AO Tennis 2

Lore & Background

AO Tennis 2 was revealed with a game trailer in November 2019. It is developed and published by the Australia-based video game developer Big Ant Studios, the developer of AO Tennis. It is the second video game that holds the official license of the Australian Open, which gives the game plenty star players from ATP and WTA, including Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Angelique Kerber, Ashleigh Barty and more. The game was released on 9 January 2020 in Europe and 11 February 2020 in North America for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In Japan, the game was made available on 14 May 2020. An official editing tool, which allows players to create their own players and stadiums and share online was available via Steam. The game was released for Amazon Luna on 20 October 2020.

The game features multiple types of tennis match. The re-designed career mode features a new managing system. Players have to earn money and experience that can be used to boost players' skills and stats. The higher level is, the better form would like to perform. While performance on court is important, how to deal with press conference, how to maintain good relationship with your team would also be critical for players' reputations and decide the quality of sponsors that players can pick up. In addition to the solo game, the game introduces a multiplayer mode which offers up to four local players competing head-to-head. A cooperation mode is also available so that players can team up in doubles online. Like its predecessor AO Tennis, all custom players and venues sharing with the community are downloadable for the game.

Reader's Guide

AO Tennis 2 received 'mixed or average' reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received fair approval, being recommended by 42% of critics. The game received a 7 from IGN, with reviewer Tristan Ogilvie commenting the game was 'better-looking' and 'smoother-playing', and approving the improvement of the series. The highest score came from William Thompson of Hooked Gamers, who gave 8 points out of a possible 10, praising the refined career mode and calling the game 'a heap of fun', but noting AI players seemed to be invulnerable as they were often able to hit the ball from anywhere. Dominic Leighton of The Sixth Axis also rated the game an 8 out of 10, summarizing the game 'bright' and 'likeable', pleased with the in-game player creator and community support and the depth of the game, but unhappy with weird crowd sounds and feeling licensed players were far from enough. Brian Mazique compared the game with its predecessor AO Tennis, saying the game 'has more positives than negatives', but also mentioned the AO Tennis series was not 'as complete as other sports titles'. Matt Hewson of player2.net rated the game 'B', praising the developer for learning from their last release, and writing that the game was 'a deep and rewarding simulation' and 'an ace' for hardcore tennis fans. Matt Cox at Rock, Paper, Shotgun commented 'it would be unfair to single out AO Tennis 2 for replicating the banality of tennis when every sports 'em up has the same conceptual flaw'. TY Sheedlo gave two stars out of five at Screen Rant, the lowest score, describing the game as 'a headache' and too hardcore to enjoy, even with its soft-rock soundtrack, and complaining the game was 'unlikely to inspire any interest in the sport on its own'.