Now before you read this, make sure you have read my first impressions post I did when I first got Eleven Table Tennis VR. Find it here: https://thelocalleaguetabletennisplayer.com/2021/04/30/table-tennis-in-vr-first-impressions/.
So now you’ve read this, we can get stuck into business. First, I can say that by far and away Eleven is the best table tennis video game I have ever played. That being said, their aren’t many like it. I played an old table tennis game by Rockstar Games on the Xbox. That was good, but I found the only way to beat the higher difficulties was to defend, so it was boring.
Then the various Wii attempts at table tennis with games like Wii Sport Resort and the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games which are good, but can never match the immersive VR experience.
In the above pictures are my Oculus Quest 2 in its case. Eleven is the only game I have really played much. I have Beatsaber as well, but I normally just go on that to warm up for Eleven!
As well as playing against people online, Eleven has a lot of mini-games which are good for honing your skills. For example, you can play against the computer on a number of different difficulties. I found playing the computer hard, because usually when I play against a human, they miss quite often. The computer never misses, or hits the net.
The only way to win points is to hit winners which is a good test of your shots. Beating the easy difficulty is very easy, but I had a few problems with the medium. It took me about two or three goes to finally win. I once had a go against the hardest difficulty, but didn’t win a single point!
As well as this, there are a few other mini-games which provide something a bit different. There is a really good practice area where you can set a robot up to feed you various shots to hit. You can have it do a top or back spin serve as well as forehand smashes, which I have to practice a lot!
There is also a serve practice area as well as quadrant drills and even beer pong!
Anyway, the main event of the game is online play, which is fantastic. The more I have played the game, the more I have found out how big the online community is. I thought VR was quite a rare form of gaming, but loads of people play Eleven!
After I first played, I turned my mic off so I could get a few wins under my belt. However, when I tried to turn it back on it wouldn’t work. But after a recent update, it works again so it is quite inconsistent. I have had some awesome matches. The levels do vary quite a lot. I have thrashed some people, with some of them rage quitting part way through the match!
I have had really close matches with others, and some have just outplayed me. The thing I struggle most with in the game is movement. I find it hard to move around knowing there is a small coffee table behind me that I might fall over at any moment! So defending against lots of top spin is hard.
Also, my serves don’t have as much bite as in real life. At ‘real’ table tennis, I like to put as much side or back spin on the ball as I can, but I can’t seem to do that in VR. So I’m limited to short or long serves, either on the left, right or in the middle of the table. That is enough to beat some players, but most return them with ease.
After playing for a few weeks, I discovered just how large the online community is surrounding the game. I have joined a really active Facebook group where people actually organise tournaments. I haven’t played in one yet, but I’m sure I will as they are always going on!
There is also a website which keeps a detailed breakdown of all the matches I have played as well as my online rankings. Unlike most players I have come across, I have won more matches than I have lost. However, I have only played a total of 27 matches with most players way in the thousands!
I have won 17 matches and lost 10, which I’m quite happy with. Also, every player has what is called an ELO. I’m still not sure what that stands for, but basically it means it’s easy to find players of a similar standard as you. Everyone starts with an ELO of 1500, and it moves up and down when you win and lose.
Mine is currently 1617, so I have moved up fairly well so far. I have played one player ranked over 1700 and he thrashed me so I know I still have a lot of work to do.
Anyway, with ‘real’ table tennis’ not really going on at the moment, I will probably write about the Eleven tournaments I play in more than real ones for the foreseeable future.
If you have the means, I would highly recommend this game. It’s so realistic that I’m sure my ‘real’ game would have improved as a result of it!
The Local League Table Tennis Player 