High Heat Major League Baseball 2003

"The game of baseball without steroids and strikes."

Introduction: I will just say this to start off, this isn't the prettiest game you will find out there. Other baseball games will run bases around this one in the graphics department. As usual though, graphics don't equal gameplay, and this is a great example of such. This is one of the smoothest and fastest experiences I have ever had the honor to deal with on a sports game. The best comparison I could come up with for this game is a mud bath, sloppy on the outside, but refreshing and purifying inside.

Graphics:Don't judge a game by its looks
This game in the area of visuals is mediocre compared to other sports games, such as the All Star Baseball series. To say this games graphics were bad would not be accurate, it is just they are sub-par for a sports game. The stadiums are fairly accurate, but the lack of being able to get the rights for advertisements (Come on, Damon Dunkers is not the real thing) sort of hindered the visual experience. The crazy batting stances for some players are missing, which if they were there, would make this all the more realistic. Also, the fans seemed to be little paper cut-outs placed in seats and moved up and down, but I can't hinder a score for that small detail, since most sports games have blobs for fans.
Everything else in the game is pretty solid graphically, the players don't look too stocky or thin, which is a plus. Rich Garces actually looks like he does in real life. Also, the brawling animations are pretty funny, if not at all that accurate, but with brawls, they are supposed to look funny. Arguments with the umpire are a little un-inspired, but I guess you cannot expect a Lou Pinella argument all the time. One more complaint to end this section, the ball, if it is a home run, is phantom, since it goes through the grandstand and nets or walls.

Props:
Arguments with umpires
Brawls
Good Player Physics

Slops:
Phantom ball goes through walls and seats on Home runs.
Not up to par with competitors
Fans are made of Flubber
Unavailability of realistic advertisement

Sound:He just keeping him close
The sound in High Heat is not the most impressive audio in a game, but it is good. I doubt it would disappoint many people, about as many as I would expect it to impress. In baseball terminology, I guess it could be considered a bloop hit, not pretty, but it works very well.
Honestly, I do not have many complaints about the audio of the game. One of my main concern are the fans, which once again disappointed me, but not having any spirit 90% of the time. You do not hear a cheer in Fenway on a walk or a hit. The umpire calls are normal strike or ball, nothing special, no intensity. The music is near non-existent in this game, which is a shame. Those are my three complaints about sound in High Heat.
Now, for my complements on the sound, I have a few of those too. The announcers, surprisingly, have not been suckered in to my mute button yet. They aren't funny or refreshing, but they get the job done on a much better basis than certain other sports games do. They list what the player did last year once in a while, but not often enough to make you sick of it. Also, the call the balls and strikes very well, knowing when your pitcher paints the corners, or sends so high cheese. They don't screw up often, which is very nice. The sound of the bat hitting the ball is decent too, since it doesn't give a huge cracking sound for a ground ball to second, or a ping sound for a long-ball. My last complement for this section is what I gave a downer to before, the fans. I like how they actually do boo when a pitcher tries to pick off the home team's runner 4 times or when the home-team's pitcher gives up 14 runs in 4 innings.

Props:
Announcing is above par
Fans react to some action
Bat sounds are not crazy

Slops:
Fans don't react to all action
Umpires are mediocre sounding
Little Music is used

Gameplay:A Grand Slam
I love this gameplay. That is the one statement that could explain my whole review, but obviously I will go more in depth. Just trust me, I will have more Props than Slops in my summary.
OK, lets just get my complaints over with here. The Batting interface isn't that good without a cursor. I personally like it slightly more with a cursor, but the non-cursor way works well enough. The messy menus when it comes to a fantasy draft is really a downer, since Fantasy Drafts are great when neatly done. My main gripe though is no franchise mode, which kills the general managerial part of the game. That is basically all I do not like in the gameplay area of HH2003.
Now, to the section where I brag about High Heat 2003. Now, first of all, I like the fact that you pitcher gets tired after a small amount of pitches. I realize a lot of people don't like this because it isn't realistic for Tom Glavine to tire after 62 pitches. That is true, but it is realistic if he had pitched 7 scoreless innings and he was tired. They did the low pitch count for a reason, and that reason was to make sure you didn't take advantage of the computer swinging at every second strike for an out. I love that part.
Second of all, I like the pitching interface. Like the batting interface, it does not have a cursor to place your pitches exactly where you want, which seems very realistic. As the game goes on, your pitcher might not aim as well and might not hit the corners. I like the interface for the reason it coincides very well with your pitcher's fatigue.
The rosters, for when this game was released was pretty good. You have John Burkett with the Red Sox as well as Dustin Hermanson, which was very nice to see, but the schedule wasn't updated to 2002. (Note: An update has been brought out since the release of the game). Still, the rosters aren't as updated as I would like and the schedule caused some grievances for fans wanting the best realistic experiences, but not that bad at all.
A couple other things that were nice was the ability to set lineups for both leagues and for Righties and Lefties, very convenient. A multitude of options and tuning selections allowed a good experience for the casual or hard core fan. Not to mention, if you decide to simulate the games to see the results, they are usually accurate, a nice touch. For a final touch, it is very nice you actually seem to earn every strikeout you get.

Props:
Overall Realistic Gameplay
Very good pitching interface and fatigue
Great tuning menus and options
Good Roster
Accurate simulation stats
Ability to set-up line-up for different situations
Strikeouts are very well earned

Slops:
Messy Menus
Bad Fantasy Draft
Batter Interface odd without a cursor
No franchise mode

Buy, Rent, or Crush:
At the least, definitely rent it if you are even a little bit interested in baseball. The modes are easy enough for beginners, but good enough for experts. I bought it myself, and I love it, not to mention a little bit of the money goes to charity.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/02, Updated 07/09/02