Postby Thucysincarne » Mon Dec 27, 2010 5:58 am
I decided to hold off on commenting on anything until I bought the game, so I could see what gameplay was like on slower surfaces than the demo one. Now that I've done that, I think I have a good enough feel for what I'm going to talk about here.
I played Tennis Elbow for about 3 years, and I have to say that in a lot of ways Full Ace is the better game. I like the serve, the wide variety of surfaces, and how it takes a while to get a feel for what shot you need to play, among other things.
What I do have a problem with is how difficult it is to change directions. If you run one way, and your opponent hits it to the side that you were at, you basically have no chance of getting back to the ball even if the shot isn't close to the line. This has a huge impact on how the game plays out, which I'll go into later.
When returning, it's very difficult to get returns back. Even if you get your racquet on the ball, which isn't always easy, the ball often goes into the net. I get that it makes sense to have to hit the ball a certain way, at a certain time, in a certain direction to get it back in. It's just very difficult to put all those factors into account when you have a 200kmh serve coming at you. Often, the easiest way to get the ball back in is to slice it, but then your opponent can easily send it back for a winner. Even slices often go into the net. And if you're able to return the serves out wide or down the T, a body serve is difficult to get back as well because you have to be very precise with where you position yourself to hit it--if it goes right at you you'll get aced. And if you go too far, you're done for--it's too difficult to move back in time because of how difficult it is to change directions. I don't know what could be done about this without any huge overhaul, but it does make it a server's game. Many of the online sets I've played have ended in tiebreaks.
I would like it if there was some shot that you could hit without having to worry about it going out unless you're in a horrible position to hit it. The slice should probably be that shot. It bothers me that if you're close to the net and try to slice--as most pros do if they're late getting to a drop shot--the ball tends to go into the net.
However, if on that same shot you try a drop shot, you're likely to produce a winner unless your opponent is already at the net. Drop shots are way too easy to hit, especially behind the baseline (Hard shots are also easier to hit behind the baseline, which is also a bit odd). I've found that one of the easiest ways to end a point is to hold down a little bit and do a drop shot. It's very difficult for your opponent to get the ball back over the net then.
It's difficult to play well at net. Not being able to hit balls that are right at you is a problem, and even when balls are hittable, they tend to go into the net, unless you use the slice button, which makes the ball sit up for your opponent to hit.
Because of the problem changing directions, it's difficult to have prolonged baseline rallies. It's just too easy to hit a winner behind your opponent, and too easy to hit an error when you're not even going for much on your shots.
Again, I applaud you, Kschoice, and your team for making a great game. I apologize for going on for so long, and I hope my suggestions were at least somewhat helpful.