Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[DJ]

I enjoyed the Demo. The control scheme is a lot better than TS3, which I didn't like. I didn't like having to "pre-load" my groundstrokes, so it's nice to have it more timing-based and just press the button once.

Player models look really good and the crowd is lively, which adds to the atmosphere.

[Tengo Juego]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Anyone have the soundtrack list? I got excited when I heard "Da Funk" when I booted up the demo.

[jb1]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Firstly I love tennis and have been looking forward to trying this game out hoping it would be the tennis game i've been waiting for but i'm just a bit concerned that once again the AI will not put up enough of a challenge to make this a game i'll play long term.

There are things I liked about the demo:
- Ball Physics (for the most part)
- Graphics
- Presentation
- Crowd atmosphere
- Controls (love serving with the right stick)
- The Nadal fist pump!!

My concerns:
- Game Difficulty (i'll get into that further down)
- Lack of Aces
- Not one missed return of serve
- Not enough unforced errors

My biggest concern is the difficulty of playing vs the AI. Normal difficulty looks a washout, I barely timed a ball properly and was hardly losing a point. Hard proved more of a challenge, the games were competitive but again it just felt a bit too easy when I had the timing right. I was getting punished for some badly timed shots which was good but once I was getting the timing right I was winning the majority of the points.

Of course we are playing with Fed and Rafa in the demo but my fear is that the Career mode will be too easy once I get the timing right and my player improves. The biggest factor in it being too easy for me is that it is too easy to return serve, I want to see my player sometimes return into the net, leave an easy mid court put-away, hit it way long and even the occasional frame into the crowd. I guess the developers feel that most gamers won't want to spend their time watching serves fly past them or have their well timed returns/shots still not always finding the court but it would really up the difficulty and add more longevity to the game (for me at least).

Another thing I find too easy is net play, I felt that all I had to do was hit the net and hit a button and my player would always find the court. I wouldn't always win the point but not once did I hit into the net or hit it wide or long.

Maybe stamina can play a part in this and as the game goes longer unforced errors will creep in but we will have to wait for the full game to find that out.

In saying all that it still feels like the best tennis game I've ever played and there are some things I really like from the demo (and the reports i've read) but on a personal level i'm not sure this game will be difficult enough to keep me interested long term.

As of right now, I think i'll probably wait for the reviews to come in from other gamers and although I will pick this game up at some point I'll probably wait for the price drop.

[shaikio]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360/PS3)

Does the PS3 demo have Move capabilities?

Yes it does. It has a text and picture tutorial to teach you the basics of using the move. I played one game using it and it seems pretty fun so far.

[at23steelers]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

I love the presentation, the graphics, and the game play is phenomenal. It took me awhile to beat Federer on hard, but just defeated him 7-1. To make the game harder, just deactivate all the helps, when you press start during the match. Only thing I dislike about the demo, is their is no replay button, right after the match!!

[ChaseB]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Hey jb1, on the bright side there are two more difficulty levels I believe -- a very hard level, and then a super hard level or whatever that unlocks if you meet certain requirements. When I played the game at a preview event, the developer on the game seemed to like the "very hard" level.

[bhurst99]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Very impressed by the demo. The only thing I didn't like was that I didn't hit one ball out in three games I played. Maybe that was because I was playing on normal level. The lack of aces was also troubling.

It was a good idea to simplify the controls. I never even considered renting TS3 after trying the controls in the demo for TS3.

[md63ny]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

The game felt a little faster than TS3 which was nice but I do have a gripe about the presentation.

Neither Federer, Nadal, Serena or Ivanovic serve like that. They got the Sampras serve mostly right in TS1 and now it's a generic version. Agassi too.

Where is the signature style they claim? Quite disappointing.

[rangerrick012]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Hey jb1, on the bright side there are two more difficulty levels I believe -- a very hard level, and then a super hard level or whatever that unlocks if you meet certain requirements. When I played the game at a preview event, the developer on the game seemed to like the "very hard" level.

Was thinking that. TS3 had the Very Hard difficulty, was pretty sure it was just one of those things that got left out for the demo, but yeah after playing a few more, I'm starting to dominate on hard so VH looks like the option for me. Just hope it's not one of those things where Hard is too easy and Very Hard is too hard, think TS3 had a good balance in that respect.

[Chryves]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360/PS3)

Hi everybody! I'm in Germany and still can't download the Demo now 10 A.M West European Time. Somebody knows why? Thx in advance

[Alistair]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360/PS3)

Is the volume of aces and unforced errors something that can be altered with a patch, or not?

[Splitter77]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360/PS3)

Is the volume of aces and unforced errors something that can be altered with a patch, or not?

man i hope so, because if it stays like it is in the demo I wont be getting the game.
These guys never miss a shot in the demo version.

[jb1]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360/PS3)

Hi everybody! I'm in Germany and still can't download the Demo now 10 A.M West European Time. Somebody knows why? Thx in advance

I downloaded it from the US Store, don't know if it's been released in the Euro Store before but it's possible it will be in todays update, havent seen the list yet.

[jb1]

Re: Top Spin 4 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Hey jb1, on the bright side there are two more difficulty levels I believe -- a very hard level, and then a super hard level or whatever that unlocks if you meet certain requirements. When I played the game at a preview event, the developer on the game seemed to like the "very hard" level.

Thats encouraging although disappointing they are not in the demo.

My concern with the jump to those harder levels though is that the First Serve % of the AI already seems too high while the AI players are not making unforced errors on the lower levels so I guess they wil be nearly perfect on the harder levels.

Maybe i've been spoilt by games like NBA 2k and MLB The Show but i'm looking for a realistic tennis experience rather than what seems to be on offer here.

[chinchilla]

I have found you can make the computer hit errors by mixing up your shot selection. Instead of only hitting flat or top spin shots, use a slice or drop shot. Additionally I have found that the cpu AI makes more errors when you hit your shots with excellent timing.