I've played it, did what you did and put it on a USB as I don't have Xbox Live at the minute anyway.
Admittedly not extensively as I've been quite busy, but I didn't need to for the flaws to become apparent - maybe it's just having come from playing Tennis Elbow, but the gameplay sticks out like a sore thumb and it's almost cringeworthy...
Even the way it works is so basic, 99% of shots go in, the physics are strange, the players court coverage/inertia is all wrong... There's just so much that's nowhere near realistic. I could sum up in more depth after more play time but I hardly feel the urge to bother with it again to be honest.
Having watched and played (on and off) tennis for years, this game doesn't capture the sport at all for me, yeah it looks pretty and has decent sound effects etc. but when it comes down to the tactical side of the game, it's non-existant. It's just repetitive neither-arcade-nor-sim tennis, eurgh.
I can see why you can't enjoy Tennis Elbow though, I'm glad I can see past the visuals/sfx - they are the last things I look for in a game... My favourite pool/snooker game is Virtual Pool 3, that's even more ugly than TE2011
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Edit - Yup, TE is programmed in a "basic" way and it's all very rigid and almost mathematical, but that still allows far more variation in the shots (plenty of unforced errors on elite controls/low autopositioning), much greater tactical depth, more gameplay depth (i.e. precise footwork is needed with low autopositioning, if you let the ball land at your feet, you'll most likely screw up the shot), more realistic momentum etc. and the match stats seem to replicate those of a real tennis match much more accurately than the mainstream games programmed with more complexity.
Re: the video, you're right, it's not that relevant I suppose - it does show others what the game looks like in motion as there hadn't been one since the vid posted by ThomasGOAL earlier in the thread.
I tried to find one on a higher difficulty on YouTube but the search came up empty.
I don't subscribe entirely to the view that you should be able to make sports games look realistic/unrealistic by playing in different ways though - in theory, a good sports game will display realistic results to unrealistic inputs. For example, if you drive like a maniac in an F1 car in rFactor, you'll spin off and hardly be able to even complete a lap.
Same as in TE 2011, if you just run around not bothering with proper positioning/gameplan and just try belting winners on every ball (on hardest settings), you're going to be very unsuccessful, which is realistic.
The thing is with PES/FIFA, we've
never had a proper football sim, and probably never will, so those games will look unrealistic in videos 99% of the time, with the odd goal/spell of play that's an exception to the rule. That Hjerpseth guy is proof really that you can play FIFA like a dick and it rewards rather than punishes you for it, PES doesn't seem to suffer to the same extent but you hardly have to be a football genius to score a shitload of goals.
really dissapointed with the gameplay..
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