What Tennis Elbow 4 is
Tennis Elbow 4 is a tennis simulation built around anticipation, positioning and risk management. The ball, strike and player physics have been fully reworked compared to Tennis Elbow 2013, so rallies play out from the physics and the tactical situation rather than from scripted outcomes. Cross-court rallies, changes of rhythm, defensive play and risky winners all emerge naturally. You get the full shot selection of a real court: safe strikes, accelerations, topspin, slices, drop shots, lobs, volleys and smashes. Nine court surfaces each have their own rebound, from clay and grass to hard and indoor synthetic, and there are 21 stadiums around the world with moving sun and night sessions. Commentaries come from Tennis TV commentator Darren Kilfara.
Playing together
The game supports singles, 3-player games and doubles, with split screen and local co-op on one machine, plus LAN and online play. Online doubles with 4 human players works on one computer, or on two computers with 2 players each, but not across four separate computers. Remote Play Together is available. Matches are configured with 1 to 6 games per set, in best of 1, 3 or 5 sets, and there are 7 camera modes to pick from. The Country Cup runs singles and doubles competitions alongside the tours.
Online play uses peer-to-peer connections with no relay server. If you are behind CGNAT, or cannot forward a UDP port or use UPnP on your router, you will not be able to host a match, though you should still be able to join someone who is hosting.
Before you start
The basics click quickly, but the depth sits in timing, movement and reading the ball. Assists such as Auto-Positioning, Footwork Boost and Aiming Preview let you start casually, and you can turn them down as you get comfortable for a more demanding, precise game. There are 6 difficulty levels, each split into 10 sublevels, so the challenge can be tuned finely — lower levels suit learning the controls and playing the career at your own rhythm, while higher levels push the pace and pressure closer to professional tennis.
The World Tour is large: over 3500 players evolving across 70 years, from 1973 for men and 1983 for women through to 2042, with more than 400 tournaments each year from Junior events to Pro finals, plus a full ranking system and 3D male and female players that are fully customizable. The engine is also modding-friendly, with many mods downloadable directly from within the game to add or improve players, outfits, courts and sounds. Note that the game is in Early Access.