro and Kim Clijsters are left off? Plus no commentary once again? /sigh

I'm unsure if I'm going to buy the game. I was really pumped for it but it's missing key players from the Tours.

[42]

PS3 Demo is now live.

[tinpanalley]

Does the PS3 demo have Move capabilities?

[nolesfan69]

I loveeee the demo, played over and hour and although it was very short,
I saw enough to make this a day one buy. The ball physics are very
realistic, the graphics and presentation are also amazing. Tennis
anyone!!

[DJ]

I enjoyed the Demo. The control scheme is a lot better than TS3, which I didn't like. I didn't like having to "pre-load" my groundstrokes, so it's nice to have it more timing-based and just press the button once.

Player models look really good and the crowd is lively, which adds to the atmosphere.