Grand Slam Tennis 2 Review (Xbox 360)

I am not a tennis fan, I don’t watch it on TV, have never played it and don’t know all of the terminology. But I was tasked with reviewing the newest tennis game from EA Sports, Grand Slam Tennis 2. As the name suggests this is the second title in their tennis franchise and the first for them in HD on this generation of consoles. The first Grand Slam Tennis was only for the Wii with PS3 and Xbox 360 versions canceled until this title finally was released. So really, this is their first tennis game for the bigger consoles.

The major feature of Grand Slam Tennis 2 is the Total Racquet Control scheme. Basically, you use the right thumbstick on the Xbox 360 controller to determine the type of shot and the direction. The left stick is for player movement. You have flat, top spins and slices. The shots are triggered by either pushing forward, pulling back then pushing forward or pulling back and releasing the right thumbstick. No, it doesn’t really feel like tennis, but most sports don’t really feel right when playing them as a video game with a controller.

Now, as I said, I’m not well-versed in tennis. Yet I managed to blow through my first tournament without losing a game, or is it a set? I definitely didn’t lose a match, that much I know, there’s an achievement for it.

Another thing they talk about as a major feature in the game is the P.R.O. AI System. That stands for Professional, Realistic and Organic AI. It’s something that is supposed to give each virtual player the same tendencies as the actual player. So basically, they programmed each AI to act like the real player. However, having no firsthand knowledge of how each player reacts in real life, this was completely lost on me. I can only talk to how easily I blew through the ranks in my career mode and won my first two tournaments without a loss. Tournaments that included the Australian Open. Career mode gives you a 10-year track and chance to win everything year after year.