AO Tennis 2

AO Tennis 2 is presented as a realistic proposal that seeks to simulate what tennis is as a high performance sport, where fatigue, tactics, injuries and mistakes play an important role. Any tennis-loving player will know how to quickly engage in this title and value all the work that their developers have done.

An imperfect and crude, but still surprising title.

AO Tennis 2 is a good sports videogame that, despite a low budget, is really fun to play and includes a few, interesting features never seen before.

Tennis feeling, the physical feedback of the shots, the animations, everything is in place but the responsiveness that allows to move with more agility on the field is still missing. AO Tennis 2 remains a little rough, but its talent is crystal clear.

Big Ant Studios did a decent job in bringing back the sport of Tennis in videogames. It may not be as polished and rich as legends of the past like Virtua Tennis and Top Spin, but it can guarantee lots of fun for you and your friends.

Less polished than PS4’s big-money sporting contingent, AO2 nonetheless pleases thanks to user-friendly controls, cute details and a clever creation-sharing mechanic. [Issue#172, p.92]

While the previous game in the series was a mess, its successor turns out to be a huge improvement. It’s not quite top-of-the-bill yet, but decent (if at times a bit clunky) gameplay and a huge amount of content will keep you playing.

As a complete package, AO Tennis 2 builds on the first game quite well. The customisation allows for licensing to be circumvented whilst the on-court action is tactical, if a little clunky. It lacks a fluidity and the assisted movement can be unreliable, but there's definite steps taken in the right direction. Presentation lacks some punch but the career mode does offer plenty of reasons to come back. It's a fine effort, if a little compromised.

AO Tennis 2 is definitely not a revolutionary title in the videogame tennis scene, but it largely fulfills its duty, that is to entertain tennis fans who want more than just the usual games on TV.

AO Tennis 2 is most certainly a great step in the right direction, with large improvements to animations, physics and general gameplay. In addition to these improvements, the career mode here is one of the more personal and engaging career modes you'll find in a sports title, up there with any other sports title, especially thanks to the extensive character customisation which lets you create just the person you want. AO Tennis 2 isn't perfect though, there are still some issues with the general feel of the fall and some game mechanics like movement being tied to the aiming of your shots, causing an overlap, but the improvements are there and there's no doubt that Big Ant Studios are making large strides.

AO Tennis 2 is a better-looking, smoother-playing and more fully-featured follow-up to the original.

As expected from Big Ant, AO Tennis 2 looks more like a big update of the previous version than a brand new episode, and once again largely relies on the community to complete the content. While still lacking some tennis expertise, the australian studio managed to optimize the gameplay, that finally shows its potential full of delicacy - in every sense of the word. The main additions focused on immersion emphasize this laudable quest for authenticity, although their rather limited impacts tend to exhibit the superficial side of this production, yet unfinished, but built on solid bases.

AO Tennis 2 is a winner, raising the baseline for all tennis titles on PS4. There are still minor quirks to its gameplay, but it’s well-presented and fun, making its enriched Career mode dangerously addictive. Flourishes such as a basic morality system add identity to the package, while a strong focus on user generated content lessens the impact on missing licenses. While the game doesn’t have the budget to go toe-to-toe with the top sports title FIFA 20 and NBA 2K20, this is an overall polished package that comes recommended to tennis fans – and we’ve been waiting a while to write that sentence.

AO Tennis 2 is one of those games that is neither good enough to deserve an applause nor bad enough to deserve harsh criticism. It's a tennis simulation with good gameplay, deep career mode, solid editor mode, weak animations, and not so good visuals, and some famous tennis players are not licensed as well. So in the end, it's hard to either recommend or not recommend it, as it really comes down to personal preferences rather the quality of the game.

Gameplay is good and technical and sometimes can recreate the thrill of the sport, but it is not easy to pick and play and AI can be really cheap. Content is rich and varied, but the game is missing stars like the Swiss maestro.

AO Tennis 2 is a big step forward. This game isn't an ace yet, but it isn't the double fault AO International Tennis was. With lots of content and a decent gameplay core, AO Tennis 2 can be even funny for tennis fans.

AO Tennis 2 delivers a more enjoyable and comprehensive experience than the first episode but still suffers from technical and gameplay issues.

With stiff animations and a ball physics that is not so realistic, AO Tennis 2 fails to represent a good simulation of this noble sport. Top Spin 4 remains the king even after nine years from its debut.