speedracer
10-08-2007, 02:11 PM
I was highly anticipating this game. The Bigs didn't grab my attention and Wii Sports Baseball, while fun as hell, isn't the full fledged game I like to go after.
First, the GM aspects:
Stats-hounds will love the post game reviews. Full pitching breakdowns. The added effects that you can work up (batters getting a + to going the opposite way) is cool too. You can have your players train to work up skills they need help on, but I found this a little too micro-manage-y, and the automatic training made it a little too vanilla. Somewhere in between handing total control over and being George Steinbrenner would have been nice. They can train as groups, and if chemistry is present, they'll teach each other skills, another nice perk. You can't skip to the end of the season without sitting through 20 minutes of simulated games, which blows. The AI is stingy as hell with trades, making anything more than 1 for 1 player trades (typically involving bench players) unlikely. This is nice in that you can't screw them over, but no action means no trading means you won't be wheelin' n' dealin' crazy style, if that's your thing (I personally enjoy it). Financial aspects are never a real issue in this game... it's kind of an after thought. I never ran out of cash, and didn't particularly pay attention to it after it became clear there was no serious penalty. I love the economics of sports games, so this was a major negative. Signing players after the season was difficult to understand. The players would ask for a number, so I'd give it to em. They'd turn it down. I'd double it. They'd turn it down. I'd triple it. They'd turn it down. A clue as to what the *real* number was sure would have helped.
Game play:
Well done pitching and batting aspects. Intuitive, reasonable, able to hide pitching location in multiplayer games. Running the bases is just so-so. The real bummer here was playing a season against the AI. With difficulty set to hardest (no help with pitching or batting), I was scoring with ease, and striking out the best batters in the game. 25-0 games were common. Stealing bases was at-will (when Nomar steals 110 bags, you know there's a problem). Even in the World Series, the game was typically over by the 3rd inning.
RPG mode:
You can start as a college ballplayer and try to get up to the minors/majors. I was really excited about this mode. There's a ton of variables, and it's kind of a fun mini-RPG until the new wears off when you realize they will talk your face off. Your thumb will get a major workout from all the "A button shut up I don't care" pressing. I played this through 5 or 6 times, and did everything different every time. I tried out being captain, a lover, a workaholic, a bookwoom, and everything in between. It seems that stats, no matter what they are, won't get you there no matter how high you get them. Only performing in the couple of games you get to actually play during the hours to finish get you that minor league contract. That'd be fine if it wasn't front loaded with non-baseball first, with game play coming only at the very end. Finally, you break through and get that contract! The game ends. You don't even get to go through the minor league or majors system. You're done. Disappointment? Uh, yea.
Mechanics of the game are solid. RPG mode is fun twice, once to see it and once to see what changes. Regular season play is throw away. GM mode is uninteresting after minimal play. Replay value swiftly declines. Multiplayer is fun.
I score 1-10, 10 being the best game I've ever played period, 5 being the very middle of the road, 1 being total garbage. I'd give this a 5 for game play, 3 for GM mode, 5 for RPG, 2 for replay value.
Final verdict: 3.5 - 4 out of 10. Rent, don't buy.
First, the GM aspects:
Stats-hounds will love the post game reviews. Full pitching breakdowns. The added effects that you can work up (batters getting a + to going the opposite way) is cool too. You can have your players train to work up skills they need help on, but I found this a little too micro-manage-y, and the automatic training made it a little too vanilla. Somewhere in between handing total control over and being George Steinbrenner would have been nice. They can train as groups, and if chemistry is present, they'll teach each other skills, another nice perk. You can't skip to the end of the season without sitting through 20 minutes of simulated games, which blows. The AI is stingy as hell with trades, making anything more than 1 for 1 player trades (typically involving bench players) unlikely. This is nice in that you can't screw them over, but no action means no trading means you won't be wheelin' n' dealin' crazy style, if that's your thing (I personally enjoy it). Financial aspects are never a real issue in this game... it's kind of an after thought. I never ran out of cash, and didn't particularly pay attention to it after it became clear there was no serious penalty. I love the economics of sports games, so this was a major negative. Signing players after the season was difficult to understand. The players would ask for a number, so I'd give it to em. They'd turn it down. I'd double it. They'd turn it down. I'd triple it. They'd turn it down. A clue as to what the *real* number was sure would have helped.
Game play:
Well done pitching and batting aspects. Intuitive, reasonable, able to hide pitching location in multiplayer games. Running the bases is just so-so. The real bummer here was playing a season against the AI. With difficulty set to hardest (no help with pitching or batting), I was scoring with ease, and striking out the best batters in the game. 25-0 games were common. Stealing bases was at-will (when Nomar steals 110 bags, you know there's a problem). Even in the World Series, the game was typically over by the 3rd inning.
RPG mode:
You can start as a college ballplayer and try to get up to the minors/majors. I was really excited about this mode. There's a ton of variables, and it's kind of a fun mini-RPG until the new wears off when you realize they will talk your face off. Your thumb will get a major workout from all the "A button shut up I don't care" pressing. I played this through 5 or 6 times, and did everything different every time. I tried out being captain, a lover, a workaholic, a bookwoom, and everything in between. It seems that stats, no matter what they are, won't get you there no matter how high you get them. Only performing in the couple of games you get to actually play during the hours to finish get you that minor league contract. That'd be fine if it wasn't front loaded with non-baseball first, with game play coming only at the very end. Finally, you break through and get that contract! The game ends. You don't even get to go through the minor league or majors system. You're done. Disappointment? Uh, yea.
Mechanics of the game are solid. RPG mode is fun twice, once to see it and once to see what changes. Regular season play is throw away. GM mode is uninteresting after minimal play. Replay value swiftly declines. Multiplayer is fun.
I score 1-10, 10 being the best game I've ever played period, 5 being the very middle of the road, 1 being total garbage. I'd give this a 5 for game play, 3 for GM mode, 5 for RPG, 2 for replay value.
Final verdict: 3.5 - 4 out of 10. Rent, don't buy.