Objective PC Gameplay Review - 1 Game Right Out of the Box
Ok, so I am going to be nice and throw my hat into the ring for reviews. I don't post much, but I am a lurker
....a few things to be said first...
Many of the boards I am reading have wayyyy too many 10 yr olds/whiners/complainers etc. I started my baseball gaming with Roger Clemens for the NES. I can't believe how much people complain about baseball games these days, these game are an amazing and fairly accurate replica of America's past time. Remember, it's just a game!!
I would say my credentials include playing nearly every series from the show to rbi baseball to griffey to triple play to high eat to wsb on and on and on. My favorite game, as many would agree, is MVP Baseball 2005 for the PC.
That said here goes..
I played the 'play now' matchup as the D'Backs at home against the Blue Jays...I am just going to bullet all the points I want to bring up, rather than 3 essay length paragraphs with grammar errors galore...
Final
Jays 0 7 1
DBacks 1 6 1
Pitching
- I struck out 6 with Webb in 7 inn. I thought it was a good/very good representation of batter/pitcher interaction. The computer does not make contact as much as other users are saying. I am an actual pitcher in baseball, and believe it or not smart pitching goes a long way in this game.
-That said, the inside edge is really cool. You can break down the pitcher and batter in several authentic ways which can really help you in big situations. The tenancies are realistic and are implemented well.
- Pitch counts are a little low. If your pitcher gets into a zone you will not throw many balls. However, you do need to utilize balls or you will get hit. When composure gets low (I was in a big jam in the 7th) the cursor shakes and pitching gets tougher. I think that is really neat and useful.
- Going to the pen and what not is as easy as MVP and very simple.
Batting
-Hitting is tough at first. I liked this style when it first came out with NCAA baseball from EA a few years ago, and I think it was implemented a little better with that game. There doesn't seem to be a penalty for loading up early, but maybe it is there but just not noticable.
-Pitch speeds are about right. I was way ahead of some off-speed, and way behind some fastballs. It may be a little fast for some, but I like the realism.
-The cpu pitcher will throw balls, however they can be tough to figure out. Took me a while to get used to picking out balls in MVP at first, but it seems really tough to lay off pitches in this game.
-In addition to that, I am about positive hitter's eye does not work for PC. I checked the manual direction's and pressed about every darn button during my hitting but no dice. I think that is very necessary to help with walks and is actually true to life when you think about it, especially for veteran hitters.
-Ground balls slow down way too much. It is hard to get a groundball through the infield as they lose way to much momentum
-Power seems accurate. I hit one ball to the wall, no dingers. Cpu also hit one to the wall. Didn't see many balls scorched or big gappers though. Also not a great variety of hits thus far, but hey it was just one game.
Fielding
-This got the worst impression to me so far. There are some herky jerky aninmations going after balls in the outfield. Also Upton just flat out missed a two hopper to him which they called a triple and never should have happened.
-Throwing to the bases is a little touchy, I think it's harder than it needs to be to get throws in the green.
-Players get way to big of a jump on the ball. I was catching foul line drives like my 3b was playing there already, and the computer showed way to much off the bat range.
-Animations were very slick and realistic.
Presentation
-This aspect was VERY well done.
-The commentary was fantastic and non-repetitive. Probably the best I have heard in a video game in a long time.
-Real time lighting is fantastic, really makes me feel like I am watching the game on TV.
-Camera angles were fairly good, but the fielding camera looks a little weird.
-The liveliness of the crowd and reactions of other players was also done great, although there were a couple of little things that didn't make sense.
-Stadiums and jerseys could use a little modding, hopefully that will happen (fingers crossed)
-Lots of nice little things. For instance, Byrnes popped up to the catcher with 2 outs, and slammed his bat, pretty cool.
Couple randoms
-Plenty of sliders to tinker with, although some seem confusing
-The game slows down for some of the cut scenes, but smooth during play for my computer anyway
-Not many options on the game for turning on/off the little things
-Baserunning is easy. The icon is stupid in my opinion, and VC certainly should have copied the now ancient but best picture in picture system. The stealing is neat but difficult
and drumroll please...
My itty bitty thing to whine about that no one cares about (just to be like several other posters haha)
THEY DIDN"T HAVE BALL BOYS/GIRLS. I loved that in last year's game, and I AM a ballboy for an MLB team so I always said that was me in the game haha. Utterly dissapointing
Ok that was basically the summary. Just a few tips.
As for the controller. Just use an old PS2 controller and hook it up through a USB converter from radio shack. I did it with MVP and NBA 2k9 and it works like a charm now. It's simple plug and play.
For 20 bucks, you guys are nuts not to buy this. Help them out for supporting PC gamers, this is amazing for 20 bucks even if it had flaws up the ying yang.
I probably will think of more things, but that's all I am going to say to help you PC gamers on the fence or just looking forward to the game.
....a few things to be said first...Many of the boards I am reading have wayyyy too many 10 yr olds/whiners/complainers etc. I started my baseball gaming with Roger Clemens for the NES. I can't believe how much people complain about baseball games these days, these game are an amazing and fairly accurate replica of America's past time. Remember, it's just a game!!
I would say my credentials include playing nearly every series from the show to rbi baseball to griffey to triple play to high eat to wsb on and on and on. My favorite game, as many would agree, is MVP Baseball 2005 for the PC.
That said here goes..
I played the 'play now' matchup as the D'Backs at home against the Blue Jays...I am just going to bullet all the points I want to bring up, rather than 3 essay length paragraphs with grammar errors galore...
Final
Jays 0 7 1
DBacks 1 6 1
Pitching
- I struck out 6 with Webb in 7 inn. I thought it was a good/very good representation of batter/pitcher interaction. The computer does not make contact as much as other users are saying. I am an actual pitcher in baseball, and believe it or not smart pitching goes a long way in this game.
-That said, the inside edge is really cool. You can break down the pitcher and batter in several authentic ways which can really help you in big situations. The tenancies are realistic and are implemented well.
- Pitch counts are a little low. If your pitcher gets into a zone you will not throw many balls. However, you do need to utilize balls or you will get hit. When composure gets low (I was in a big jam in the 7th) the cursor shakes and pitching gets tougher. I think that is really neat and useful.
- Going to the pen and what not is as easy as MVP and very simple.
Batting
-Hitting is tough at first. I liked this style when it first came out with NCAA baseball from EA a few years ago, and I think it was implemented a little better with that game. There doesn't seem to be a penalty for loading up early, but maybe it is there but just not noticable.
-Pitch speeds are about right. I was way ahead of some off-speed, and way behind some fastballs. It may be a little fast for some, but I like the realism.
-The cpu pitcher will throw balls, however they can be tough to figure out. Took me a while to get used to picking out balls in MVP at first, but it seems really tough to lay off pitches in this game.
-In addition to that, I am about positive hitter's eye does not work for PC. I checked the manual direction's and pressed about every darn button during my hitting but no dice. I think that is very necessary to help with walks and is actually true to life when you think about it, especially for veteran hitters.
-Ground balls slow down way too much. It is hard to get a groundball through the infield as they lose way to much momentum
-Power seems accurate. I hit one ball to the wall, no dingers. Cpu also hit one to the wall. Didn't see many balls scorched or big gappers though. Also not a great variety of hits thus far, but hey it was just one game.
Fielding
-This got the worst impression to me so far. There are some herky jerky aninmations going after balls in the outfield. Also Upton just flat out missed a two hopper to him which they called a triple and never should have happened.
-Throwing to the bases is a little touchy, I think it's harder than it needs to be to get throws in the green.
-Players get way to big of a jump on the ball. I was catching foul line drives like my 3b was playing there already, and the computer showed way to much off the bat range.
-Animations were very slick and realistic.
Presentation
-This aspect was VERY well done.
-The commentary was fantastic and non-repetitive. Probably the best I have heard in a video game in a long time.
-Real time lighting is fantastic, really makes me feel like I am watching the game on TV.
-Camera angles were fairly good, but the fielding camera looks a little weird.
-The liveliness of the crowd and reactions of other players was also done great, although there were a couple of little things that didn't make sense.
-Stadiums and jerseys could use a little modding, hopefully that will happen (fingers crossed)
-Lots of nice little things. For instance, Byrnes popped up to the catcher with 2 outs, and slammed his bat, pretty cool.
Couple randoms
-Plenty of sliders to tinker with, although some seem confusing
-The game slows down for some of the cut scenes, but smooth during play for my computer anyway
-Not many options on the game for turning on/off the little things
-Baserunning is easy. The icon is stupid in my opinion, and VC certainly should have copied the now ancient but best picture in picture system. The stealing is neat but difficult
and drumroll please...
My itty bitty thing to whine about that no one cares about (just to be like several other posters haha)
THEY DIDN"T HAVE BALL BOYS/GIRLS. I loved that in last year's game, and I AM a ballboy for an MLB team so I always said that was me in the game haha. Utterly dissapointing
Ok that was basically the summary. Just a few tips.
As for the controller. Just use an old PS2 controller and hook it up through a USB converter from radio shack. I did it with MVP and NBA 2k9 and it works like a charm now. It's simple plug and play.
For 20 bucks, you guys are nuts not to buy this. Help them out for supporting PC gamers, this is amazing for 20 bucks even if it had flaws up the ying yang.
I probably will think of more things, but that's all I am going to say to help you PC gamers on the fence or just looking forward to the game.
. Cost me 2 runs.
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