Summer Heat Beach Volleyball

Gaming Age

This game comes in a very…and I mean a very close second to "Outlaw Volleyball" in terms of great game play and lasting appeal.

GameSpy

It's not the T&A fest that DOA Xtreme Volleyball is, but it isn't afraid to flash some skin (though no "nude code"). Where it's at its strongest, happily, is in the gameplay. The button scheme is in-depth enough to make the action challenging.

Gamers' Temple

Its gameplay is competent, but not challenging enough to hold the interest of sports game players for the long term. Think of it as a day at the beach during the summer - a nice little diversion with some pleasant scenery.

GameSpot

Despite some rough edges, Summer Heat Beach Volleyball gets enough of the fundamentals right to keep things fun.

Game Chronicles

The game could have been so much better with a more balanced AI, or at least a more gradual progression. Hitting that AI “brick wall” about halfway through the tour may have less-dedicated gamers hitting the showers.

GamePro

The sex appeal factor is just okay, so it’s not going to blow you away if you’re mainly in the market for eye candy or compromising situations.

Gamestyle

Credit is due for the canny and accurate use of a line judge, and memorisation of the last picked team for exhibition and arcade games - and for the wonderful replays, enabling you to see all of the action. Part of that action is, naturally, some breast-juggling. We just thought you'd like to know.

PSX Nation

Though the graphics are miles below the photo-realistic polygon bodies in “Beach Spikers” (GameCube), “DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball” and “Outlaw Volleyball” (XBox) the control and gameplay are spot-on.

Eurogamer

The major drawback of Summer Heat is an issue of longevity; there really isn't much to keep you at it for longer than a couple of days, despite the fairly entertaining co-op and versus multiplayer modes.

GameZone

Not as fun or as sexy as it should have been, Summer Heat Beach Volleyball has its moments of addictive diversion but its faults keep the game from being a true volleyball game.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

It actually focuses on solid gameplay. What a concept. [Sept 2003, p.100]

Game Informer

I still wish this game was sexier. The play is serviceable - the control scheme grows on you - but the character models are quite shoddy. [Aug 2003, p.91]

GameNow

What it lacks in curves and naughty bump-mapping, it makes up for in sheer gameplay. [Sept 2003, p.54]

IGN

It's one of the deepest games of its kind over the last couple of years for sure, but with an absolutely stupid artificial intelligence, an emphasis on powerful strikers, and an affinity for the jump spike above everything else, it's hard to recommend this one to true fans of the sport.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Heat's mushy [control] scheme relies too heavily on context, making your beach bunny set when you intended an unstoppable spike, and its overbearing interface banishes guesswork (and psych-out strategy) from the game. Still, the virtual volleyball action is fast-paced fun. [Sept 2003, p.112]

G4 TV

Even with its extras -- [it's] still a bit on the ditzy, simplistic side. It's appropriate really, since almost nobody wants an overly simulated volleyball title. As a raw game, it certainly plays better than the admittedly better-looking "DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball."

Village Voice

The power spiking constitutes the only true action, and the preternaturally conspicuous jiggling the only eye candy. The animation sucks, and the game's most promising aspect—complex plays enabled by your teammates—is undermined by poor artificial intelligence.

Cheat Code Central

Although the game has much more depth than DOA, with more moves giving you more control on the court, this is still not the definitive version of a volleyball game.

All Game Guide

A passable diversion between more traditional sports games, but nothing more.

GMR Magazine

These ladies are hamstrung by weak animation, dinner-theater accents, and brain-dead A.I., and you can't appreciate their asses - uh, assets thorugh the long-range camera or motion-blurred replays. [Sept 2003, p.69]

PSM Magazine

Plagued with underdeveloped AI and repetitive, clunky gameplay, SHBV is one of the least appealing games of 2003. [Sept 2003, p.38]