The difficulty in using these risk and power shots is most definitely not game breaking however. I have been progressing well even without ever using them, although with significant practice I am sure it would begin to work.
Mastering the flat shots, the top spins, the slices and the drop shots is probably far more important and these are much easier to use. A nice addition: if you hold a shot button and RB you will run to the net, in preparation for some close net action. This is where some of the greatest shots are taken, but where you also run the risk of the opponent simply lobbing the ball over your head. Okay, so what has 2K Sports done to combat the high learning curve in this game? Well, they have included a pretty decent tutorial, in the shape of the Top Spin School.
The Top Spin School will walk you through all the basics of tennis, and playing the game through a range of tests where you will have to aim for and hit certain targets on the court, as well as complete certain shots. Some of these are difficult to complete, and the explanations in the game are sometimes somewhat lacking, however a quick glance into the game booklet highlights all the information that can seem confusing in the tutorial. Seems strange that this is necessary; however after playing the tutorial I was actually able to start winning matches, opposed to missing every shot before that. I simply cannot emphasise enough the importance of playing through the tutorial, unless you want to be thoroughly schooled by the AI and any online opponents.
Onto the graphics of Top Spin 3. This is where the game clearly excels above all other tennis titles to date. It just looks unbelievable. The players look near life like and their motion even more so. Hair moves like in real life, and so do clothes and shirts. Everything flaps around realistically and looks like the real deal. An added bonus which surprisingly looks good and works well, is sweat. Players become absolutely sweat drenched during games and this can be seen in their clothes as well as their rosy cheeked faces. But be careful not to tire your player out too quickly, or your chances of winning a match may well disappear.
There has clearly been a huge amount of work invested in the motion capturing, as every tiny movement is fluid as can be. This combined with the TV style camera angle makes you feel almost as though you are watching a real game. The game is also silky smooth, with a solid frame-rate which is so important for the pace of a tennis game. The only point the game stutters is when it pans around the court before the match starts, which seems to coincide with it loading the match.
The multiplayer seems to be slightly hit and miss. In the games I have had a few have been smooth and easily playable, however some have been quite laggy and the game seems to freeze the action momentarily every now and again to resynchronise the play between the two people. This often means you are caught out by an inopportune synchronisation on a serve and the ball sails past you. However if this can be tweaked slightly it will be fantastic. There is nothing quite like playing against a player opponent, although occasionally the difficult controls show through as opposition players fail to even react to a hit. It also seems that it is not possible to play a doubles match online, unless the second person is on your console. It would have been nice to find other players looking for a doubles match and matching them up, however I guess doubles play requires a great deal of unity to succeed and this can often be difficult when matched up with a random. The AI opponents in the single player are very solid however, but the multiplayer does add longevity to the game.
Top Spin 3 is an energetic, fast paced tennis game which provides a real challenge, which on the one side is refreshing from the simple button pressers of old, but this will put off many people who simply want a casual tennis game. Once learned it would be easy enough to jump into a game, however if you want to play this with some friends they too will have to learn before they can be called adversaries. This is definitely a true tennis simulation, with a level of realism that tennis games have been missing. It is deep and filled with content, be it courts, clothing or players there is enough here to please everyone. What is certain with Top Spin 3, is that once learned, it is a highly satisfying and rewarding experience to beat opponents. Doing so with your own virtual likeness while increasing his or her skill, is even more so.
This title is a must for all tennis fans, but it is most certainly not a casual or arcade game.
