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May 10, 2006 | 4:17 AM PST
by: Tao Dawkins
After seeing many games being announced there is still one question to be answered; what is up with Rockstar’s Table Tennis? To the average gamer, table tennis is NOT what one would normally be looking forward to with the next-gen games but, it is appealing because of the name Rockstar.
The game itself is hard to get a grasp on because there are many elements to the game that make it tough but at the same time fun. The whole time as your starting up the game is thinking, “Rockstar made this?”
As you start playing the game, one can get a feel for the way the controller works well with the motion in the game. While initially learning how to feel for the game in between serves, it gives you hints on how to help you volley and strategies on keeping the ball on the table. By doing a curving motion on your right analog, you can direct the ping pong ball either leftward or rightward all depending on how you move your analog stick on the Xbox 360’s controller. Powering up to serve the ball is a pain but, you get used to it. For those gamers who play EA Sports’s Madden, will figure out that charging up the power meter is only to make a big hit across the table.
The graphics in Table Tennis show off next-gen gameplay but the problem is that though it may seems appealing, it is only just that. The graphics on ANY Xbox 360 game are going to look phenomenal, but gameplay and the emotion of Table Tennis make it rather confusing and hard to percept. For instance, could one imagine playing an actual table tennis game but when the ball is traveling at the speed rate your grandma walks, were not looking at an actual speeds a normal table tennis game it is perceived to be. The game is not a bad concept and is and solid “ORIGINAL” idea for a game (which you don’t see too much of these days) but a lot more time could have been spent on working with the controller functions to make it smoother for the gamer.
What also could use some improvement would be the speed of the game. The speed in this game kills time and feels as though one is kind of “waiting” around for the ball to come back into ones court. Hopefully Rockstar can develop an option that lets one speed up the gameplay.
Other than the slow pace of the game, Rockstar has put together quite a beautiful table tennis game but honestly, the game is just plain simple and seems to not enough content for good replay value. Renting the game might be a good idea before making a purchase.
The game itself is hard to get a grasp on because there are many elements to the game that make it tough but at the same time fun. The whole time as your starting up the game is thinking, “Rockstar made this?”
As you start playing the game, one can get a feel for the way the controller works well with the motion in the game. While initially learning how to feel for the game in between serves, it gives you hints on how to help you volley and strategies on keeping the ball on the table. By doing a curving motion on your right analog, you can direct the ping pong ball either leftward or rightward all depending on how you move your analog stick on the Xbox 360’s controller. Powering up to serve the ball is a pain but, you get used to it. For those gamers who play EA Sports’s Madden, will figure out that charging up the power meter is only to make a big hit across the table.
The graphics in Table Tennis show off next-gen gameplay but the problem is that though it may seems appealing, it is only just that. The graphics on ANY Xbox 360 game are going to look phenomenal, but gameplay and the emotion of Table Tennis make it rather confusing and hard to percept. For instance, could one imagine playing an actual table tennis game but when the ball is traveling at the speed rate your grandma walks, were not looking at an actual speeds a normal table tennis game it is perceived to be. The game is not a bad concept and is and solid “ORIGINAL” idea for a game (which you don’t see too much of these days) but a lot more time could have been spent on working with the controller functions to make it smoother for the gamer.
What also could use some improvement would be the speed of the game. The speed in this game kills time and feels as though one is kind of “waiting” around for the ball to come back into ones court. Hopefully Rockstar can develop an option that lets one speed up the gameplay.
Other than the slow pace of the game, Rockstar has put together quite a beautiful table tennis game but honestly, the game is just plain simple and seems to not enough content for good replay value. Renting the game might be a good idea before making a purchase.
February 8, 2010
