Top Spin 4 (Xbox 360)

Top Spin 4 is the most recent installment of the top Spin franchise. Developed and published by 2K Sports, it gained a lot of hype prior to it;s release.

Top spin 4 offers a shallow range of game modes, but what else can be expected from a tennis game? Never the less it does not fail to impress. When you first load load the game you will be taken to training camp, where you are given the opportunity to learn the basics of the game. Once you get into the swing of things (excuse the pun) you can start to play tournaments and games. but we'll come to that a bit later on.

Gameplay

The game has a very polished feel to it. You can tell that 2K sports have developed the game to be very user friendly. When you come to hit the ball, its all about timing. If you want to perform a precision shot, you tap the button, and if you want to perform a hard shot, you hold the button (Flat shot = A, Top spin = B, Slice = X etc). Anyhow, if you release the button your holding too soon the ball might be hit too short, whilst releasing too late the ball might get hit long. Hence the overwhelming emphasis on timing.

The thing i really love about topspin is the realism, you wont see anything on Topspin that wouldn't happen in real life. For example I'm a fan of Call of Duty, but is it real realistic to throw a hand axe into someone face? Erm, I think not. Also Top spin adds another dimension to its gameplay but integrating advanced serves, whereby you can use the right analog stick to serve the ball, a good touch i felt. So, what does the game offer?

A single player mode where you can create a player and rise to the top of the rankings. A little limited though i feel as your player can only increase to level 20, and when you reach level 20 your attributes can no longer increase so it feels a little lifeless (career mode anyway). Also, there are only 20 player s you can select from if you wish to play a quick match, so some of you may be disappointed because your favorite players are not present.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer offers you the oppurtunity to play against others. You can enter best of 8, 16 or 32 player tournaments. Multiplayer offers nothing unique, but it does increase the lifespan of the game. You can also play a player match where if you wish to play with real life players (eg Federer, Nadal) then you can.

Each time you play online you are awarded points that contribute toward the global leaderboards. 3 points for a win and 1 point for a loss ( provided you dont rage quit when you lose the first set). The graphics are realistic and the sounds are as good as expected with a tennis game, with the recent arrival of virtua tennis 4 it will be interesting to see who will become number 1??

Definately the Andy Murray of the game world, good but will it ever win a grandslam??