Tennis games should be immediately accessible, with simple to learn controls that allow anyone to hit the court and serve like a pro, but also have plenty of depth to separate dedicated players from n00bs. That's the way it's always been until Top Spin 3, 2K Sports' maddeningly difficult sequel to the respected sports franchise. Instead of creating a game everyone can play, its developers concocted an experience so frustrating that we'd pay to see Roger Federer blast copies into orbit with 122mph rocket serves.

Not even the beautiful Sharapova can save this mess.

Top Spin 3 irritates us because it doesn't work, and when it does, it's horrible. Why? It relies on a more realistic approach where you need to time body movement and positioning with your shots, frustrating mechanics that go against previous tennis games, which offered pick-up and play controls.

Most times, however, we watched dumbfounded as our players refused to swing at balls, despite pressing the correct buttons. Even when they swing, they return the ball like weaklings unless we add some oomph on their shots by pressing LT, RT, LB or RB, which more often than not causes the balls to sail out of bounds. Furthermore, you can forget about pressing and holding one of the shot buttons for added strength, since holding them down too long results in your player failing to swing.

On top of that, the game doesn't move fast enough. Players slowly jog back and forth, serves don't feel powerful and stiff looking animations undermine the real athletes' graceful maneuvers. Now factor in a fatigue meter (you can't run around too much), a ridiculously difficult computer (even Very Easy is hard) and a tutorial mode that is nothing more than mini games with vague directions, and Top Spin 3 is one of the more unfriendly sports games in recent memory.

It also doesn't help that the presentation is awful. There's no commentary or music, which makes all of the matches awkwardly silent affairs, and despite hundreds of people in the stands, you'll never hear the roar of the crowd; it's always a handful of fans clapping and cheering.

That's not to say, however, that it doesn't have its good points. A nifty player creator lets you customize your future tennis champ's wardrobe, makeup, tattoos and even sculpt their face. In addition, the Career mode lets you take your creation through the tennis ranks, building up their stats along the way. That seamlessly translates to Xbox Live, allowing you to pit your created tennis jock against the world's best, in singles/doubles matches or online tournaments.

Furthermore, the game features 40 different locations, including courts in Barcelona, Miami, Dublin, Rome, Madrid, Toronto, Dallas, Fiji and Boston. You also have 39 players, such greats as Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Monica Seles, Mario Ancic, Justine Henin, Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg, among others. Each looks somewhat like their real life counterparts, despite their robotic movements, and they sweat profusely, which is great if you love slimy polygons. Just don't expect Nadal or the Williams sisters, all of which failed to make the roster.

If you devote your life to learning this game's intricacies, perhaps everything will click and you'll agree with other reviewers, most of which awarded it high scores. That being said, we don't like Top Spin 3. We strongly disapprove of 2K Sports' sim heavy gameplay, and think it made things too realistic to be enjoyable. Sorry, but watching a tennis ball ricochet off our players' legs is about as fun as getting bounced out of Wimbledon in straight sets.

Related Links

Top Spin 3 Game Guide

Our Final ScoreBad

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