If they weren't so busy brushing sand from their crevices, the beach volleyball community would probably be rioting in their thongs by now.
Thanks to games such as DOAXBV and Beach Spikers, their once proud sport is now synonymous with taut buttocks, jiggling breasts and quivering thighs.
But wait, all is not lost for Beach Volleyball purists. Summer Heat Beach Volleyball attempts to claw back a little authenticity by featuring strapping beach hunks as well as pneumatic babes in bikinis and by occasionally concentrating on the skills and tactics of the sport. Goodness.
Eye On The Ball The arrow system that shows you when and how hard to hit the ball is ingenious. It's quite tricky to get the timing right at first, but once you get a rhythm going you'll be slamming that ball into the opposition's court like a veteran. In Tournament and Training Mode you can unlock accessories such as sunglasses and costumes as well as new characters and secret levels, but that's as far as it goes in terms of DOA-style novelty. No bizarre dating rituals here. It's all good clean, slightly titillating fun, especially in multiplayer mode, but hardly compelling. The thrust is more Virtua Tennis than DOA, but volleyball doesn't have the intensity or depth of a Wimbledon-style racket-flinging session.
Fine as a fun 'back from the pub' party game but, even with the inclusion of dental-floss bikinis and curvaceous cuties, it's hard to see it having any long-term appeal.
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