It could be said that Tennis was the original video game. Not the version played on the field, of course, but a virtual version that replaced players with short white lines and the green ball with a white dot. The representation of the sport (and its “table” variant) have come a long way since Pong, but the simple formula of volleying a ball back and forth has remained the same. AO Tennis 2 sees the popular international sport arrive in its most true-to-life version ever, but it proves that without some amount of physicality or a fun twist to the virtual world, tennis should stick to the actual courts.
AO Tennis 2 is the followup to Big Ant Studios 2018 game AO Tennis. As the name implies, the game is centered around the Australian Open, the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year. Though the focus is not on Wimbledon, the US Open, or the French Open, AO Tennis 2 isn’t limited to just events in the Southern Hemisphere. In fact, international tennis fans will certainly appreciate the game’s attention to detail and vast variety of options. But AO Tennis 2 is unlikely to inspire any interest in the sport on its own without Mario there to participate, or a wii-mote to swing.
There are numerous modes right off the bat (err, racket) for the player to jump in to. Play Now offers the immediate no-barriers entry, allowing anyone to set up a singles or doubles match with ease. On the PC, that means a couple friends can share the screen, or one can play against an AI opponent. It may get a little crowded, so its more likely friends will opt to play online where they can compete together or against one another. These matches are short, but not necessarily sweet, as it becomes instantly obvious that the controls were not optimized for a mouse and keyboard. The arrow keys are used for navigation and WASD for determining with type of shot to use when the ball comes the player’s way. It’s all a bit janky and can often feel like the player is suggesting that the character move, not actually moving them. The console experience may be similar, albeit with a more easy-to-approach control scheme.
For a robust gameplay mode, there’s both Career and Academy. These are single (or co-op) campaign experiences where the player creates a character and takes them through the experience of a year of tennis matches or training respectively. They plan out the calendar, selecting dates for rest, training, and events, and can even vie for sponsorships. Superfans can also select a celebrity tennis player instead of their own unique avatar. The matches in this mode can be played or simulated, meaning the computer determines a winner based on stats and the gameplay itself is bypassed. There’s a lot of focus on realism, and AO Tennis 2 certainly hits the mark, but there’s nothing particularly satisfying about viewing screens of statistics and updating a day-planner interspersed with a match or two.
Basic tourneys can be created as well, for nice medium of game length between the campaign and a quick play match. There’s the Australian Open and a Competition mode that both play this role. Truly, once the player actually gets into a match, they can see the polish - AO Tennis 2 looks and runs like any AAA sports game. The character models, arenas, and cinematics may delude one into thinking that the gameplay is about to be more exciting than the end result.
Even the decently deep Character Creator, Logo Creator, and Arena Creator are all surface-level. Making a player loses its impact when one realizes they can put all the stats up to max immediately. And the Arena Creators terrible PC controls make designing anything an absolute nightmare. Objects move in and out of view, placing foliage or decor is sluggish and confusing. There are plenty of interesting user-creations to download online, but there’s only so much even the best artists can do with the tools given to them. Like the rest of AO Tennis 2, these tools are fun to try out, but can’t capture the imagination; they just aren’t repayable.
AO Tennis 2’s best mode by far is Scenarios. Here, players can create different types of win conditions, like “winning without losing a single point” or “winning without double faulting.” This adds a nice challenge to a game that is relatively simplistic and changes up the game of tennis itself. It’s a shame that there isn’t a bit more of the creativity on display here throughout the rest of AO Tennis 2. The tutorials offer some basic aim training; I had more fun there than in a game against AI opponents.
It’s hard to fault a game with so much love put into it, but AO Tennis 2 constantly feels like its missing something. A little extra oomph that would bring people back. Mario Tennis Aces has the cast of characters, the charm, and special moves. Wii Sports’ Tennis had the motion, the so-easy-your-grandma-could-do-it gameplay. AO Tennis 2 is just tennis, made like a simulation complete with a headache inducing soft-rock soundtrack. Stripped of all its charm, the game doesn’t offer anything except to the average Australian Open attendee. To everyone else… you might as well play Pong.
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AO Tennis 2 is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4 for $49.99. Screen Rant was provided with a digital Steam copy for the purpose of this review.
