US Open 2002
Score: 65% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Strategy First Developer: Wanadoo Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Sports
Graphics & Sound: The graphics in US Open 2002 don't quite reach the level attained in games like Sega's Virtua Tennis, but don't write them off just yet. For a much smaller tennis title, the visuals really aren't all that bad. Character animations are well done, though it could have benefited from more of them. Close-ups on the players themselves retain most of that lifelike look, but all is lost when the camera goes anywhere near the crowd. Yes, its not a big part of sports games, but every time you catch a glimpse of that huge mass of disfigured bodies, it does something bad to your suspension of disbelief. Always present are the grunts of successful swings at the ball. No tennis game would be complete without this sound effect, which has virtually become a trademark of the sport. Accompanying these sound effects are the squeaks and rustles that different courts emit as your player runs over them. A few clips of a referee and some background stadium noises complete this small but well-done assortment of effects. More would have been nice, but at least they're not bad.
Gameplay: If you haven't figured it out already, US Open 2002 is a tennis game, and a basic one at that. You won't find anything here that you can't get in any first rate tennis game. Singles, doubles, tournaments, and even a create-a-player mode are available. These options aren't unheard of, but at least they're present here. The single player mode gives you around 10 international players to use - both men and women - in either the arcade or through a series of tournaments. You can either opt for singles or doubles, which varies the gameplay a bit. Apart from taking one of these world-renowned players on a tour de force of championships offered, you can make your own player. However, the options aren't as in depth here as in other games. First off, there are only a handful of body styles to choose from, not doing much for character variety. Skills are altered by choosing which ones you want to be proficient in and then taking your player through some extremely boring practice sessions. A good feature in theory, but in this case, the execution of it could have used a lot more depth. The last hope to stretch out the playability of this game is its Multiplayer option. It's a good idea, but have fun trying to find anybody actually playing on the internet. Finding a server up is about as common as finding a water fountain in the Sahara.
Difficulty: Unless you've never heard of the game of tennis, this game shouldn't be too hard to master. The AI doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel, but it definitely isn't as developed as in other games. It mostly lacks in the 'learning' department, as you can almost always beat the computer in the same situation, over and over again. Player's strategies are different, but after spending a while playing it, the human factor just doesn't seem to be present.
Game Mechanics: The biggest negative factor US Open 2002 has going against it is its horrible control. Unless you have a controller, playing this game will be a chore. The controls are hard coded into the 4 direction buttons and 4 totally unrelated buttons on the num pad. Playing this game can lead to premature arthritis if you're not careful. Once you figure out where the controls are and what they do (nowhere are they explained), good luck trying to get a grip on sending your player around the court. Hitting the ball is a cinch, but you won't know whether to tap or to hold down the button, and sometimes doing either will leave your player standing around with his thumb you know where and just starting as the ball as it bounces right by him. Unfortunately, US Open 2002 is neither deep enough, nor is the gameplay shiny enough to compete with other, better titles out there. Though not a bad game if you can get past all its hurdles, there just isn't a good enough reason to buy this one instead of another.
-Snow Chainz, GameVortex Communications AKA Andrew Horwitz
Minimum System Requirements: Windows 98/2000/XP/ME, 400 MHz Processor, 64 MB RAM, 16 MB Video Card, 8X CD-ROM   Test System: Windows 98, 1.4GHz AMD Athlon, GeForce 2 mx 32MB video card, 40 gig hard drive, 56x CD-ROM, 256MB DDR Ram, Sound Blaster Live! sound card, T1 Internet connection
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