The last couple of years we have been blessed with several tennis games with both Tennis World Tour and AO International Tennis. The Australian developers Torus Games is now entering the court with Matchpoint - Tennis Championships, and the question is if they smash it home, or is it a short drop shot?
Unfortunately, we have to inform you already that its more of a failed drop shot. There is not one single thing in Matchpoint that we haven't seen in one of the two mentioned competitors. Thankfully, not everything is all bad even though it doesn't bring anything new. The graphics during cutscenes are good, and actually borderline great. Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn't have the same impressive graphics even though it looks decent.
The presentation is nothing to write home about either. A short overview of the court and closeups of both players is basically all you get, and even if you win a tournament, there is no ceremony of any kind. And you will definitely be winning a lot of tournaments.
Matchpoint is definitely not a difficult game, and after a couple of matches you have learned everything you need to beat the computer, even on the hardest difficulty. We are very average virtual tennis players, but it takes us no time to be able to win two straight sets 6-0, 6-0 despite my created player having way lower attributes than the opponent. Where for instance AO Tennis can be extremely challenging in regards to even keeping the ball inside the court, it is almost harder to miss it in Matchpoint. For instance, we can hold the shot button as long as we want without mistiming it and it still lands almost always exactly where we aim it.
Sound wise the game gives us the same experience as the rest, way below par. The music in the menu probably works for some, but for our sake its boring and indicates a low budget production. The commentator during the matches are actually so bad that we had to turn them off to even manage to play the game enough to write this review, and the sound when the players yell seems artificial. On a positive note, the ball hitting the ground and racket sound is good, but that's about it.
Speaking of budget, there are obvious signs that the licensing is lacking. They have a few familiar names like Casper Ruud, but he does not look anything like himself. Tournaments have generic names like the French Grand Masters instead of French Open and The London Grand instead of Wimbledon. This gives us no familiarity, and makes the game even less attractive in a boring and monotone career mode.
In short, Matchpoint isn't worth your money at all, despite it even being free on Game Pass. If you don't have Game Pass you are still able to download a free demo on every platform to see what we are talking about. A lot of people have been looking forward to this game, but sadly I have to disappoint them. The game is just not good enough. Summed up in the fact that its not even possible to play double-matches. Go ahead and get yourself AO International Tennis or Tennis World Tour if you are looking for a better tennis experience.