AO Tennis 2 is a bright, likeable tennis sim with bags of room to grow, and as it stands is easily the best tennis game of this generation.

While the original AO Tennis released in a horrendous state, the same isn’t true of AO Tennis 2. While there are some niggling issues here and there, they certainly don’t detract from the overall experience. As with the original — especially its AO International Tennis iteration — this is a title we’d recommend to fans of the sport.

Bugs and overpowered AI aside, a really good simulator-style tennis game. [Issue

187, p.91]

With some post-launch love to improve some of the more lacking areas, AO Tennis 2 could be a real winner. For now, though, it is likely a game that only dedicated tennis fans will truly enjoy.

AO Tennis 2 is a greatly improved second instalment to the franchise. Trying to overshoot your hits is a satisfying experience. Career mode is the best part of the game, building your character to be a dominant force and trying to get that world number 1 ranking and winning all 4 Grand Slams. If you are a tennis fan, I would recommend buying this game as you’re unlikely to be disappointed. It’s a shame more big tennis players didn’t put their name into the hat, but with the brilliant editor and the ability to publish your creations this can be overlooked.

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

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Summary AO Tennis 2 is the only tennis experience designed for and by its community. Create your own players, stadiums and legendary matches. Enter the competition to reach the top of world tennis in Career Mode.

Finally some PS4 tennis games. I was so hyped when I heard a ps4 tennis game was coming. Tennis World Tour announced early this year. Now a second tennis game called AO Tennis is also gonna be released presumably before Tennis World Tour (16th of January in Australia and New Zealand, Early 2018 Worldwide) Tennis World Tour will be worldwide in spring 2018 is said. So if we can compare what we know so far.

Players confirmed so far:

Tennis World Tour

: Roger Federer, John Isner, Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Gaël Monflis, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Woznkiacki, Garbine Muguruza, (said to be 30 players in all)

AO Tennis: Rafael Nadal, Angelique Kerber, and Goffin is presumed to be in AO Tennis, because of the AO Tennis trailer at 0:33, (it's said that there will be dozens of other playes)

Licenses:

Tennis World Tour:

No arenas licened, it will be fantasy tournaments.

AO Tennis: Australian Open will be fully licensed with Rod Laver Arena, and maybe more Australian Open arenas. Not more announced

Trailers:

Tennis World Tour:

AO Tennis:

Game/play Modes:

Tennis World Tour:

Career mode, create players

AO Tennis: Career mode (you will start out low in rankings and will work your way to be number

1. It has been said that you will start from Rank

1500) , play Australian Open with Singles, doubles and mixed doubles, online play, player creator, customisation, Hard Court, Clay, Grass courts.

It’s been over two years since the disastrous launch of Tennis World Tour–a game so poorly received, it’s quite the surprise to see publisher Nacon take the license for another spin. However, it’s now in much better hands: Big Ant Studios, the Australian-based developer behind AO Tennis 2, takes the reins for its second racquet release of 2020.

Big Ant’s certainly had its faults when it was released back in January, but it arguably set the bar for modern tennis simulation games, helped by the fact there are so few of them these days. This bar still remains. Tennis World Tour 2 may be better than its own prequel, but it doesn’t come close to AO 2, even with the studio’s expertise behind it.

It’s not that Tennis World Tour 2 is disastrously bad; it just doesn’t excel at anything. Between its average presentation, uninspiring gameplay, weird career mode, plus dozens of minor annoyances, it’s hard to really understand what gamers will get from it, even with its lower price tag of $40. Casual players don’t get an approachable, easy-to-learn experience, while tennis fans are getting a stripped-back affair that lacks realism, authenticity, and depth.

Graphically, textures are simple, players look animatronic, and the combination of color and lighting can be migraine-inducing; shadows indicating the ball’s trajectory are often hard to see, while brighter locations make the ball all but disappear. Often-repetitive character animations immediately become apparent, taking further shine off the visuals.

Mechanically, the game’s core gameplay is confusing and hard to understand. Tennis World Tour 2’s new serving system is unnecessarily complicated and not well explained, even in Tennis School; the press-and-hold power approach, alongside throwing balance and directional placement, never feels intuitive.

Similarly, the act of making a shot uses a timing system based on either speed or power, and neither option seems to click, even after repetitive attempts in tutorials. When it works, it’s usually not how you want it to. Occasionally, the game’s tough timing doesn’t even register your intention to make a shot, so as you go to place your return, you see your player running away in the chosen direction.

'Tennis World Tour 2' takes a lot of getting used to.

Nacon

The core elements of the game are exacerbated in career mode, as your fledgling character attempts to build on a generally poor set of base skills. As a lower-ability player at the start of career mode, these problems are ramped up to the extreme, to the point you find yourself playing it safe and waiting for your opponents to mess up instead.

Compared to AO Tennis 2, Tennis World Tour 2’s core career mode is incredibly pared down. Character creation takes the early brunt of this simpler approach: you’re restricted to preset facial features and a whopping choice of two body types; customization sections are littered with duplicate moves under different names; there’s no control over your skills; equipment is mostly unlicensed and wholly ugly.

It doesn’t hold your hand from here on in. There’s little-to-no tutorial explaining how you progress, upgrade yourself, or strategize; soon, you’ll find yourself getting repeatedly trounced by up-and-coming Armenian tennis stars. I would have stuck with it for longer than eight events, but having lost all but one, and learning nothing to improve myself along the way, I lost the will to live–not least because I was controlling a self-named, gormless-looking avatar in a hideous rookie T-shirt I couldn’t muster the money to replace.

Pictured: Matt Gardner, the worst player to ever step into Tennis World Tour 2.

Nacon

The most annoying inclusion in Tennis World Tour 2 is its unnecessary booster card system, which makes its presence known everywhere, even career mode. You and your opponent are given the ability to play cards that affect the endurance, power, precision, and agility, whether it’s boosting yourself or undermining the person on the other side of the net.

You’re given 30 cards for free to get you started, and packs are mercifully bought using in-game currency–not real money, though that’s probably because there’s no way in hell people would spend actual money on them. In real terms, the cards feel completely pointless. Not only do they emphasize that skill is not the sole factor at play, but you don't know what’s being used against you, and the effects of the cards themselves often seem completely minimal: why would you give a toss about boosting your stamina by 7% for slice shots over the course of one game?

Booster cards add an unwanted dimension to Tennis World Tour 2.

Nacon

While I wish there were some charming elements of Tennis World Tour 2 to share, it all just feels so clinical, and the overall experience is riddled with tiny issues that make no sense, making everything feel that little bit less polished.

Most loading screens give way to a “press button to continue” splash screen for no apparent reason, stunting the game’s flow. The venue selection map, covered in largely-invisible transparent circles for stadium locations, is pointless. Created characters are given black shadow outlines ahead of matches. And once the game runs out of licensed tennis players, the top 100 is far from plausible; my top 60 included no fewer than eight Puerto Rican stars with such authentic names as Adam Nelson, Silas Henry, and Nathaniel White.

Ultimately, Tennis World Tour 2 is a serviceable game, but it’s not particularly enjoyable. Casual players may find it hard to comfortably jump in and out of it, while fans of the sport don’t get the wealth of gameplay and customization options offered by the likes of AO Tennis 2.

There’s no doubt that Nacon and Big Ant Studios’ relationship will continue to flourish in the coming years, but it’s difficult to understand why the publisher has asked Big Ant to keep two tennis franchises going at once. This will hopefully prove to be a learning experience–one where AO Tennis 3 builds on greatness, while the Tennis World Tour franchise is quietly shelved.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of Tennis World Cup 2 in exchange for a fair and honest review. The Xbox One X version as played for the purposes of this article.