There has been a lot of speculation on the actual game play. Anthony was kind enough to explain the way in which the game play has changed and how it won’t affect the general Top Spin player. He states that they have gone back a bit with the game play and kept most of the features, but in his words ‘ they have took it up a notch’.

Game play has changed and been upgraded to make it more realistic and not an updated version of pong. Now there is a great influence on positioning and setting up the shot correctly. Pressing the A button (Xbox controller) makes the player start to backswing preparing him/herself to take the shot, and releasing the A button makes the player take the shot. Anthony also emphasised the use of the right analogue stick more in Top Spin 3 which helps you gain more control of the serve and makes the movement feel more realistic and fluid.

I was concerned when I heard that the controls had been updated but Anthony assured us that they haven’t been changed to the point where a Top Spin fan will be totally unfamiliar. It is in fact easy to pick up and play he states, if you were to just use the A button, you will still be able to play a rally and be involved in the game. But if you are wanting to be advanced in the game and make the most of it, it is vital to learn the new technique of playing. As mentioned earlier positioning and timing is the core element in Top Spin 3. Knowing your players attributes is also a key element you must learn in order to play shots to the best.

So what game play modes does Top Spin 3 offer the player?

Career mode is generally very similar to Top Spin 2, you start as an amateur and work your way through a series of matches and tournaments to finally find yourself in the large professional tournaments. They added another element to the career mode which is after you have played the professional level, you now get the chance to play the legends on real courts.

Top Spin school is something that was in the previous game which includes an integrated tutorial. This is a mode that is available for the player who doesn’t like to read a manual and would rather have a hands on approach to learning and mastering the game. You can go into this to brush up on your skills prior to entering career mode and this function can be turned off if you don’t wish to play it. Also there is the added bonus of fun mini games to play when you don’t want to play the career mode.

Anthony also went into detail regarding the online play with Top Spin 3. He was asked what the plans are for DLC. They plan to include new players at a later date (stating that the legends are available straight away in the game), new equipment will be added and also new clothing too. More and more to make your character even more customisable and up to date with tennis fashion.

One thing that is disappointing with the online mode is the fact (as with Top Spin 2) you cannot have a doubles vs. doubles match with 4 consoles. They have kept this function the same as the previous, 2 consoles only for a doubles vs. doubles match (which we all know after a couple of months, it can be hard to find another couple to play against). He did say that they did hope to have this function in Top Spin 3 but there were technical issues which stopped them adding it to the final game.

There will also be the same standard ranked matches online, which is a feature that really couldn’t be changed (why change something that works) but Anthony mentioned that they have in fact added a new tournament to Top Spin 3. I think it was called world tour mode were a gamer can enter a world tournament which has a huge ranked leader board and it basically plays like a real game of tennis. Another good point to add is that the leader board resets after 2 weeks so that if you are late in purchasing the game, you won’t have people with an added advantage who has been playing months in advance to you.

Top Spin fans will not be disappointed with the next instalment of this game and players who haven’t played a tennis game before should give it a go.

I just want to thank Anthony DeLuca for giving me an insight into the game and wish him the best of luck for the title

Remember the games release has said to be the 24^th June, so put it in your diary!