Developed by Torus Games and Kalypso Media, Matchpoint – Tennis Championships is a debut tennis title that seems to be heading in the right direction so far. With major publishers abandoning the sport, we now have different smaller companies taking over the flag of ensuring that these cool sports are not forgotten in the world of video games. The last title that I can remember is AO Tennis 2 in 2020 and before that Tennis World Tour 2 that we reviewed as well. Both of these titles seem ages ago however Torus Games is here with their latest offering, Matchpoint – Tennis Championships. These are our early access impressions of Matchpoint – Tennis Championships as we dive into the game and serve some shots to a brilliant AI.
Right as you jump into the game, one thing that strikes you instantly is how responsive and crips the gameplay of Matchpoint – Tennis Championships really is. The movement is fluid, and the shots are always sublime. There were a few instances where my character just flatly refused to land any shots however most of the time, it feels really crisp and to-the-point. There are no fancy keys or combos here and the controls are extremely easy to understand which makes Matchpoint – Tennis Championships a must-play for players of all skill levels.
The career mode is pretty meaty with a lot of various events that you can compete in. You can spend your days however you want and as you complete events, you miss out on some so it makes a bargain for which events you want to compete in a day and which events you want to play in. There are some tournaments thrown in the mix as well however none of these tournaments are officially licensed tournaments but are merely name-switched versions of them. You create your very own character at the start of the Career mode that you can take online and use in other game modes as well.
While having a character creator is a decent option in the game, there are not many character creation options here so you are stuck with some generic face options, skin options, and hairstyles. While playing the game, another excellent aspect of the game is that sometimes, you can unlock a weakness or strength note about your opponent. These are not handed out to you as far as I have figured out during my playthrough, and you have to play a bit to eventually identify these weaknesses and strengths of your opponents. I have not figured out if this is unlocked automatically if it happens once you trigger their weakness. I will be finding out more about this in my future playthroughs.
Stat building plays a key role here and you have special training events for that. Completing the mini-games allow you to develop your character in that particular stat and apart from core stats, you can unlock tons of new visual customization options as well ranging from licensed shirts, rackets, and more. The customization is however limited to just your own created players and not on the other ones. For quick play sessions, you have a decent selection of some of the famous Tennis players from the real world however some really prominent names are missing from the game. You have some of the top players like Garbine Muguruza, and Carlos Alcarez and you have some really good female tennis players in the game as well however their number is pretty small.
Overall, if you consider Matchpoint Tennis Championship as a whole package, I can say that for me, its gameplay seems to be its strongest point so far when I pitch it directly against previous titles such as AO Tennis 2 or even Top Spin 4. You will have the most fun out while playing on the courts because out of the courts, the game seems to be lacking in most of the departments, but the Training mode is a good fun activity to do if you want a break from your normal Career hustle. The lack of official tournaments does not do justice to the title as well and some of the more prominent names in the world of Tennis are also missing from the title.
So far, I enjoyed my time with Matchpoint Tennis Championship as the AI plays really well in the game, and in a few instances in the game, I was really sweating through my palms to win a game. It is a little bit higher on the difficulty curve, but I think that a lot of Tennis fans will find it to be a better alternative to the AI being just dumb and missing out on fairly easy shots. You really need to work that arm if you want to win in the game. I will be spending more time with Matchpoint Tennis Championship leading up to its release next month and start a fresh career to see if the events are shuffling or are they the same every time around until July 7 so until then, I can say that Tennis fans have a decent Tennis game to look forward next month.
