MVP Baseball 2004

"Good and bad all in one"

It's that time of the year again. Well, yea it is tax season, but it's also time for BASEBALL! We await every season to see how different our teams are due to free agency, how well our favorite players will do. Will a key player get injured or will a AAA call up have a blockbuster season? It's also the season for the four major sports video game companies to release their titles. Last year the crown for the best baseball game of the year went to EA for their MVP 2003. Will they get it again this year? Let's find out...

First off there is one thing you should know about me. I am not an EA lover, every game they put out I do not have to automatically have nor do I believe everyone is inherintly good. On the same token I have played EA games for a long time, ever since back in the days of the Commodore 64 when everyone knew them as Electronic Arts. So what I'm basically trying to say is I have a pretty unbiased opinion......in my own opinion. This review is basically in three parts; What's good about the game, what's bad about the game, and just what's plain missing from the game.

The Good

One of the top reasons I personally liked last years MVP baseball and why I like this one as well is the batting control. Unlike past All-Star baseball games and other ones as well there is no cursor that you have to move around the screen and pray that you put it in the right spot to get a hit. Also unlike last years Sega 2k3 it's not impossible to get homeruns, in fact is't pretty easy. Batting is bascially the same in this game as it was last year, and during the past with Triple Play. Press one button to swing a different one to bunt, and use the analog stick to try to pull it, hit it the other way, hit it on the ground, and hit a fly ball. It's a very basic system, but it's also very well done.

Pitching is done much the same way as it was last year. By default every batter has hot and cold zones you try to avoid or pitch to. Using a meter you can try to throw the ball harder and/or more accurate. It's pretty easy to pick up. Speaking of meters, fielding is also the same. Hold down the throw button to make a stronger throw, if you hold it down too long you can throw it off line and maybe get an error.

So far we've talked about stuff that has stayed the same, but there are plenty of things that are new. A great new addition is Dynasty Mode. In this mode you take control of a team for 120 years. Every year you get goals you should attain to increase your manager's ranking. Now I know what you are thinking. Only 120 years to use my team why that's only about 19,440 games (not counting post season). Don't fret because in this season's MVP Baseball you can not only play the games of your Major League Team, but you can also take control of their AAA and AA teams. That's right, you actually get to play Minor League games. Now I bet you are feeling overwhelmed, well not to worry there are some things you can do. You can either Play the games, Quick Sim the games, or you can manage the games. Managing the games is pretty fun to do, it's basically a text based speeded up version of a game. You can make all the decisions as a manager without having to sit through every ptich. You can tell a player to bunt or swing away, pinch hit or swap out pitchers and if you get tired of it you can always intervene and do things for yourself. Another very, very big positive comes in the form of you don't have to have unlocked players in your games. Anyone who played ESPN Football knows how much of a hassle it was to have cartoon characters unlocked and boosting a sub par team to goddliness. In MVP 2004 you can choose to outright not allow them in a game.

Games are quick. I don't really know why in MVP 2004 that games seem to go by quicker, but they do. You really get the feeling that you don't mind playing all 162 games.

The Bad

It wouldn't be EA without some issues. Like I mentioned before I like EA, but let's be honest. Every year with their sports games all they really do is make minor improvements while letting serious issues pass.

Fielding is evil. I'd love to leave it at that but I shall explain. Im the default mode of manual, only player controled players can pick up the ball. This sounds great except the fact that the game will not automatically switch to the closest player to the ball. A computer controlled player could infact walk directly over the ball, but they will not pick the ball up. You have to switch to that player before they will and in the mean time that hitter is rounding second going to third. Another fielding problem is that collision is still far from being exact. I do like the fact the ball does just roll through walls and actually interacts with the stadium when hit foul. However, if a ball should be foul the computer team can actually dive and catch the ball through a wall. This is a headache and a half. Also, the players can sometimes run through eachother and when they run into a wall they just stand there. One final issue I have with fielding is what counts as an error and what does not. If the ball hits the pitcher it is not an error. If you throw the ball wild and one of the basemen misses it and the opponent gets an extra base, it is sometimes an error. If a fielder seems to make no attempt to catch a ball that is going right over them it is always an error. Oh, and if you do get an error you can still get a perfect game. That's right, in fact I had two fielding errors cause my first basemen dropped two straight balls to him, but I still had it count as a perfect game.

Stealing bases also has some issues as well. I like to play as the Royals, a pretty decent speedy team. So I tend to like to steal a lot so this annoys me more than anything. Your baserunners may or may not try to get back to their base when the pitcher tries to pick them off. I don't get it, sometimes they dive over to get back, sometimes they just stand there, and other times they try to steal.

Replays, I hate replays, but people out there must love em because in every sports game you will ever see they are chuck full of them. And you can't turn them off either, only allow there to be less of them. Sure this is my own opinion but there is a replay issue. Let's say you strike a player out with a high fastball. On the replay the ball will basically go into the catcher's face and he'll make no attempt to catch the ball.

The game features a couple of additional modes of play, Homerun Showdown and Pitching Showdown. Both of these are pretty bland. In Homerun Showdown you basically try to hit more flyballs and homers than the oppent, by getting more distance on your balls you gain points in the distance bar, if you get a pre-specified distance then you win. You'll lose points for strikes and fouls. One of the issues I have is the fact you really never need to hit a homerun to win. It's quite possible to win without hitting one. Pitching Showdown on the otherhand is pretty lame. You have to strike out a pre-specified number of betters before the other pitcher. This would be great if the game didn't lag during it. Both of these alternative modes of play are bland and lack any ingenuity.

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE, play a game, SAVE, SAVE, SAVE, repeat. This game can get really frustrating with it's saving. After every game it asks you to save your EA Sports Bio. This is basically a file for all 2004 EA Sports Games. You unlock special things the more you play. After that you need to remember to save your profile so that your points and stats don't disapear. Finally you have to actually save your dynasty itself.

Finally, the worst thing about this game is the commentary. It's absolultly terrible. Not only is it boring and void of anything remotely appearing to be humor but it's just crap. If the commentary wasn't bad enough, it's glitched. I had them commenting about a pitcher who was the starting pitcher, in the last game. Players who weren't even pitchers striking people out or who were fielding that they said just got a hit.

The Missing

There are a few elements that in my opinion seem to be missing from MVP baseball. What I don't understand is every year they add a bit more ownership type stuff with Madden like being able to build a stadium, change prices, ect. Yet none of these things have seen the light of day in the baseball version.

One thing I've never understood about EA is their EA Traxx. They get about 10-15 songs from bands you'll probably never hear of and most of it is rap. The only time you can ever hear these songs is in the menus. I'm wondering if they'll ever let you listen to music DURING the game. I don't know about you but most of my time is spent actually playing the game, not looking at menus.

The rosters were last updated in January, so missing are the trades and signings that happen since then. In Free Agency are some big name players like Greg Maddux who isn't with his proper team.

Overall

Overall, the game is probably one of the better baseball games to come out this season. Although it contains several flaws, some possibly serious, it's overall pretty decent game. I'd say the only choice is this or 989's game. I'd suggest renting both and seeing how you like em.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/04