Top Spin 4 ITST Player Reviews

[Sherlock 117]

I think it would be nice for all our reviews of the full game to be located in one thread, apart from impressions. The difference here would be to have only threads with ratings by us, and not as much discussion.

Goals of the thread:

1) Make your own rating categories and give a score out of 10 in each category. Suggested categories: Gameplay, Single Player, Online, Sound & Visuals, Fun/Playability. Under each category give your opinion on the game with respect to that category in particular.

2) Give an overall score out of 10 (sure, use a decimal score if you want, like 7.8 ). Later on I will add a poll with options from 1 to 10 and you can post your overall score there. This will allow us to see what the ITST view on the game is.

3) Don't give your official review until you have had played it a fair amount (at least 5 hours?) along with a decent amount of online games.

4) Try not to discuss the game too much, as there are other threads to do this.

5) Don't post reviews from other websites. There is another thread for this.


Discuss here:
http://www.intertopspintour.net/forum/v ... 264#184264

POST ONLY REVIEWS IN THIS THREAD. Everything else will be deleted.

[Sherlock 117]

EDIT: My actual review. Sorry for it being so long. I tend to overdo things

Gameplay: 10/10

The simplified shot controls and on-screen helps are a smashing success. With the helps I understand how I should be hitting all the different possible shots in all the different possible situations. The shots all feel natural and very satisfying.

The development of a point has taken a huge step forward from TS3. It now follows more closely how a point would develop in real life. There are a good variety in the types of points. There were some short points when a player hit a good serve and followed by wrong footing his opponent on the second shot. But you also need to be able to construct points in order to win.

To sum it up, this is exactly the direction the series should be going. It exceeds the expectations I had for the game in this department.

Single Player: 9/10

I am not a big fan of single player, especially when it comes to tennis games. However, they did a very decent job. I played it on very hard and definitely could not just waltz through the whole thing. But even more than that, the matches were short enough (if you play normal mode) so that the career did not drag on, and I kept wanting to play just a little bit longer so that I could get to the next status level in my career. It reminds me very much of the career in TS1.

I would have scored this an 8, but I am going to give a bonus point for not requiring me to play the career ever again if I don't want to once I complete it. Along with allowing people who do want a long career the option to choose full matches. Both very good long run choices.

Add to that the great lineup of pros and an unlockable "Expert" level, and you can have a good time trying to win some exhibitions against the AI with some interesting matchups. The singleplayer definitely has a solid shelf life.

Sound & Graphics: 7/10

The graphics are basically the same as TS3 in my opinion, maybe ever so slightly better. However, the licensed players are rendered much better than they were in TS3. The signature movements, especially on ground strokes, are very good and make you feel as if you are actually playing with that player.

The sound is definitely a good step forward for the series. The clanging of rackets on a stretched-out shot, and the increased anticipation of the crowd on a long point are great additions to the game. There are a few out of place sounds, like the coach in the Academy that keeps repeating the same lines, sometimes twice in a row after one shot. The music isn't bad, at least it probably won't get annoying like some of the TS3 songs did. But then again, you listen to any song enough times on a load screen and you probably get tired of it.

Online: 8/10

This is the biggest part of the game for me, and also the area where I am the most critical. True there isn't much you can do when it comes to online competition in a sports game besides tinkering with the ranking structure.

First and foremost, it is really unacceptable that the Top Spin series still does not have a viewing mode for online matches (doesn't even need to be live, maybe just the grand slam finals could be replayed), ranked doubles, or even 4 console doubles exhibitions.

I am also not a very big fan of the ranking structure that has been used for TS3 and now again in TS4. True, tennis is made up of tournaments, but it just doesn't feel right in online competition. A ranking structure should motivate you to work hard on your game and give you a sense of how you compare to other people, but the TS4 system fails to give me any of that. Really a simple rating structure like TS1 and TS2 had would ultimately be better. On the other hand, the tournament structure does reward the best players more quickly, but it ultimately ends up being a race of who can play more quick matches in a 1 week period. It ends up being a matter of quantity over quality. I could play a bunch of matches and finish in the top 10, but I will never be able to know how I truly compare to other players in overall skill.

They did add back in a rating level for quick matches you can use to chart your progress. And there is even a leaderboard for this, though it is hidden under a "secondary statistics" category. To me, this is the true test of skill in the game. It is a little unfortunate this skill rating is attached to your character, so that if you change characters the skill rating gets reset to 0.

The addition of an icon in world tour to let you know where players are waiting helps you to find a match and the matchmaking seems to work well. If you want to get online right away with your level 5 character, you can do so and get matched up against another custom character as close to your level as possible. However, sometimes that may not be very close since each lobby will only have a few different players to choose from. The creation of tournaments detracts from the potential of a really good matchmaking system by creating a lot of small lobbies instead of putting all the players into a single lobby and getting a lot of good matchups.

Finally, the 2K Open is a really great idea. In the past the pros were basically irrelevant for online play and relegated to noobies who wanted to do exhibition matches. However, this has the potential to attract people to play online pro player matches and try out different pro matchups. It adds an extra dimension to online from just the standard ranking. I'm not sure it will maintain interest in the long run, but for now it is an enjoyable diversion from strict competition.

Playability: 9/10

The simplified control screen and on-screen helps do a lot for helping you get into the game right away. The problem with TS3 was that you could get turned off very easily since it was so frustrating. The elimination of errors every time you mistime a shot will get more new players to stay.

I'm a little worried about what this could do for the depth of the game on the competitive side though. It seems like this won't be a problem, since online matches I played had a lot of variety still. As long as a dominant go-to play and/or playing style doesn't develop, there will be a tremendous amount of depth to the game.

Overall: 8.7/10

A very solid game. Though the online ranking structure could be rethought in terms of what gamers are looking for in online competition, all-around the game is very successful in its development from the previous title. It should be able to maintain interest from a wide range of players over a sustained period of time. Highly recommended.

[KluddKalle]

Ok, here goes. My attempt at a short review of the game. I have made it as short and simple as possible and have divided it into two sections and a summary at the end.

The big picture
or No, I'm not talking about my big-ass tv

Top Spin 4 as a game trying to simulate the look, sound, feeling and sensation of real proffessional tennis succeds in every single way. Sure it has small flaws, which I will mention in the next chapter, but they don't take anything away from the experience in a larger perspective.

Gameplay is solid and the rallies really feel smooth, diverse and alot like real tennis. I am especially fond of playing at clay courts, both in real life
and in tennis games, and they have really nailed the feeling of sliding on the court. What I haven't noticed yet is sliding and stretching forward to try and reach for instance a stop ball, but the sideways sliding is perfect.

Online play is great, even though there may be som balance issues, but it's too early to say. You all know it. What really impresses me this time around is the AI. Never before has it felt like real tennis when playing career mode and offline exhibtions. I have played on hard and very hard. And what makes me happy is the even though I face a level 4 player in career mode, when I'm a level 12, it's still a tough match to get through (on very hard). I'm really curious to see how hard expert mode will be.

So when I look at the big picture I see a tennis game that has found a perfect balance between simulation and something that's easier to pick up and play. I don't want to say arcady, because that's something completely different in my opinion.

The tiny details
or No, I'm not talking about my private parts

With details I mean graphics, sound, features and content. And while everything is good enough for me, they could have done more. The graphics is just slightly better, but in some ways actually worse. Something that worked fine in Top Spin 3 has become a problem. For instance the blur effect in cut scenes inbetween points that make everything exept the raquet strings look sharp. This is just sloppy programming/designing, but doesn't really matter since we all just skip these.

I also find it strange that the game has alot less clothes and brands than the previous game. Maybe they have some DLC planned that we don't know about.

Feature-wise Top Spin 4 hasn't evolved much. I hoped for at least a tournament mode, both offline and online, and doubles online.

So when I look at the tiny details the game feels more like a Top Spin 3,5. Except in the sound department. With the new sounds the game really gets something new and way better than before. But since it's not the tiny details that matter, these things doesn't bother me much, but I still notice the them.

Final verdict
or Yes, I am preaching to the choir

This is a fantastic game. Without a doubt the best Top Spin game yet. The fact that a game I loved playing just a few weeks ago (Top Spin 3) now feels awkward and just not good playing says it all. They have made improvements in all the right areas, where it matters. If it would have been the other way around we all would probably be extremely disappointed.

It looks good, sounds great, feels realistic and it has the same kind of fun factor that the first Top Spin had, but with alot more depth, alot.

The score? It's hard to put a number on it but if I have I'll say it's a 9 out of 10. With more features, improved graphics and the song "The girls" still in the soundtrack it would have been a solid 10.