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0 Tiebreak, developed by Big Ant Studios and published by Nacon, is the latest tennis simulation game to enter the arena. This is the newest game in Big Ant Studios’ repertoire, with them being the masterminds behind AO Tennis.
Having been in early access since January, Tiebreak has made the jump to a full release. Available across all consoles and PC, the game will cost you around £35-50 depending on platform.
Is Tiebreak a Grand Slam?
If you have played Tiebreak, we’d love to hear what you enjoyed! If you are yet to play, we hope that this review can help you towards making a decision. Either way, drop a comment below and share your thoughts!
Gameplay
With sports simulation games, there is a variety of game modes to explore. Tiebreak is no exception. It bolsters a career mode, tournament mode, online play and the introduction of the Djokovic Slam Challenge. Starting with the latter, the Djokovic Slam Challenge is unique to Tiebreak. And it is a pretty cool tribute to the ATP’s all-time number 1 ranking leader. Through 25 challenges, you experience iconic moments in Djokovic’s career. Starting with Melbourne 2008 before experiencing Djokovic’s gold medal-winning moment against Alcaraz at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Each moment unlocks as you beat the previous challenge. An added award to this challenge means you can unlock specific players through progression.
Pro era unlocked
The main mode within Tiebreak is of course the career mode. Will you create your player? Or will you embody an official player from the extensive list of ATP and WTA players? Whatever choice you make, there are negatives and positives. For my first playthrough, I decided to go with creating my player. However, it was certainly not what I thought it would be. There was no real reward. You cannot level up or improve attributes. There are no training sessions, and fatigue is non-existent. In my opinion levelling up/improving attributes is a must in career mode. You can’t even edit characters post-creation! It certainly seems that much more needs to be added to improve this aspect of the game. Having read some community comments, I know I am not the only one in this sentiment either.
If you were to embody an official player, there is a vast pool to choose from. And, they are fairly impressive player models that look similar to their real-life counterparts.
A highlight of Tiebreak is that players “have been studied with minute detail to reproduce their signature techniques and strategies”. They have used real-world data to ensure an authentic approach. Allowing each AI-powered professional tour player to echo their real-life patterns and tactics.
What is your game-winning shot?
There is some work to be done with the mechanics of the game. Firstly, the game is weighted towards cross-court play. The majority of my point-winning shots were cross-court. It seems that when you try and use the other types of shots, you’re punished for that. When playing I sometimes found that despite being in an ideal position, with enough power to return the serve, the ball would tip the top of the net. There was never any indication as to what I did wrong. Which was a little annoying.
Graphics & Audio
In terms of graphics, there is not too much to say. The professionals look realistic to their real-life counterparts. Courts and arenas look as expected, showcasing a variety of different playing surfaces. Thankfully, I did not experience anything going drastically wrong. There were only a couple of times when I tried to make my player quickly snap in the other direction, and he looked slightly out of place. And by this, I mean his arm and racket going through his body. But this did not happen often. I would say that for 90% of the game, the movement of your player is fluid.
The same can be said about the audio side of Tiebreak. You experience a vast amount of grunts and moans, which is not unusual for a game of tennis. Nothing entirely noteworthy or that truly stuck with me.
Longevity
In terms of potential, there are the foundations of a good tennis game with Tiebreak. However, in its current state, I find it hard to see the replayability. The introduction of the Djovick challenge is certainly a welcome addition. However, with there only being 25 moments, it would not take long for the average player to finish. The lack of a story within the career mode brings doubts. As highlighted earlier, there is a lack of training, reliance on fatigue, and upgrading your created players. There is nothing to inherently challenge you.
One thing I would love to see within the tennis simulation space is a story mode similar to what we have seen in NBA2K and FIFA. Where you follow the journey of a specific player, broken down into chapters, playing almost like a movie. It would be interesting to see this, and I think would genuinely make the game better. Even the addition of simple things such as training and fatigue meaning more, would bring so much to the game.
Although it seems that there is a lack of replayability. It does seem that Big Ant Studio is actively trying to improve its community. Since Early Access, there has been a number of updates where there have been upgrades that fans have recommended. So, don’t write it off yet.
Final Thoughts
I want to love Tiebreak, but I am not sure it was ready for a full release. It seems that although there are the foundations of a good game, there is still plenty more that needs to be improved/added. I’m interested to see how Big Ant Studio improves the game as they receive more feedback and listen to the community.
I am awarding Tiebreak the Bronze Thumb Culture Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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