Virtua Tennis 3 allows players to hit
the courts with a variety of gameplay modes and challening opponents. The
game features an impressive roster of real world tennis stars ranging from
Andy Roddick to Venus Williams and other famous athletes as well with a
total roster of more than 16 players available to use. Each of the players
has their own strengths, weaknesses and a unique style that comes into
play during the matches. You can also mix genders in the game, which is
another cool feature that adds more replay value to the overall
experience. At the main menu, you are given loads of options to pick from.
These include time of day, music volume and the ability to pick which
court you want to play on. Before you begin a single player match, you can
choose any one of these 20 main characters during the game and add to
their appearance and look as you play. In addition, players can create
their own character for use in the tournament modes, giving you a unique
avatar that allows you to further customize your character by purchasing
items such as outfits to change their appearance. The game includes a
number of different modes including the expected practice, tournament and
world tour modes. There's also a Tennis Academy mode where you can
practice your moves and learn the basics of playing the game without too
much pressure. Once you've gotten these training missions down, you can
then move onto the court and play against an AI opponent. At the start of
each match, you can choose to play either a singles or doubles match and
can set the number of matches, rounds and rules per match to customize the
game further. You can choose to play either solo against the computer or
play against a human opponent. Unfortunately, this edition of the game
fails to include online play, which is hugely disappointing and makes the
experience feel less robust than it should.
On
the other hand, Virtua Tennis 3 compensates for this deficiency because it
includes several interesting modes that offer more depth than the standard
arcade mode. The first of these is the tournament mode where you compete
against a series of opponents in order to earn cash for upgrades. These
can become quite challenge as you move up the rankings and face off
against increasingly difficult opponent. If you want to delve even deeper
into the game, you can participate in World Tour mode, where you can take
a player through a series of rounds and challenges in an open world
setting. You are given a map to navigate and each hot spot contains a
different challenge. These range from standard matches against human
opponents to training exercises where you have to complete tasks such as
returning a volley before the clock runs out. There are also more than a
dozen highly entertaining mini-games involving knocking things down or
avoiding obstacles. Most of these can be played at launch, though
additional ones are unlocked as you play through the game. As you'd
expect, Virtua Tennis 3's mini-games offer plenty of variety and are quite
challenging and addictive and offer gamers a very high replay value that
makes them worth playing. As you beat them, you can also unlock these from
the main menu and choose to compete against another player for even more
fun. This solid addition helps to make the game play even deeper,
extending Virtua Tennis 3's replay value exponentially.
Previous installments of Sega's Virtua
Tennis series have featured some of the tightest, most addictive gameplay
on any console and this installment carries this forward. Its controls are
smooth, intuitive and satisfying, allowing you to swing the racket, and
perform some pretty spectacular saves fairly easily. Players can choose
either top spin shots which bounce through the net or volleys, which slam
over and are difficult to defend against. The game offers a surprising
amount of challenge in this regard and these techniques makes it all the
more enjoyable. Learning the nuances of power-shots and smashes makes all
the difference, though the controls are relatively straightforward
throughout in the standard modes of play. One of the more interesting
aspects of the PS3 edition of the game is its use of tilt motion control
using the Sixaxis. You move the player around by tilting the controller
left and right and can perform shots by swinging the controller
horizontally and vertically. It takes some getting used to, but this
definitely helps to immerse you further into the game. While it's not as
revolutionary as you'd expect it to be, it's definitely one of the more
unique additions to the series and helps make this installment even more
enjoyable. Also helping the game is the fact that it's arcade-style speed
allows for fast action. Unlike many other sports titles, Virtua Tennis 3's
matches move at a surprisingly fast pace and most matches should be over
in a few minutes, making the game easy to pick up and play.
Virtua
Tennis 3 is easy to play, and its simple presentation and sharp graphics
make it even more accessible. The on-court action takes place in a
standard 3/5 top-down perspective that makes it easy to follow the ball
and your opponents' position. The camera remains fairly static throughout
the action and zooms and out slightly depending on how close to the net
you are. There aren't any extra camera moves available, but players can
view that action up close in replays. VT3's level of detail is impressive,
though some of the effects, such as the movement of the players' clothes
are subtle but cool. The close-up angles allow you to see an impressive
level of detail in the players with realistic movement and convincing
facial expressions that make the characters in the game come alive. It
offers an impressive amount of polish and looks quite crisp and sharp
throughout, taking advantage of its HD engine to create an excellent look
and feel. While Virtua Tennis 3 adds some impressive graphical polish to
the series, the basic play mechanics and addictive action that have become
the series' hallmark are still very much in evidence. The single-player
matches deliver a series of solid opponents, while the deeper World Tour
and Tournament modes add depth to the experience. Virtua Tennis 3 is one
of the better PS3 sports titles we've played to date. Its intuitive
controls, straightforward design, and interesting twists with the Sixaxis
functionality add up to make this a solid release that should keep you
entertained and challenged for some time.
- Michael Palisano
Grade:
B
