Grand Slam Tennis Fantasy

The major sports games usually turn up later in the year, but EA Sports has a collection of big-budget titles hitting this quarter. The first off the bat – or racquet – is Grand Slam Tennis 2, a fantasy match-up of the best in the biz.

Grand Slam Tennis 2

Features a unique analogue control system – Total Racquet Control.

Packs in a ten-year career single-player campaign, Classic mode, and online multiplayer, as well as training modules.

Due on PS3 and Xbox 360 in early February, with exclusive features for both consoles.

Uses EA’s Online Pass system.

Normally reserved for summer and autumn, sports is coming early to games this year thanks to EA. First up is the traditional winter knockabout: tennis.

Successor to the Wii-exclusive original, Grand Slam Tennis 2 is so-named because it is the only tennis game – among a respectable number of popular competitors – to offer players the chance to secure a Grand Slam. For those who don’t spend their summers glues to the TV getting neck sprain, that means emerging as champion from the four major tennis tournaments, or Slams – the Australian Open, the French Open, the US Open, and Wimbledon. Only five adult players have ever won a singles Grand Slam over the course of a single year, making it a sporting dream so far beyond the average joe’s grasp.

Nevertheless, you’re going to try. Your created character is carefully nurtured over a decade through to champion level. There’s a full suite of training tools to help you warm up to exhibition matches, unlock the career points necessary to compete in tournaments – forming rivalries with other stars and unlocking new gear along the way – and finally, to seed in the Slams.

If you’re not into fiddling with facial characteristics, but long to see yourself replicated on-screen, pick up the Xbox 360 version – the Kinect-enabled Gameface will do most of the hard work for you. Otherwise, the editor used to create your would-be champion is quite robust, even giving you the chance to specify how often, via slider, your rising star should grunt while exerting themselves (on a scale of Roger Federer to Maria Sharapova, producer Liam Miller suggested). You can select from a number of demeanours, too, opting for a restrained, dignified facade or a showier, more emotional type.