EA Sports announces Grand Slam 2 for PS3 and XBox 360!

Power Player

Bionic Poster
I have a feeling most people who are not hardcore tennis geeks are going to love this game. The reviews show that so far.

But the main test for me is online play. I want to create my guy and go online and have fun matches that are as cheese free as possible.
 

Cup8489

G.O.A.T.
Wow. 8.5. So aside from the odd player movement and the fact that everyone has the same animations, this guy doesn't see lobbing, approaching the net, then putting away the AI's overhead with a volley is a bad thing? lol what are ya gonna do...:)

IGN can be....fishy. Sometimes I wonder who pays their reviewers... I get the impression occasionally it's the makers of the game they're reviewing.
 

Cup8489

G.O.A.T.
Interesting that one review says great career mode and one says weak career mode. Knowing there are only 8 events total makes me think it's pretty weak.

Does anyone remember which topspin game broke each month down into two week increments, so you had 24 separate events/trainings/things to do per season?

Topspin 2. You had an option to do something on the 1st of a Month, and then the 15th of a Month. great setup, but not used anymore, unfortunately; I've been playing it again the last week or so, got tired of not being able to have a power net rusher... TS4 pretty much made those mutually exclusive.
 
Topspin 2. You had an option to do something on the 1st of a Month, and then the 15th of a Month. great setup, but not used anymore, unfortunately; I've been playing it again the last week or so, got tired of not being able to have a power net rusher... TS4 pretty much made those mutually exclusive.

That's what I thought...I'm pretty tempted to go pick up a copy of TS2 or TS3 for 360. They can't be more than $10 new at this point, and they'll be better than what's out there now, unfortunately.

And to the bolded part...Seriously. One of my least favorite things about TS4 is how you can't just pick where you want your attribute points to go...You could never create a Sampras type player in TS4, because that many "S&V" points would mean your power and stamina would be laughable.
 

Cup8489

G.O.A.T.
That's what I thought...I'm pretty tempted to go pick up a copy of TS2 or TS3 for 360. They can't be more than $10 new at this point, and they'll be better than what's out there now, unfortunately.

And to the bolded part...Seriously. One of my least favorite things about TS4 is how you can't just pick where you want your attribute points to go...You could never create a Sampras type player in TS4, because that many "S&V" points would mean your power and stamina would be laughable.

Indeed. I bought TS2 used at Gamestop for like 4 bucks, I think TS3 was 8 or so used.

And as to the Sampras comment.. it's unbelievable frustrating that if I made a character based on sampras, I either had to sacrifice power for better volleys or sacrifice volleys for better power.

The closest I got was a character who had approach shots expert and a second, forgotten perk; his volleys were only in the 50's or 60's, so unless I got a guy completely off-balance on the approach shot, I wasn't going to be able to easily finish the point off.
 
Indeed. I bought TS2 used at Gamestop for like 4 bucks, I think TS3 was 8 or so used.

And as to the Sampras comment.. it's unbelievable frustrating that if I made a character based on sampras, I either had to sacrifice power for better volleys or sacrifice volleys for better power.

The closest I got was a character who had approach shots expert and a second, forgotten perk; his volleys were only in the 50's or 60's, so unless I got a guy completely off-balance on the approach shot, I wasn't going to be able to easily finish the point off.

Yeah...I was able to create a guy with about 70 volleys and 70 something serve, but the power was low and the groundstrokes were in the low 60s after the coaches.

I created a guy with 95 serve and 95 volley, but his stamina was 45, his power was 48 and the groundstrokes were in the 50s...It's not possible to build someone like Sampras who was very powerful but served and volleyed, or someone like Djokovic who is powerful AND fast. They force you to choose, which I hate.
 
One event per month.

Yeah, that was my fear. I forgot that in TS2 there was no right stick serving, and the risk serves were limited to the trigger and A or X. I also forgot that you had to play on top of the screen on change overs, unless you changed to a much closer camera view.

I'm still really tempted to go rebuy TS 2 and 3, just to see if they measure up to what I remember.
 
I was talking about the 8.5 on IGN.

I dont feel like arguing about a game dood..lol. my god..just dont buy it..who cares?

You've tried to undercut any opinion that disagrees with what you feel about the game, not me. Just simply showing the other side of the coin, it's not being hard on the game when basic gameplay elements are completely off.

IGN can be....fishy. Sometimes I wonder who pays their reviewers... I get the impression occasionally it's the makers of the game they're reviewing.

I wasn't going to bring that up, but just look at the scores they give Madden (which most people find to be an extremely flawed game) compared to what other sites give it every year.
 
Is there anyone out there that will be buying this tomorrow?

I'm on vacation from the 15th-22nd, but I'll be renting it the weekend I get back to see what I think.
 

leonidas1982

Hall of Fame
Yeah, I'll be getting it tomorrow for 360. User name is grimmbomb21.:)

It looks we're still waiting for a HD version of Smash Court Tennis 2 with updated roster, licensed products and online feature. At least Namco was able to get accurate player animations. It strikes me as odd how far off the mark player animations are given the resources of EA and 2K.
 

grimmbomb21

Professional
It looks we're still waiting for a HD version of Smash Court Tennis 2 with updated roster, licensed products and online feature. At least Namco was able to get accurate player animations. It strikes me as odd how far off the mark player animations are given the resources of EA and 2K.

Yeah, I don't know if these companies are lazy or don't care. Top Spin 4 actually took a step backward as far as animations for pros go. I do actually like the pace of GST2 though. I went back and played TS4 the other night and it felt totally sluggish. Smash Court 2 is still head and shoulders above all other tennis games. Not even a contest.:)
 
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Deleted member 25923

Guest
Smash court pro tournament 2 was by far my favorite tennis game. If only it had an updated roster, hd graphics, an even better tour mode (I liked what they had, they did rankings so well, but mainly in terms of some sponsorship events and some more varied training).

And, they could have used some better uses of the slice and topspin/kick serve. But, that said, what they had was still really good. A better player creator would be wonderful too.

That game really was great. The wimbledon courts were exceptionally slick. Clay was a battle of attrition. Hard courts were nice and neutral. Such a great game.
 

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
Is there anyone out there that will be buying this tomorrow?

I'm on vacation from the 15th-22nd, but I'll be renting it the weekend I get back to see what I think.

How can you have a tennis game where the ball never goes out???

it like a baseball game with no foul balls or a football game where you can't run out of bounds.

its just too much to look past.

I won't get this game until its in the bargain bins where it belongs
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
You've tried to undercut any opinion that disagrees with what you feel about the game, not me. Just simply showing the other side of the coin, it's not being hard on the game when basic gameplay elements are completely off.

No, that is just how you perceive because you are being childish.

I don't care who buys the game or not. I will find online matches regardless.

Also going to buy SSX tricky as well.
 

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
You've tried to undercut any opinion that disagrees with what you feel about the game, not me. Just simply showing the other side of the coin, it's not being hard on the game when basic gameplay elements are completely off.

I wasn't going to bring that up, but just look at the scores they give Madden (which most people find to be an extremely flawed game) compared to what other sites give it every year.

You can't go by review scores because most of the big gaming sites have deals with EA, etc. IGNs review of GS2 is just laughable. I agree with jamesblakefan that the basics in this game are completely off. Some people can look past these things and still have fun, some can't. Its really a shame because the core mechanic with the hitting sticks works really well. But you can't have a tennis game where its nearly impossible to hit the ball out and one where you can't lob over a person right on top of the net.
 

leonidas1982

Hall of Fame
Yeah, I don't know if these companies are lazy or don't care. Top Spin 4 actually took a step backward as far as animations for pros go. I do actually like the pace of GST2 though. I went back and played TS4 the other night and it felt totally sluggish. Smash Court 2 is still head and shoulders above all other tennis games. Not even a contest.:)

The pace on Smash Court 2 was perfect. One could rally from the baseline, serve and volley, and play all court. It was perfectly balanced. Career mode was deep as well with all 4 majors, 1 YEC, 9 masters, 500, 250, and challenger events. They even had a Davis Cup tourney. Even the ranking system resembled the actual ranking system.
 

paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
The pace on Smash Court 2 was perfect. One could rally from the baseline, serve and volley, and play all court. It was perfectly balanced. Career mode was deep as well with all 4 majors, 1 YEC, 9 masters, 500, 250, and challenger events. They even had a Davis Cup tourney. Even the ranking system resembled the actual ranking system.

i really liked the player progression too. oh nostalgia.
 

RyKnocks

Semi-Pro
So I bought the game and my opinions haven't changed from when I wrote about the demo. It really hasn't improved since then. (see my opinions from earlier in this thread)

Opinions of the full version:

1) They didn't include some of today's major players like Wozniacki and Del Potro but you can go online and download player created characters that other people have made that look like these players. I've seen some good Verdasco, Del Potro, and Agassi replicas.

2) The career mode is totally lacking and is super shallow. You basically run through each of the grand slam tournaments with a pre-tournament match, exhibition match, and a training session in between. Once you play the US Open, your year is done and you move onto the next year of your career.

3) You don't upgrade your player based upon how well you do or points earned, but rather winning your exhibition match which only happens once before a tournament. The number of career points you accumulate MIGHT have a purpose, but for right now all they do is up your ranking.

4) I won every tournament in my first year and still ranked 35 overall.

5) The fact that you can unlock different racquets and shoes for different attributes is cool, but those moments are few and far between.

6) Still no slice animation from the baseline.

7) The game is more about positioning yourself for a good shot rather than the timing of your shot

8) The menu's load as slow, if not slower, than Top Spin menus

9) What happened to all the cool music from the demo? The music is as mundane as the background music in Top Spin.

10) I thought it was cool how you progress from the side courts in a grand slam to the major court as you get closer to the finals.

11) While the menus are nice, the information provided isn't very detailed and lack certain specifics like "forehand" and "backhand" attributes. Instead everything is generalized into categories like "Power" and "Fit." I have no idea what "Fit" does because you can't see your player's fatigue nor have I noticed a drop in fatigue.

Overall, it's a very fun game to play with friends and online. It has a faster pace that is suited for a party setting rather than a test of technical skill. Do not buy this game if you're looking for an in depth career mode, buy Top Spin for that.
 

paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
taken from another thread regarding tennis video gaming:


pulled the trigger and bought grand slam 2. the career is okay, character creation is pretty great. character development/progression is so-so. the roster is, if not better, on par with top spin 4. the visuals are great with the exception of weird animations and odd character proportions. presentation is great and the extras are pretty deep.

the career is a bit bland. i may be too harsh too soon, but if anything, i can say that the career is simple. the premise seemed cool. the draw is having all four slams and being able to experience them in a more engaging/involved way. the progression from outer courts to show courts actually makes a difference in the feel of realism, or at least, EA's knack for detail.

creating your player for career mode or for leisure is pretty gratifying with the inclusion of EA's game face feature and the volume of branded tennis clothing and equipment one can customize a player with. facial morphing is also a decent feature. it is nearly at the level of morphing capabilities as Top Spin's, but simplified in a way that my player didn't end up looking hideous too quickly. there isn't too much to choose from in terms of hair and such but that isn't too bad.

character development (through career mode) is a simple concept. choose abilities youd like to add skill points to and you'd have to complete drills within a certain number of tries to progress. pretty typical of tennis video game character progression, although i would have loved for EA to use a less run-of-the-mill approach to this. like having a practice court-- hitting/running drills-- time spent on court & proficiency with drills in relation to how many times a shot was practiced (eg. forehand down the line)= attribute points added to whichever trait was precticed. the player attribute catagories have also been generalized to 6 catagories. eh

the roster is good. the top 4 are there along with roddick, tsonga, nishikori, and hewitt. i would have liked to see a couple power houses like delpo, sod, or berdych. on the women's side there is sharpova, ivanovic, and both williams sisters. what really saves the roster are the retired folk featured: edberg, borg, becker, mac, sampras, stitch, and cash from the men's and henin, davenport, navratilova, and evert on the womens. all of whom look the way they did in their prime (licensed clothing and all), unlike in TS4 where most of the legends look like they're on the champions tour. the players look great.

the game as a whole looks great both in graphical fidelity and the artistic approach to presentation. i would have to say it's the most realistic looking adaptation of a tennis game i've played. everything is beautiful, well, aside from the at times horrendous character animation. as an example, both sampras and federer have seperate animation sets. in both players their backhands looked pro level in comparison to their club-level-looking forehands. it seems like such a pivotal part of game play wasn't captured properly. EA sort of makes up for it in quantity of signature pro styles like rafa's looping follow through, mac's abbreviated swings, borg's backhand, etc

presentation-wise, the game looks great, the art direction with the menus, on screen huds, commentary and on screen tidbits is great, resembling that of a long running sports game franchise.

playing on line with this game is exponentially more fun than i thought it would be, given the character animation and the sort of arcade-like movement. the gameplay is fun, but it is also deep. options for playing online are kept simple, but are effective in matching players up of similar skill.
as far as extras go, stats provide from online play are a great addition, it showcase one's win streaks, average level of opponents, and etc, as well similar info regarding ones opponents. the stats are very informative and i actually like this feature alot.



i hate the way it looks while playing it, but it all becomes a blur once you actually do start playing since you'll be too engaged in the quick but satisfying gameplay.
 
I don't see how the person can say the roster for GST2 is better, at bare minimum it's a draw but TS4 has more current pros for men's and women's (though I know most don't care about women's) and similar legends as well. The main difference is lack of women's legends in TS4, though like I said it's questionable how many actually care about the women.

From what I've read the game plays more fun online than against the CPU. Still not sure how people can praise the animations, they just look terrible to me and not realistic at all.

I also see that you play against the legends in career mode tournaments as if they're still on the main tour, which takes the realism element out of it somewhat.

Even though it's great that they have the smaller courts at the majors and Wimbledon of course, it's still disappointing that they didn't add more minor events. The career mode seems pretty bland from what I've read.
 
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paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
Sounds pretty disappointing. Lacking career mode all but ruins it for me. Maybe top spin 5 will be the answer...

yeah i was disappointed in the career mode, i thought it would more closely replicate the tour, but out of the big 3 tennis franchises, GST2 is behind, despite them having all four majors.
 

paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
I don't see how the person can say the roster for GST2 is better, at bare minimum it's a draw but TS4 has more current pros for men's and women's (though I know most don't care about women's) and similar legends as well. The main difference is lack of women's legends in TS4, though like I said it's questionable how many actually care about the women.

From what I've read the game plays more fun online than against the CPU. Still not sure how people can praise the animations, they just look terrible to me and not realistic at all.

I also see that you play against the legends in career mode tournaments as if they're still on the main tour, which takes the realism element out of it somewhat.

Even though it's great that they have the smaller courts at the majors and Wimbledon of course, it's still disappointing that they didn't add more minor events. The career mode seems pretty bland from what I've read.

i wrote up the quick review. as far as my comment on roster goes, the players, i feel, look better in gst2 than in ts4, with the exception of federer who has the least accurate face model. it's odd, since it doesn't have as many big names as ts4, but the character likenesses of current players and especially of former players when they were in their prime are remarkable. in this case, although i enjoy the depth of the roster selection of ts4, gst2's 22 players at least equals ts4's 25 players in terms of quality and thought put into designing them.

i played against a pete sampras CPU last night and was astounded by how much the gst2 sampras resembled the lanky yet crazy explosive pete of old. a stark contrast against TS4's old man sampras who is still powerful, but slow and cumbersome. and he was decked out in his classic nike USO 96 outfit.

i don't see how anyone who follows the tour can praise the character animations either, i certainly didnt.

btw, did you see how VCU lost to GMU?
 

paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
as an after thought, i don't feel hindered by the total racquet control, even in online play. oddly, i feel the total racquet control helps with reaction shots especially up at net, which is the opposite of what i thought prior to playing the game more extensively. it starts to feel natural and more efficient than buttons after a while.

it doesn't have the sheer variety of TS4's shot selections though. i feel, not by a long shot.
 

paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
Yeah, that was a real heartbreaker. But obviously I'm not shedding any tears for VCU. :)

Especially after we blew our game against them last Saturday. We went from being up 2 w/ under a minute to play to down 5 and with all hope lost.

yeah, closing minutes just suck in general. stoked for the caa tourney. then comes march...
 

paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
Just revisited Smash Court 2 to compare and contrast; in truth I still prefer Smash Court 2 -- it just feels like tennis. Oh, it actually has a backhand slice animation which Grand Slam does not.

there were so many things right with smash court 2. i liked how top spin implemented a timing method of shot production with their control shots. it was very reminiscent of SCTPT2. i wish more tennis games had the selection of camera angles SCTPT2 had.
 

leonidas1982

Hall of Fame
there were so many things right with smash court 2. i liked how top spin implemented a timing method of shot production with their control shots. it was very reminiscent of SCTPT2. i wish more tennis games had the selection of camera angles SCTPT2 had.

Rear view - low angle was my choice for Smash 2. I'm amazed to see the backward progression of tennis games. For tennis games, I believe minimalism is the key -- have accurate animations and the right game speed then everything will take care of itself. Tennis is about strategy not the gimmicks that the main publishers are producing.
 

tacou

G.O.A.T.
there were so many things right with smash court 2. i liked how top spin implemented a timing method of shot production with their control shots. it was very reminiscent of SCTPT2. i wish more tennis games had the selection of camera angles SCTPT2 had.

Whenever I mention this game on here I get no love. SCT2 is my favorite tennis game
 
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Deleted member 25923

Guest
SCT2 is king. I may revisit it now and start from scratch because I love it.
 

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
SCT2 is king. I may revisit it now and start from scratch because I love it.

Isn't that old generation consoles? Can you play it on a 360?

Edit: I just googled and found Smash Court 3 for XBox 360. I guess its about 3 years old, but it it worth getting if you don't have a PlayStation?
 
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DRII

G.O.A.T.
Whenever I mention this game on here I get no love. SCT2 is my favorite tennis game

Yea, SCT2 was a great game. It would be great if Namco just re-released it with online capability! I would gladly play that game, even with its older graphics and roster, vs any of the 'new' tennis games out now!!!

Of course this makes too much sense for it to actually happen :twisted:!

Namco did'nt even add online capability when they re-released Teken Tag :twisted::twisted::twisted:!!!

I used to dominate in that game using Orgre and True Ogre! No one in my hall at the dorms could touch me LOL! It got so bad i was banned from using those two characters!
 

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
has anyone here tried "Full Ace Tennis" for the PC? It pretty much blows away any console tennis game.
 

leonidas1982

Hall of Fame
Yea, SCT2 was a great game. It would be great if Namco just re-released it with online capability! I would gladly play that game, even with its older graphics and roster, vs any of the 'new' tennis games out now!!!

Of course this makes too much sense for it to actually happen :twisted:!

Namco did'nt even add online capability when they re-released Teken Tag :twisted::twisted::twisted:!!!

I used to dominate in that game using Orgre and True Ogre! No one in my hall at the dorms could touch me LOL! It got so bad i was banned from using those two characters!

Yeah, the graphics I thought were descent. At least, Smash Court had spot on stroke animations like serves and backhand slice. I too would like a re-released game with online play, split screen for multi-player matches, importing created players into career mode, and licensed products. No gimmicks just tennis is needed.
 

paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
Yeah, the graphics I thought were descent. At least, Smash Court had spot on stroke animations like serves and backhand slice. I too would like a re-released game with online play, split screen for multi-player matches, importing created players into career mode, and licensed products. No gimmicks just tennis is needed.

best stroke animations of pros captured in a tennis game was in virtua tennis 3/2009 i think. federer forehands looked like federer forehands, top spin 4 is acceptable, although not exact replicas of pros' strokes. grand slam 2 just makes me cry sometimes.

i'm really tempted to buy smash court 2 again, now. i forgot what the mechanics looked like in that game.
 
This game is good, but the career mode is weird! I've won 10 slams in a row, and I'm #15 in the world! Plus, there are no rankings, so I can't see why I'm ranked so low. It started really easy, and is now getting more and more difficult...

I really like the "gameface" ea-sports thing though, and I like the huge selection of real items in the store!

And, the play now superstar version is challenging enough, but the career up to half of season 3 is easy.

Overall, I like the game! :)
 
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