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AO Tennis 2 - Finally a good tennis game again?

Kingsora

Kingsora

Member
May 19, 2018
1,037
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Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC (Steam)
Release Date: January 9 2020
Players: 1 - 4 players (singles and doubles)

So I am 100% confident that no one is going to make a OT for AO Tennis 2 so I thought to make this thread for the handful of people that are maybe interested in the game. I already have the game and I am still under embargo so I can't say much. But first impression is that the game is so so so much better than his predecessor: gameplay, presentation, graphics, roster, carreer, options, ... It's maybe early to say but this could be the best tennis game in years. Not that difficult with what appeared in the last years, but still :).

Considering the quality of the game I am actually quite surprised that the publisher isn't doing that much to put AO Tennis 2 in the spotlights. Anybody else interested and maybe getting the game?

Tennis Players roster:
- Rafael Nadal
- David Goffin
- Gael Monfils
- Stan Wawrinka
- John Isner
- Marin Cilic
- Fernando Verdasco
- Alex De Minaur
- Nick Kyrgios
- Thanassi Kokkinakkis
- Francis Tiafoe
- Kyle Edmund
- Karen Kachanov
- Kevin Anderson

- Ashleigh Barty
- Belinda Bencic
- Angelique Kerber
- Johanna Konta
- Marketa Vondrousova
- Samantha Stosur
- Maria Sakkari
- Daria Gavrilova
- Karolina Pliskova
- Monica Puig
- Kristina Mladenovic
- Carolina Garcia

There is also the option like the first AO Tennis to download self created players. So it's quite easy to download and play with Federer, Murray, Del Potro, Djokovic, ... look a likes.

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Career mode
The career mode has a huge upgrade. You create your own player and try to make him/her number 1 in the world. This time however with a story driven mode with a lot of press conferences after a match and a lot of decision making that will influence on how the crowd will react to you on the court.



Content editor
It's not only possible to create your own player but you can also create your own tennis stadiums. All of those can be uploaded so your friends or other people can play with your creations. Of course you can also download all of the creations that gamers made worldwide.




Gameplay


 
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mueske

Member
Apr 11, 2019
311
What's with the icon where the ball is going to land?
I haven't played a tennis game in years... did games like Top Spin 2 & 3 used to have that? I dont remember...
 
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Kingsora

Kingsora

Member
May 19, 2018
1,037
mueske said:
What's with the icon where the ball is going to land?
I haven't played a tennis game in years... did games like Top Spin 2 & 3 used to have that? I dont remember...
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It's there to help you if you want but you can turn it off. It's a bit like Fifa when you give a high pass you also see where the ball is going to land (or when taking a penalty or free kick).

Normally you also don't see the ball icon from your opponent. It's because they are playing against each other on the couch.

But no Top Spin didn't have that:
 
Egg0

Egg0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,656
I've been wanting a good tennis game since Top Spin 4, I'll keep an eye out for this one.
 
kubev

kubev

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,533
California
Any idea as to how this might compare to Virtua Tennis in terms of how easy it is to pick up and play as a beginner?
 
MakgSnake

MakgSnake

Member
Dec 18, 2019
608
Canada
I am just glad it is 4 players. The last one wasn't for some reason.

4 Players is always fun when having a Couch Gaming Night with friends.

Each point, the other team take a shot and vice versa.
 
Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,014
I would kill for a good tennis and boxing game
 
Ponchito

Ponchito

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,222
Mexico City
First time I hear about this sequel. Unfortunately, my hopes are down after so many disappointments. Even Mario Tennis didn't fully deliver.
 

bakalhau

Member
Dec 29, 2017
189
Lisbon (Amadora), Portugal
I had no idea this even existed until this thread.

Never played the first one, but watched several videos of it and, well, as a guy who has watched a tennis ball fly over the courts way too much during his life as well, I must say the ball movement and feel seems much more natural in the sequel here, and much less arcadey. Color me interested.

Also on steam...

The thing is, the Tennis Elbow guy is slowly developing his newest game, and Tennis Elbow just has the ball physics/gameplay part of the game very nicely done, but has no budget for the presentation/visuals. The newest one is going to be 3D but... Then we have AO Tennis, which has all the visuals parts of it extremely well done, but just had very arcadey gameplay in comparison and very non realistic ball movement from what I saw.

Can this game deliver on both fronts?

Top Spin 3/4 was amazing, the best tennis games I have played, but it was just so slow. It was like a slow motion tennis game, its only flaw.

I'm hoping in a way, and it seems promising so far, that AO Tennis 2 can hit the gameplay heights of Tennis Elbow, while keeping the top notch production values.


Edit: wow these guys actually had a venue creator in AO Tennis 1, which is great for variety.


AO Tools 2 is available right now as well already
 
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Yappa

Yappa

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,475
Hamburg/Germany
It's been a while that I (excessively) played TS1.
Hm, played the mobile version of the first AO Tennis, but quickly lost interest.
Hopefully, there'll be a demo?
 
SABO.

SABO.

Member
Nov 6, 2017
5,870
I hate to say it but we really need a company to come in and FIFA/2K the shit out of tennis and get us a yearly rendition including a gigantic roster of players, all majors and some minors.
 
Dash Kappei

Dash Kappei

Member
Nov 1, 2017
4,827
Also coming to Switch, same day.
Zero faith in it but I'd happily eat my own words and shell out the money if I'm proven wrong. Love good tennis games
 
Yerffej

Yerffej

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,483
SABO. said:
I hate to say it but we really need a company to come in and FIFA/2K the shit out of tennis and get us a yearly rendition including a gigantic roster of players, all majors and some minors.
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I'd finally understand the draw of a yearly sports release.
 

Nardy_19

Alt-account
Banned
Sep 14, 2019
408
Exactly, put out one meaty game and then have "seasons" in which new players/ attires/ rankings are added in.
 
SABO.

SABO.

Member
Nov 6, 2017
5,870
Theres a good reason why EA and 2K dont just release patches to update teams and rosters. $$$$

You'd only have to look at the sales of FIFA, Madden and NBA2K to see that yearly releases would be the way to go. They're some of the best selling games of the generation despite just being team and roster updates.

Releasing a game that gets frequent patches is asking to fail. Unless every patch is paid for and MTX are littered throughout the game.
 
Yerffej

Yerffej

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,483
I wish transition animations were better but beggars can't be choosers. Might have to bite on this.
 

Deleted member 11413

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,961
SABO. said:
Theres a good reason why EA and 2K dont just release patches to update teams and rosters. $$$$

You'd only have to look at the sales of FIFA, Madden and NBA2K to see that yearly releases would be the way to go. They're some of the best selling games of the generation despite just being team and roster updates.

Releasing a game that gets frequent patches is asking to fail. Unless every patch is paid for and MTX are littered throughout the game.
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Tennis really doesn't work that way though.
 
leng jai

leng jai

Member
Nov 2, 2017
15,116
Looks a lot better but the animation of the ball moving through the air still looks terrible.
 
OP
OP
Kingsora

Kingsora

Member
May 19, 2018
1,037
kubev said:
Any idea as to how this might compare to Virtua Tennis in terms of how easy it is to pick up and play as a beginner?
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It's actually quite easy to pick up and play. On the lowest difficulties I was already destroying my opponent easily. On the higher difficulties you need some training though.

But the learning curve is nowhere near as difficult as Top Spin for example.
Kei- said:
Haven't heard of this. But the post says January 9th 2019 btw
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Fixed :)
Yappadappadu said:
It's been a while that I (excessively) played TS1.
Hm, played the mobile version of the first AO Tennis, but quickly lost interest.
Hopefully, there'll be a demo?
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Don't count on it.
Nardy_19 said:
So you are under embargo but can you speak on those 6 locked players?
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Funnily enough my roster is the same but the visuals are different and I don't have locked players.

You do however can make 'player lists', so I was thinking those 6 places could be for self created players or downloaded players. I downloaded a Murray player for example that looks quite good. I have to take a look if I can adjust it in those locked boxes.
 
TheDestructiveSquirrel

TheDestructiveSquirrel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,727
SABO. said:
Theres a good reason why EA and 2K dont just release patches to update teams and rosters. $$$$

You'd only have to look at the sales of FIFA, Madden and NBA2K to see that yearly releases would be the way to go. They're some of the best selling games of the generation despite just being team and roster updates.

Releasing a game that gets frequent patches is asking to fail. Unless every patch is paid for and MTX are littered throughout the game.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yea, but how many new modes are you going to put into a tennis game? MLB the Show has pretty big changes every year, a tennis game wouldn't sell enough for a new game every year to make sense
 
TechnicPuppet

TechnicPuppet

Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,808
I'm not buying it again. The first game was dead somehow. Hard to explain but the mechanics were not fun. How hard is it too copy Topspin or Virtua Tennis also why don't we have Topspin or Virtua Tennis arrrggghh.
 
OP
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Kingsora

Kingsora

Member
May 19, 2018
1,037
Uncle00Jesse said:
would you suggest getting this for ps4 pro or PC?
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Absolutely PS4, certainly if you like to play online. The game probably will have a solid online player base on PS4. I doubt that will be the case on PC.
leng jai said:
Looks a lot better but the animation of the ball moving through the air still looks terrible.
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I have to say the video isn't even doing justice to the game. I started up the previous AO Tennis last week and that looked terrible when comparing to this.

You're probably right about the ball animation. But I always think they are doing it on purpose to make the game more approachable.
 
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Kingsora

Kingsora

Member
May 19, 2018
1,037
Hristi said:
Why no fed/djoko/Murray?
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Money probably :)

The game does however has the option to download self created players of other gamers. And some people are quite crazy in how detailed they are in creating those.

There are already now some pretty good Fed, Djoko, Murray look a likes in the game to download with their exact looks, playstyle and even with there Lacoste and Nike outfits.

It's not the same as being in the roster off course, but I found it quite a good option of the developer to have more famous players in the game.
 
Tagg

Tagg

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Oct 25, 2017
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Character movement still looks incredibly unnatural to me. Oh well, there's always next year.
 

Deleted member 44371

Banned
Jun 1, 2018
4,523
Kingsora said:
It's there to help you if you want but you can turn it off. It's a bit like Fifa when you give a high pass you also see where the ball is going to land (or when taking a penalty or free kick).

Normally you also don't see the ball icon from your opponent. It's because they are playing against each other on the couch.

But no Top Spin didn't have that:
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Somehow still looks better
 
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