Grand Slam Tennis 2

Tennis isn't the most varied sport, but Grand Slam Tennis 2 tries to make the most of it. Key is the Total Racquet Control: a great idea for precise ball control, albeit classic arcade controls are more effective in some situations. It's small things like the lack of objection opportunities or the spectators, liefeless by EA Sports standards, that hamper the overall impression. The lack of motion controls on Xbox 360 is okay, though – Kinect can't offer the precision through which Total Racquet Control makes the game a good experience.

A very good tennis game with fight night-esque racquet controls. It needs a one more difficulty level between amateur and pro, though. [March 2012]

All in all, EA's first effort took long enough to get here, but it is a welcome one indeed. While the other two games struggle with being an arcade game and not enough sim, or too much sim and not enough arcade, EA has the mixture just right by taking the sport and representing it seriously, yet making it viable for a casual or new fan to jump right in and take a whack.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 is a tough one to call. While I have enjoyed other tennis games more, there is something surprisingly complete and authentic about not only the gameplay but the overall presentation. There are no cutesy mini-games or diversions. This is all business, and despite a few nagging issues, the overall mix of the new Total Racquet Control combined with the PRO AI and all the Grand Slam events including Wimbledon make this the most complete tennis experience you can play on your Xbox 360.

Career mode and online play offer up what you'd expect from a tennis game, albeit an uninspired experience that doesn't distinguish itself from its competitors. The game is helped by two unique and effective control schemes that offer up a completely new way to play.

If tennis is your game, you'll love Grand Slam Tennis 2. If it's not, it's worth taking a look anyway.

A great step for the series and finally a solid tennis experience for both casual and sim players from the EA Sports line.

Playing alone feels slow and soulless, but the great controls and multiplayer features still make Grand Slam Tennis 2 well worth a bosh.

While it's not a perfect product, EA knows how to make deep, full-featured sports games with high production values. In Grand Slam Tennis 2, developer EA Canada applies some of the lessons learned from the company's other franchises to create a game that excels in many areas while coming up short in a few important ones.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 is not a flawless game, especially if compared to the excellent Top Spin 4, but it is clearly a good step in a right direction. Innovative controls and the possibility to play in all of the four main tournaments make it a choice to take seriously in consideration by tennis fans.

Exhaustive tennis sim with fantastic gameplay modes but lacking the depth of its rivals. [Apr 2012, p.84]

The context-sensitive commentary by Pat Cash and John McEnroe has a casual, often comedic tone that starts off strong but quickly grows monotonous to the point of frustration.

All told though it's a solid performer, typical EA fare really, but that's just its problem. Yes it's a decent game; yes the graphical representations of the characters are excellent, yes in the main it does what you tell the game to and the controls are easy to follow after a game or so but it's just missing that something special.

The right analog stick controls make the game a joy to play, but everything else surrounding the gameplay doesn't have that same labor of love.

Despite EA Sports leaving itself plenty of room for improvement in future iterations of Grand Slam Tennis, what's here is enjoyable. Perhaps a little too easy for tennis veterans, the experience of being out on court, thwacking the ball around is great fun. It's just the Career Mode that lets the game down.