High Heat Major League Baseball 2004

"The best baseball game to own right now"

Graphics : 7

The graphics in this game are a HUGE improvement from last years game. Just look at screenshots on gaming sites to see for yourself. The face's of the players aren't good though. Another problem is that almost every batter has the same stance. Which is very disappointing since other games actualy take time give each player a specific batting stance. Framerate issues also arise when you see your player walk up to bat, or sometimes after a homerun. But it is easily ignorable. Overall they are a good improvement from last year, but they still look a few years out of date.

Sound : 1

Pitiful sound. This game has probably the worst commentary of all baseball games out. Sometimes they wont say anything after a homerun. Or their reaction is delayed by like 2 seconds. So after you hit a homerun, you wait 2 seconds, and that guy will finally yell out ''Back to the track, GONE!, homerun!''. There are some plus sides to the commentary however. The game knows when its a player's first major league at-bat. Little stuff like that. The menu music is horrible. It doesn't fit the baseball mood and is best turned off. The crowd also heckles your players, but the voice is actually louder then the whole crowd itself.

Controls : 10

Nothing wrong it. Typical baseball game controls, perfectly done.

Gameplay : 10+

This is why this game is so good. The game has almost perfect gameplay. You can adjust anything using the tuning menu. Don't like the amount of homeruns your hitting? You can change that. Are you making contact to easily? You can change that too. You can change almost everything about this game. From throwing speeds, to baserunning speeds. You name it, its there. Season lengths can be adjusted. Inning length can also be adjusted.

Batting

When you bat, you have to look at the pitch, and try to see where its going to be. You press the direction of where you think the ball is going to be, and press x to swing.

Pitching

This game has a total of 27 pitches. To pitch, you choose what pitch you will throw, then choose to throw a strike or a ball. You control where you want the pitch to go with your analog before the pitch. But like in real life, the pitches don't always go where you want it to go.

Extra Features : 8

High Heat was never really good in this category. Until now. The game has some cool game modes like Franchise, All-Star game, Home Run Derby, 2 on 2 showdown, CaP, player editing, over 20 gameplat adjusting sliders, etc. But the problem is that this games comes with no legends, the Create a player is horrible, no create-a-team, stuff like that.

Replay : 10

You should be playing this for a very long time because of how fun this is. 2 on 2 showdown is also a blast. The franchise lasts forever, and so should your fun.

Buy or Rent? : Buy

This game boasts improved graphics, over 20 adjustable gameplay sliders, and most importantly, the best gameplay hands down of any baseball game. Buy.

Overall : 10

This is the best baseball game out there, buy it!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/03, Updated 05/21/03