After an opus developed by the Breakpoint Studio team in 2018, Nacon (a subsidiary of Bigben Interactive) turned to the team of Big Ant Studios to develop and market Tennis World Tour 2. The objective was clear: to offer an immersive experience better than its predecessor, which disappointed many players. Was the goal this time achieved? The answer in this comprehensive test!
The licensing problem
If you've ever played the first installment of the franchise, you know that one of the main problems with the title was the number of licensed players and tournaments officials that were proposed. For Tennis World Tour 2, we quickly notice that there has been a lot more money spent at this level. Indeed, at the level of tennis, the publisher and the studio must negotiate with each player as well as each tournament to be able to integrate them into the game. In total, we find in this new opus 25 men and 11 women from the ATP and WTA. Unfortunately and as you can see, women are much less represented and we quickly notice the absence of players such as Halep, Williams or Osaka. It is still a very important icon for the women's circuit. For men, we have the majority of big names with the presence of several Canadians including Shapovalov or Auger-Aliassime. Unfortunately, Pospisil and Raonic are missing from the available players in the game just like Novak Djokovic. Players who pre-order the title also have access to two legends: Marat Safin and Gustavo Kuerten. Here is the full list of protagonists:
ATP
WTA
For stadiums and tournaments, the list is already much shorter than for players. Indeed, there are only Roland-Garros, Halle and Madrid in which it is possible to play in this Tennis World Tour 2. Note that to take advantage of these environments, you must have pre-ordered the game or even upgrade to the checkout again via purchase of DLC. If the other tournaments have names and places that we recognize, they do not however have any quality modeling and remove a lot of immersion. For my part, I would have preferred a little more originality in the names of the fictitious tournaments.
Improved gameplay
The other side that needed to be improved considering the last installment was the overall gameplay which was way too arcadey and imprecise for a sports sim. The developers have managed to significantly modify the gameplay of Tennis World Tour 2 in order to provide a more fun experience than the last game in the franchise. The blows are more difficult to place and we quickly understand that the slightest error leads to a fault. Moreover, at this level, the developers of Big Ant Studios now propose to appeal to the decisions of the referees. Nevertheless, throughout my many games, I have not been able to overturn a decision. Unlike in real life, the referee of the game is very rarely, if ever, wrong. The service system has also been modified and becomes much too simple. After only a few minutes, we are able to chain powerful serves and have a success rate of 100%. If overall, we notice changes in terms of playability, nothing is perfect yet.
A career mode and maps
For the career mode of this Tennis World Tour 2, players have an experience extremely similar to what we had in the last opus. It is therefore possible to perform tournaments, climb the rankings, hire a trainer and an agent, perform training to earn experience points as well as recover virtual currency to buy cards. This system is making a comeback and is even more prominent. Before each match, we have the possibility to choose different cards which all have effects on our skills during the match. However, they must be activated when desired and they are not infinite. It will quickly be necessary to buy new ones to be able to use them. Note that the developers did not integrate microtransactions. The virtual currency which also allows you to buy clothes and rackets is only accessible by playing. I would have liked a little more novelty for the career mode which is the main attraction of the title.
The other game modes
For the other game modes, Tennis World Tour 2 offers a fairly classic experience with the possibility of playing a single tournament and performing a match against the artificial intelligence or with our friends. The portion is online allows you to compete against players from all over the world and to rank in different leagues. Note that collected cards can be used in online matches as well.
Conclusion
Tennis World Tour 2 is undoubtedly better and more complete than the first installment of the franchise released in 2018. The animations are a little more fluid while the gameplay is more enjoyable. Nevertheless, the career mode remains very discreet and the card system is in my opinion unnecessary and reduces the immersion that one can feel. The visual quality is also not up to the standards of the video game experiences of 2020, while many licenses should be acquired before offering a third opus in the future.
Tennis World Tour 2: a better game than the previous one? "Tennis World Tour 2 improves many aspects of the previous game, particularly in terms of gameplay, which is much more enjoyable. However, licenses are still a big problem for players and players, tournaments, and even clothes. The career mode is also much too simple and does not bring any real changes."7See more ShareTweetPinMarc-Antoine Bergeron CôtéPassionate about technology, music, video games, cinema and sports , I graduated in communication. Since 2014, I had the opportunity to write for many sites such as Game-Focus, l'Épée Légendaire and of course Geeks and Com'. I also hosted several programs on the web, whether podcasts and live broadcasts, notably on Gaming Live, the old Web-Tv of jeuxvideo.com. I continue to explore my passion for video by having a YouTube channel known as HypnoticMarc. CôtéIn Video GamesTests
Related Articles