The positioning of the player on the court and the timing of the swing have always been important elements in the gameplay of the Top Spin series; but, whilst the previous entries at least offered some degree of accessibility for the novice player, Top Spin 3 takes these key elements and ramps up the realism even further. It will take even seasoned Top Spin players at least a couple of hours to get the new swing method down, and another few on top of that to truly master the controls. To anyone approaching the series for the first time, this may seem like too daunting a task.

Players would be well advised to check into the tennis school upon booting up the game, as it offers a good introduction to the mechanics. It is certainly a more enjoyable first stop than the career mode, which could conceivably be used to treat sufferers of insomnia, such is its initial banality. Picture two novice tennis players, both fairly athletic, yet incapable of hitting shots with the necessary power and accuracy to win points without their opponent making a mistake. Now eliminate almost all possibility of mistakes being made, and you have a fairly accurate picture of the early stages of the career mode.

Endless, tedious rallies litter the first few tournaments, and with no way to level up skills outside of playing matches, the career mode quickly turns into the sort of grind-a-thon that Blizzard would be proud to put their name to. Win matches, move up to the next rank, get beaten heavily, return to previous rank to level up skills, move back up to next rank... this pattern continues throughout the career mode. Thankfully, it does improve once the human and A.I. characters reach a decent level of ability; whether most players will persevere for that long is, however, a subject of contention.

Those that do should have an excellent grip on the controls by the time they reach the latter stages of their virtual career. But, even with the swing mechanic fully mastered, there is still a certain something missing from Top Spin 3 that stops it from being a truly rewarding experience. This is due, in part, to the slightly cumbersome controls, but is mainly down to the risk and power shots, which strip away almost all control from the player and work on a sporadic and seemingly random basis. When the central focus of the gameplay is to simulate the timing and precision required to execute each shot, it falls somewhat flat when a simple button combination is equally likely to either send the ball crashing past your opponent for a winner or fly out of play.

The power shots are clearly the worst offender, but there are also a number of other small niggles that are inimical to Top Spin's attempts to position itself as a realistic tennis simulator. Primary to this is the general lack of atmosphere during the games, which leaves the player feeling flat, even after they have executed a perfect drop-shot, or sent a winner past their opponent from a seemingly impossible angle. The crowd appear to have been pulled from your average snooker audience - neglecting to cheer for the players or offer any sort of reaction until the point has ended, staying deadly silent in the meantime. This may have been the accepted etiquette back in the days of the Lawn Tennis Association's formation, but anyone who witnessed this year's Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will know that it is not an accurate reflection of the modern-day game.

Speaking of Nadal, he makes an exclusive appearance in the Playstation 3 edition of the game, taking his place in a decent line-up that also includes Federer, Andy Murray and even Boris Becker, but inexplicably leaves out Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic and offers only a scant selection of female players. In the end, however, it doesn't really make much of a difference, as there is little to distinguish the players as far as animation and play-style is concerned. It is a sad indictment on Top Spin 3 that the arcade-styled Virtua Tennis 3 is able to give a better feeling of individuality to each of its characters.

It seems that PAM Development may have spent a little too much time on the swing mechanic, whilst neglecting the other important areas that do a good sports game make. The player needs to be rewarded for their efforts: a goal scored in Pro Evolution Soccer would not be as gratifying if the net didn't bulge, the crowd roar and the camera pan in on a well-modelled, recognisable version of the goal-scorer. Top Spin lacks these touches, seemingly happy to offer depth of control over everything else, and it is because of this that it fails to fulfil its purpose, either as a fun game of virtual tennis or as a simulation of the sport.

True tennis fans will probably find some mileage in Top Spin, even if only against similarly minded friends, but for most this will go down as a bland and ultimately disappointing game that takes realism a step too far and squashes any concept of fun in the process.