Tennis in the Face (PS4) Review
Miranda L Visser / Jan 12th, 2015 No Comments
Few games attempt to create a mixture as volatile as tennis and street justice — that is where Tennis in the Face’s story hits its stride and separates itself from the multitude of other physics-based ball games on the market. While nothing like tennis in the traditional sense, Tennis in the Face brings tennis into the mix only in the well known destructive power of a skilled serve.
In the same air as Angry Birds, Tennis in the Face revolves around using something as a projectile in order to take out other characters and objects in the environment, though lacking the former’s charm which brought it to popularity.
A review of Tennis in the Face could talk about the physics in the game, the crisp art and its amusing caricatures and ragdoll effects, but that would be akin to a review of Flappy Bird presenting it as just about getting a bird through obstacles with no gesture at aimless repetition and ad sales as an interesting manifestation of capitalism — not to send the message that this game is so serious, because it is not.
A Noble Mission
The game follows Pete Pagassi, a disgraced tennis pro wronged by the company whose energy drinks he once peddled. Now he’s out for revenge the only way he knows how: using his sweet tennis skills to set off explosions, break glass barriers, and take out stock brokers, police, hipsters and anyone else addicted to the evil energy drink Explodz.
Explodz energy drink bad!
However, this is not a game about just hitting tennis balls around willy nilly. The player must determine the precise angle at which to propel the tennis ball to create elaborate chain reactions to take out as many enemies with as few swings as they can, bringing players back to its similarity to Angry Birds and other games in the genre.
With its energy drink centered theme, developer 10tons makes more than a few tongue in cheek jabs at corporate sponsorships of athletes and the humorous, and sometimes destructive, outcomes. We are used to our favorite athletes professing that they are “Lovin’ It,” but imagine if they actually indulged in as much McDonald’s fries as they toss around every time a commercial airs.
Tennis in the Face imagines such a situation, except with evil mind control effects. That would never happen. Or would it?
Challenging Puzzles
With more than 50 levels and a multitude of challenges, Tennis in the Face is a great way to kill a few hours while giving your brain a workout trying to figure out the most efficient pattern for each level.
Puzzles are fun, but not overly difficult.
This isn’t an impressive title that offers anything new or different so much as another foray into challenging physics gaming, but that is more than OK. In fact, it’s welcome.
Overall
Tennis in the Face doesn’t pretend to be anything except exactly what it is — a tongue in cheek amusing way to blow off steam and entertain yourself for a few hours while resting. Players will love it just the way it is.
Miranda L Visser
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tags: 10tons , mobile , review , Tennis in the Face , Tennis in the Face Review
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