This fourth installment in the ‘Outlaw’ series follows much of the franchises tried and tested formula; take a bunch of rag tag hooligans, politically incorrect humour, outlandish play environments and wrap it around a reasonably solid sports title engine and viola, the latest edition to the Outlaw franchise.

To date the Outlaw franchise has consisted of relatively solid if predictable budget based titles. While the basic premise has changed little between the games of Volleyball, Golf and Tennis it is clear that some particular traits of the Outlaw franchise lend themselves well to one particular sport while not so well to others; put simply, Tennis doesn’t leave as much room for Outlaw shenanigans as previous efforts.

Featuring many characters from previous Outlaw games, humourous commentary that while funny will quickly become tiresome to anyone over the age of 15 years, sexual innuendo and a host of novelty mini-games that takes the chore factor out of leveling up each character. Those that have played any previous Outlaw title will know what to expect here so long as they don’t expect quite the same level of execution in the games primary game mechanics; the Tennis itself.

Fitting somewhere between the arcade thrills of Virtua Tennis by Sega and the better known Top Spin on Xbox, Outlaw Tennis doesn’t quite seem to know which direction to take. Much of your players abilities suggest the game leans toward Top Spin, yet the game is so frantically fast that in action it appears to play like a more complex version of Virtua Tennis. So does Outlaw Tennis represent the best of both worlds? Not really.

It’s clear an attempt at providing the player with a wealth of options ranging from the level of spin that can be applied to top spin, slice to backhand and the variety of other shots that Hypnotix have made an attempt at providing some depth to the experience but the sheer speed at which this all takes place makes it near on impossible to take advantage of. Coupled with the variation in game rules and special abilities and the games depth are lost in the ensuing frenetic slog fest.

Overcome this however and the rest of the game remains rather solid. The variation in game rules ensure the challenges never become overly repetitive and often throws in a combination of unique rules to up the ante whether it be ping pong rules, exploding balls or moving obstacles or a combination of all the above and more.

Like Outlaw Golf and Volleyball, the humour will tire fast but at least provide you with some genuine laughs first time round, particularly now that Hypnotix seem to be ever closer to crossing the line of the politically incorrect.

I have to say myself I am a fan of the Outlaw series, particularly Outlaw Golf as for all its novelty takes on the game itself the golf engine lurking below was surprisingly competent; Outlaw Tennis however hasn’t quite mastered the essence of the sport as well as the aforementioned. Still good but not brilliant, Outlaw Tennis will hold some appeal to those that have had any experience with the other titles from the Outlaw stable; others however would benefit from looking at the now budget title Top Spin.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5