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The Outlaw series of video games has always been somewhat of a microcosm of all the stuff that everyone loves to hate - or hates to love - about marketing today. It's as if all of the genius that results in yogurt in "action tubes", or McDonald's putting hipsters and rap songs in cheeseburger commercials (you know, because Big Macs are what's going down in the streetz, yo) combined to form what some executives probably thought was the perfect game idea. You can almost hear the line of thinking that spawned the series back in the day in your head; I always figured it to be something like this:
Suit 1: "Hey guys, those wacky sports games are selling like hotcakes nowadays. The investors want to know how we can get in on some of that action."
Suit 2: "Okay, okay...let's make a wacky sports game...but with explosions. And unexplained fighting."
Suit 1: "AWESOME. And what about boobs? The kids are totally about the boobs in this modern age."
Suit 2: "Exemplary. Explosions, fighting, and boobs. Let's slot this in for about 100k sold."
Suit 1: "Indubitably. Well, I'm off to do a rail of coke off of this Brazilian hooker's back. See you guys at lunch."
Suit 2: "Later."
Suit 3: *adjusts monocle*
Alright, so maybe there wasn't a monocle. Still, you know a somewhat similar discussion had to have done the trick in creating this franchise. After infusing golf and volleyball with several D-cups worth of attitude, developer Hypnotix pushes the Outlaw franchise - now with new publisher Global Star - forward with a foray into tennis. Outlaw Tennis for the PlayStation 2 takes the classy sport of racquets, rebounds and rallies, and puts in all the pyrotechnics, fisticuffs, convicts, hookers and anything else necessary to render the game as radically extreme to the max as possible. The in-your-face presentation is the hook as usual; the problem is that the rest of the package still isn't enough to completely reel you in.
Right from the start, you get a choice of several gameplay modes, including Exhibition, Multiplayer and the main Tour Mode where you'll spend most of your singleplayer time. Things start off pretty decently for Outlaw Tennis' gameplay, as it leans towards the arcade/technical hybrid style of Microsoft's Top Spin Tennis - with the obligatory Outlaw-style quirks, of course. There's a face button for every kind of shot from lobs to slices, and the shoulder buttons act as both turbos and shot modifiers for even more shot variety.
The gameplay starts getting a little hairy from there however, because the position-based hitting makes it somewhat difficult to make the shots you want when you need to make them; combined with the sometimes-cheap computer AI, there might be more colorful language coming from you than the game itself. Should you grow weary of the CPU making impossible plays in a regular match, you can always leap over the net and knock the crap out of your opponent via the delightfully simple fighting system...or, you can try one of the cool match variants instead. Nothing soothes a bout of impromptu game rage like a game of tennis pinball.
Besides different match types, the courts themselves can be tweaked by setting explosives on the court, changing the weather, and more. Even the line judges can change a game in all manner of ways by granting turbo bonuses or penalties to players. As you progress through the Tour Mode, you'll be able to take your character through awesome drill minigames that can increase its serve power, speed, endurance, accuracy and control. The more you train, the better you and your powered-up character'll be through the Tour, and the more drills you'll unlock - not a bad deal at all. If you're in the mood to dispense beatings to players that aren't the CPU or your buddies next to you, you can take the game online with the PS2 Network Adapter for some singles or doubles matches with other Outlaw Tennis couch jockeys all across the Internet.
The graphics are as over-the-top as the presentation is, with decidedly hyperactive animation bringing the characters somewhere north of generic. Granted, it's not as if Hypnotix pushed the envelope with the character modeling and such, but the hip-hop posers really look and move like hip-hop posers, and the strippers really move like strippers...with impressively pendulous anatomies. The nifty-looking special moves and explosion effects wouldn't be out of place in some shooter or fighting game, either.
The sound is a mixed bag, as the original music - a bizarre mixture of cheesy rap songs, cheesier 1980s-style butt rock, and other such forgettable tunage - is barely decent, but the character voice acting is actually fairly impressive. The game's announcer, voiced by the Daily Show's Steven Colbert, is funny now and again also...but constant in-game repetition of his jokes, along with some terrible writing, bring his work down a peg or three.
Outlaw Tennis is more of the same for the franchise - a solid game, with an inspired (if a bit overdone) presentation. The gameplay variety makes it worthwhile, and the online multiplayer gives it good replay value as well. Besides, with Global Star giving it a budget price tag of $19.99, you could definitely do worse with a purchase. Somewhere, Poochie the Rockin' Dog is smiling, as the simple premise, a liberal dose of humor, and a smattering of killer curves make Outlaw Tennis a case of "extreme" marketing you can live with.
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