Articles
By Diresim
Published: Mar. 4, 2007 1:05 PM
When Rockstar Games announced they were following up their insanely successful Grand Theft Auto franchise with, of all things, a ping pong game, jaws dropped throughout the video game industry. A developer renowned for creating massive worlds chock full of unprecedented levels of detail, and allowing gamers to do pretty much anything they want, had decided to create a game based on one of the simplest of sports. Surely they must be joking? Well, time has proved that not only were these guys serious about ‘Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis', but they are serious about suppressing the notion that they are one dimensional.
In many ways, Table Tennis is the opposite of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. It is simple, fast, easy to pick up and play, and has a largely multiplayer focus. Whilst there is no doubt it is a quality title, it does lack in terms of depth. Everything appears to have been streamlined. Single player consists of merely a series of matches (neither create a player mode nor career mode are anywhere to be seen). Multiplayer is purely a two player experience, doubles play not being included. A training mode has been thrown in, replete with a set of ranked challenges, but they are strikingly simple and surprising boring, taking only a good fifteen minutes to master. However, despite the lack of any real depth in terms of modes and play options, there is plenty of depth when it comes to gameplay.
My first few hours spent playing Rockstar Presents Table Tennis did very little for me. Sure the game is well presented and does a super job of capturing the feel of ping pong, but I grew tired of it pretty quickly. It felt like the same old, every rally, every game, every set. I was also getting my arse handed to me in single player, which didn’t help. Lui Ping was regularly owning me, and every time I hit a smash it was returned easily, leading to increasingly ‘Happy Gilmore’ like scenes in my living room. But then I started experimenting with different characters, shots, and attitudes. I made a habit of playing the game early in the day, when I was mentally sharpest, and started trying to explore the game mechanics.
I gradually learnt how important an understanding of the characters is in this game. Some are good at spinning the pill left or right, some are good at hitting the thing hard, some don’t have a backhand, some can’t return a short serve. Getting to know the in and outs of all the characters really equated to a much more enjoyable experience, and led to some fantastically tense 100-plus hit rallies. When you’re in the final match of a tournament, and you’re set point down, at the back of the court lunging to return Jesper’s smashes (the power hitter amongst the game’s characters), the blood really pumps, and for me, that’s what gaming is all about really.
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