Table Tennis (Xbox 360)

Graphics

The game has a good solid graphics engine behind it with some gorgeous lighting and shadows. It has one of the best camera systems I’ve seen in a sports title yet and the way the camera cuts to show a dangerous or especially excellent shot really adds to the overall atmosphere of this title. The subtle cuts and shifts of the camera do not interfere with the game’s play at all and the in-game camera (which can be altered) is never intrusive and doesn’t glitch once.

The special effects for the focus shots are subtle and the lighting that surrounds the ball to indicate the shot’s type of spin, again, is subtle and not garish. I can see people that have colour blindness having a problem with the title in regards to dealing with counter shots.

The game to me looks suitably next generation enough and certainly delivers in the eye candy department.

Models

These are beautifully tied in to the graphics engine and these models have a unique personality, both in terms of style and looks over the various players. Jesper the Swedish player is suitably imposing whilst Luc the French player is a little kinder of face but has a kind of arrogant look to him. The other players have been given a great level of detail and they are superbly modelled.

The various surroundings are well done; the table is simple and effective with a good level of detail to the net and area around it.

Animations

It is here that the game really shines and the animations of the players are full of life, motion and true character. Their personality and reactions are all animated as well as their likes and dislikes, you can see from their face if they are a reasonable competitor and Jesper it seems is not fond of losing especially if he’s defeated in a stylish manner. He can get downright miserable and at least once threw a tantrum when he lost a shot.

Every animation in the game, from serves to reactions and various shots are captured with a loving feel for the character at hand. Each player has their own distinctive player animation style as well as characteristics (power and so on) that define them. You often watch the excellent jump-cut in-game replays just to see these wonderful animations replayed.

AI

As if the gorgeous graphics weren’t enough and the animation, the AI in the game which has been tuned to three settings is a true landmark for these kinds of titles. At times we felt as though they were a little too human and it’s interesting to see them actually make mistakes, fluffing serves and even miscalculating their returns. One shot actually saw Jesper hesitate for a moment before he tried to go for it anyways and the ball landed on the outside of the table, he was gutted and the AI put him into a very aggressive stance for the next shot.

It seems as though the opponents actually watch and learn from your playing style, they seem to study your moves and react with a variety of tactics. If they have worked out that you like to favour one side for your returns, be sure to note that they will exploit that weakness and turn it to an advantage even on the lower difficulty levels. When you turn them up to Hard then they use all the tricks of the trade, become increasingly harder to return and save up their Focus to devastating effect.