MVP BASEBALL 2004
review by Head Cheeze

The smell of freshly cut grass. The warm embrace of a hot summer afternoon. Peanuts, popcorn, Cracker Jacks. Traffic jams, fistfights, $6.00 cups of beer. Urinating on a Yankee fan's Volvo. Ahh yes; a day at the ballpark, and another year of baseball video games.

With 2003's MVP Baseball, EA Sports managed to combine the fun and ease of an arcade style baseball game with some of the depth and options of a full-on sim. It wasn't perfect, but few games are, and, up to that point, it was the best baseball game I'd come across. So what could EA do to top MVP 2003? Apparently, everything.

MVP Baseball 2004 is a ludicrously complete baseball package that would be completely overwhelming were it not infinitely customisable. The game features four difficulty modes; Rookie, Pro, All Star, and the new MVP. However, if any of those settings prove to be too hard (or easy), there's a fine-tuning option that lets you increase or decrease everything from your teams contact and power, to the opposition's speed and fielding skill. This feature is especially good for players who want to gradually want to increase difficulty as they get used to the game, but don't want to have to start a whole new season to do so.

Gameplay modes include the one game Exhibition, Scenario (in which you can customise a situation right down to the most minute detail, ie; the eighth inning of game seven of the 2003 ALCS between Boston and New York....aaaaagh!)and Home Run and Pitcher's showdowns. All of these are welcome options, but true baseball fanatics will head directly into Dynasty Mode, in which you control not only your MLB team of choice, but also it's AA and AAA affiliates!!! You can play, sim, or manage each and every game of all three teams (over 500 games in one season!), as well as promote, demote, sign, release, and trade players from all three camps. Of course, you don't have to play all of the games, or any of them for that matter. You are given the option to Sim the game, "Quick Sim" the results, or use the Manage Only mode. Sim and Manage mode also let you jump in whenever you please to play, or you can jump out of a particularly grueling contest and sim the rest. The key to success in the game is achieving certain goals over the period you run your franchise. Dynasty Mode grades you on your franchise's performance, as well as how you handle particular situations that effect Team Chemistry. You have an "inbox" in which you recieve all manner of news from around the league, as well as complaints about playing time and contract status from players within your camp. The more unhappy players you have, the worse the team chemistry gets, which can lead to slumps, injuries, and, ultimately, a losing season. The higher your grade (and the more objectives met) the more money you get to sign new players, negotiate with existing ones, and better your chances at further winning seasons. Low grades, however, can result in you being fired from the team, thus ending your game, lest another team is willing to pick up your contract. Achieving certain goals awards you with "MVP Points" which allow you to unlock even more modes of play, including "classic" uniforms, and the new Cooperstown Collection; an assemblage of legendary ballplayers and fields!

Of course, all this depth would mean nothing if the gameplay weren't up to snuff, but it is, and then some! The control scheme is essentially the same as MVP 2003, but with some cool new additions that give you even more control over the outcome of the game. The new pure-swing system (which, for PC users, is only available using one of the eleven or so gamepads the game supports) allows the player to more accurately hit the ball in whatever direction he chooses. It's based on timing, pitch style, and contact, but, when all of these things fall together, you get the feeling that this as close as a video game has come to replicating the science of hitting. Pitching remains much the same as last year, but now there is a pitch-count option, a fatigue guage, and an actual bullpen in which you must warm-up your relievers for a period of time before they can come in and effectively pitch. There's also an intentional "bean" button, with which you can hit opposing batters, however this will lead to bench warnings and ejections, as well as angry opponents rushing the field to beat your pitcher's head in. There is also a "Big Play" control for both offensive and defensive plays guaranteed to make the six o'clock news, including all manner of slides and dives that really add to the excitement.

Graphically, the game has improved by leaps and bounds, with most players, especially the more popular ones, featuring accurate skins, stances, and behaviours. From Nomar's patented OCD dance to Randy Johnson's physics defying leg-kick, the players are eerily lifelike. Fielding and baserunning animations have also been tweaked, and look much more fluid and accurate than last year's model.

The game ships with MLB rosters that are current as of 1/15/2004, but complete roster updates are already being made by both EA and players. However, roster changes are easy, and I managed to use my Street & Smith's guide, as well as the official MLB website to put just about everybody where they belong in an afternoon's time. Certain players are excluded from the game, however, this is no fault of EA. For example, Barry Bonds owns the rights to his name and likeness, and wouldn't license it out to EA, thus he is represented by a white left-handed outfielder named Jim Dowd. A quick trip to the player editor changes that in seconds, allowing you to edit or create players and assign skin colour, facial and body types, hair styles, and all manner of attributes right down to the colour of their shin-guards. This is especially helpful for creating players who aren't part of the MLBPA, like Kevin Millar or Kaz Matsui, and even let's you throw yourself in the game if you are so inclined. Be wary not to make your stats too high, however, or no team will be able to afford to add you to their payroll as your stats effect your value.

I could go on forever about what's good in this game, but then I'd run out of space to tell you what's not so good. While I appreciated the inclusion of the AA and AAA teams, I noticed that several of my real world prospects weren't represented at all, and were instead replaced with fictional players. While I understand that this option is such a huge bonus, I can't imagine it would have been that difficult to include accurate rosters for the minor leagues. I also found the Team Chemistry mode a bit odd. I sim'd an entire season in a couple of hours, stopping every few weeks or so to review my "in box", and was barraged by notices of everyday players complaining about the lack of their playing time. Seeing as how they played daily, I couldn't begin to see how I could fix this, and it dragged my team chemistry down into the toilet. The only way to raise my chemistry was to blow my remaining budget by offering contracts to them, even though this wasn't their complaint. I also found a few bugs in the "player retirement" system, whereupon players in their late 20's were retiring for Age reasons, while superstars in their prime were retiring for Personal reasons. Once retired, their's no luring them back, and I lost both Johnny Damon and Pokey Reese at the end of my season with little way of replacing them financially.

Graphical and sound anomalies are also an issue. Balls hit into corners or into the stands occasionally cause players to run into walls and stay there, jogging in place for as long as you'll let them. A quick switch to another fielder remedies the problem, but usually at the expense of an inside-the-park home run. There's also a frame-rate issue in which the graphics get a tad choppy when throwing across the diamond or throwing from the outfield into the infield. This doesn't effect gameplay, but it's borderline seizure inducing. Audio bugs abound, but that's to be expected with scripted play by play announcers, and happens in virtually every sports game I've ever come across. Harmless pop-flies to the outfield sometimes result in excited screams of "IT'S OUTTA HERE!", while a pitcher who has been nothing short of dominating and gives up a bloop hit will elicit cries of "He's in trouble out there". While there's probably a good few hours worth of banter between the two announcers, you'll hear the same phrases over and over again, which can be fixed by simply shutting them off. However, they DO offer "hints" that can help new players out, such as "They oughta lay down a bunt" or "The pitcher should throw something low in the strike zone to induce a ground ball for a double play". If you listen to them, oftentimes it's good advice. It's the yin-yang of video game sports announcers at it's most brutal.

With so few complaints about a game that's so feature-packed, it's obvious that I'm giving this one a hearty endorsement. With it's seemingly endless gameplay options, difficulty settings, and tweaking possibilities, this is a game that will please everyone from the baseball novice to the diehard fanatic.