Wow.
I purchased ASB04 for Xbox today, just to 'tide me over' 'til HH04 comes out Tues or Wed. Take note, I have HH for PS2.
Good God, I don't think I'm taking this baby back.
Where do I start? I toyed around with the options for a bit, then watched some interviews with Mr. Ripken. Went back to options and ooh... what's this? Download roster? I think I just might do that. Ooh, accurate as of 3/1/03? Wow, that's today! Download complete : )
Then I tried to unlock some of the built in "scenarios" which is very cool. If you complete a certain amount (real scenarios from the '02 season), you unlock more scenarios to complete.
Grading scale (1-100):
Graphics - Damn. Freakin beautiful. Best stadiums I've seen in a baseball game to date. I did a Yankee Stadium "tour". It lasted about 5 minutes, with commentary... showed EVERY part of the park. PERFECTLY detailed. Player models are AMAZING. Even the so-called 'scrubs' look just like their real life selves. The animations are VERY fluid and life-like. Did I mention how INSANE the stadiums look? BTW, lots of accessories included. Mo Vaughn's shin guard is in here, for example.
SCORE: 94
Gameplay - I was afraid gameplay was going to turn me off. HH has some amazing gameplay, so there was noo way ASB was going to impress me. Well, I wouldn't say it's blown me away, but it's really surprised me. I have fielding set to 'assist' which is in between 'auto' and 'manual' and I found it to be jussst right. The R trigger button performs things like jumps and dives, while the L trigger changes your fielder. You can turn the batting cursor on or off. When a ball is hit toward your fielder, you press the button for the base you want to throw to, before you scoop the ball up or catch it, and the fielder immediatelly throws it to that base. Leading off and stealing is quite simple and the drag bunts in this game are perfectly well done.
SCORE: 89
Sound - Awesome commentary, a scrub like Gary Matthews Jr. came to bat and Steve Lyons talked about his stats last year. Hairston came to bat and Lyons said "this guy makes me feel old, I used to play with his dad!!" The crowd sounds are just right, crack of the bat is nice, commentary is great so far. I also read that you can rip audio files from your CD's, onto your Xbox and choose player's music for when they step up to the plate. Dolby digital 5.1 surround is nice too
SCORE: 92
Other - Deep 30 year franchise mode with players being able to make HOF. REAL Minor League player names. Trading block, CPU trades, ability to PLAY every minor league game. Read 'who's hot/who's not' in The Sporting News everyday. Call minor league'ers up to the bigs. Lots of franchise options. Negro leagues, pre-WWII players, "future stars" players, I believe alternate uniforms are in here, I haven't played with them yet though. I honestly have no complaints about this game as of yet.
ALL AROUND SCORE: 96
Feel free to ask me any questions concerning the game. I'll be doing a little back and forth between the game and here.
Thanks for reading
I purchased ASB04 for Xbox today, just to 'tide me over' 'til HH04 comes out Tues or Wed. Take note, I have HH for PS2.
Good God, I don't think I'm taking this baby back.
Where do I start? I toyed around with the options for a bit, then watched some interviews with Mr. Ripken. Went back to options and ooh... what's this? Download roster? I think I just might do that. Ooh, accurate as of 3/1/03? Wow, that's today! Download complete : )
Then I tried to unlock some of the built in "scenarios" which is very cool. If you complete a certain amount (real scenarios from the '02 season), you unlock more scenarios to complete.
Grading scale (1-100):
Graphics - Damn. Freakin beautiful. Best stadiums I've seen in a baseball game to date. I did a Yankee Stadium "tour". It lasted about 5 minutes, with commentary... showed EVERY part of the park. PERFECTLY detailed. Player models are AMAZING. Even the so-called 'scrubs' look just like their real life selves. The animations are VERY fluid and life-like. Did I mention how INSANE the stadiums look? BTW, lots of accessories included. Mo Vaughn's shin guard is in here, for example.
SCORE: 94
Gameplay - I was afraid gameplay was going to turn me off. HH has some amazing gameplay, so there was noo way ASB was going to impress me. Well, I wouldn't say it's blown me away, but it's really surprised me. I have fielding set to 'assist' which is in between 'auto' and 'manual' and I found it to be jussst right. The R trigger button performs things like jumps and dives, while the L trigger changes your fielder. You can turn the batting cursor on or off. When a ball is hit toward your fielder, you press the button for the base you want to throw to, before you scoop the ball up or catch it, and the fielder immediatelly throws it to that base. Leading off and stealing is quite simple and the drag bunts in this game are perfectly well done.
SCORE: 89
Sound - Awesome commentary, a scrub like Gary Matthews Jr. came to bat and Steve Lyons talked about his stats last year. Hairston came to bat and Lyons said "this guy makes me feel old, I used to play with his dad!!" The crowd sounds are just right, crack of the bat is nice, commentary is great so far. I also read that you can rip audio files from your CD's, onto your Xbox and choose player's music for when they step up to the plate. Dolby digital 5.1 surround is nice too
SCORE: 92
Other - Deep 30 year franchise mode with players being able to make HOF. REAL Minor League player names. Trading block, CPU trades, ability to PLAY every minor league game. Read 'who's hot/who's not' in The Sporting News everyday. Call minor league'ers up to the bigs. Lots of franchise options. Negro leagues, pre-WWII players, "future stars" players, I believe alternate uniforms are in here, I haven't played with them yet though. I honestly have no complaints about this game as of yet.
ALL AROUND SCORE: 96
Feel free to ask me any questions concerning the game. I'll be doing a little back and forth between the game and here.
Thanks for reading
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