Even though I fear that I will get bashed here.....I too am not entirely happy with this incarnation of HH.
I will start by saying I have been a high heat player since it's first game on the PC in 99? The graphics were horrible but I got hooked on it's gameplay. I have played every years version since on PC and even liked the PS2 version last year. IT just feels like baseball.
Now I try the Xbox 2004 version and something feels weird. Even the pitcher batter interface seems slightly different. The timing.....the animation.....something makes it feel like I don't have as much control over the swing. And the hit's feel.....well...honestly more canned than on previous high heat games. I went back to my PC and played HH 2003 for a reference and it played great. I loved it and the hitting felt spot on. The instant I hit the button the bat head was in the zone. On XBOX 2004 the bat seems slower and I am having a hard time getting good wood on the ball. Therefore I go through games with way too many slow rollers and bloops to infielders and very few solid hits. Even solid hits for outs. In HH2003 for PC I make outs but I line out, fly out to deep outfield and hit rocket grounders that get scooped up for outs.
Now....that being said....I am only comparing HH to it's previous incarnations. I am not even referencing the other console baseball titles that are out there. I know from experience that it is the best game as far a realism goes.
Despite the little gripes I have about the way hitting feels the outcome of games seems accurate. The score and number of hits are about right. But I feel like some of the outcomes of at bats are predetermined a little too much. I've heard this complaint of previous HH titles but never felt it was true. But I don't entirely feel like I have as much say in what happens when I am at bat as I did in older versions.
One other thing I can say I noticed that feels like there is some level of scripting that I never saw in older HH games. I have played about 9-10 games so far and in each game there is at least one at bat where the CPU pitcher will throw me 3 straight balls. The pitcher has had masterful control up to this point and suddenly throws horrible pitches that are not even close to the plate. I then sit on the 3-0 fastball and the next pitch is FAT. Piped it right down the middle. I crush it for a HR. I felt great cause I worked the count and one the duel. But when this same thing started to happen every game and I always hit a HR or a double or at least a solid hit on a 3-0 pitch I started to feel like I was being gifted this hit. In other words the CPU was setting me up to crush it everytime this pattern of pitches happen. I hope I am wrong.
Again....I love HH in general but so far this version is just leaving me feeling a little "iffy". And every other time I tried the previous HH for the first time I was always excited and blown away.
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