The Outlaw series of sports games is well known for pushing the barriers and ideas found in traditional sports games, making them a drastic change from the mundane linear aspect of year-to-year titles. Outlaw Tennis, the newest game in the series, is no different. It takes all the crazy antics of the series’ characters and puts them into a game of tennis. This creates a very fun gaming experience, a well received break from the simulation aspect of other tennis games.
Outlaw Tennis feature a decent amount of depth for a title featuring arcade-styled gameplay. You have your different shots, including the top spin, flat, lob, etc., and you can even modify your shots with the triggers. The game is very straightforward and it’s easy to learn how to play it. The controls are fluid and the game feels almost half way between a simulation and an arcade game. The gameplay is done quite well, with the game being easy to handle and learn, even for players who are not really familiar with tennis. This game includes a variety of game modes to make it a lot more than just a tennis game, making it a very fun title to pick up and play.
The game includes six different game modes, including exhibition, tour, random play, drills, and network play. The core mode of Outlaw Tennis is called Tour mode. This mode is sort of a career mode, putting you in a variety of matches, unlocking more as you progress, and as you win, you unlock more goodies for your dysfunctional characters. The tour mode is a lot of fun and allows you to progress in the game with the individual players and unlock new items to make the game even more enjoyable. The tour mode is not where the game ends, though. The game includes many mini games to play called Drills. The drills are a large variety of mini games, which help boost your skills and to add some fun options to play in the game.
The network play is the multiplayer component of the game and allows you to play with up to four players, both online or offline on the Xbox console. You are able to play singles matches, doubles, or even Canadian Tennis (Doubles Vs Single). These modes are a lot of fun to play and allow you to also play in other types of matches that were made up for the game, including classic, hot potato, casino, baseball, football, pinball, and ping pong. These modes are extremely fun and are clearly explained for you.
The controls in Outlaw Tennis allow you to play very well without fiddling for buttons, and they are very easy to learn; you will find yourself doing turbo serves in no time. The game also includes additional features not really found in real life tennis matches. The characters may be witty, having humorous tidbits of speech, crazy antics between serves, and they are also able to fight. Before serves, pressing the Y button, you initiate the fight mode. You have to press the four main colored buttons, X, B, Y and A, as quickly as possible. Whoever wins the most out of the three fights gets unlimited turbo for 30 seconds. This can be a huge boost in a match, helping you to win by using power serves or matches.
This game is a great package of tennis, humor, and fun gameplay. The gameplay is very solid and makes the game feel more like a sim than an arcade tennis game, but at the same time keeps you wanting to play because you are having fun the whole time. The multiplayer is great, and the drills are a hoot, allowing you to practice your skills, upgrade your characters, and have a lot of fun playing these entertaining mini games.
The graphics in Outlaw Tennis are done well, and the environments along with the character models look quite good. The in-game effects in the game, such as the turbo serves, look very good and the frame-rate looks very smooth throughout the game. The visuals might not push the limits of the Xbox console, but still look good and portray the Outlaw series well. The environments are full of different effects such as snow or fire, and this looks good, making the levels feel more like the descriptions and settings they are given.
The audio in Outlaw Tennis includes a lot of voice-overs, including one of a strange announcer, with a lot of funny comments to say during matches. The characters each have different actions and dialogues between serves, which helps show the type of mood they are in after the last rally. The sound effects are done well and give a good idea of the tennis play, and include all the grunts, smashes, and bounces that tennis fans have come to expect. The audio dialogue can get repetitive over time, but there is enough of it to not seem so for a while. Custom soundtracks can be used in this game, allowing you to listen to your own tunes, instead of the in-game music, and this, like always, is a great feature to have.
Outlaw Tennis is a game that fits into the mold of the Outlaw series of sports games. This game is over-the-top, bringing the fun into this mostly boring-to-watch sport, much like what has been done with Outlaw Golf. They have taken traditional sports and packed them full of humor, outrageous characters, and thrilling gameplay and game modes. This game is a hoot to play, and shows that tennis games can be fun and not just frustrating. This game is great for the average gamer, not just for the tennis connoisseur.
