I must say, so far I am impressed. I owned last years version, in fact, I was playing last years version earlier today before I rented HH '04. So maybe it's just the fact that I have had recent exposure to last year's game, that makes me see how much of an improvement this year is.
To the people that say HH is not improved enough over last year, that it just has a '2004' slapped on it...I have no idea where you are getting this from.
In my short time spent with the game thus far, I have already noticed the following improvements:
1) The front end may not be the best out there, but it sure is alot prettier than last year's low-budget looking interface. And it may not be as intuitive as say, an EA Sports interface, but I had no problem finding what I needed to find right off the bat. I don't understand the many complaints about people getting lost and confused with the menu system.
2) THE STADIUM GRAPHICS. Man oh man, did they improve the stadiums this year. I think they look great, especially compared to last years. Camden Yards anyways

3) The grapics overall just seem much more polished and brighter. I really like the lighting...especially in night games. It actually feels like a night game this year. I have not yet before noticed a game that actually has a marked difference between day and night games, besides just making the sky black. Also the shadows during day games are really nice looking, but why don't they creep up as the game moves on? They did last year, for some reason this year, they don't. I found that disappointing. But overall the lighting is really well done.
4) ANIMATION. I especially love how a runner runs through the bag on ground outs. NO GAME SEEMS TO GET THIS RIGHT. But HH has finally nailed it this year. This is not a significant animation but I was pleased to see they got it right. I also noticed the dive animation is much improved over last years, the dive actually has range to it...unlike last year when it seemed the player would just belly-flop, in most cases missing the ball entirely. Tha animation overall is 100 times better then the stiff animation of last year. It just looks really fluid. Absolutely no complaints here.
5) The ball physics seem to be spot on. Something about the flight of the ball, and the way it rolls...just seems better than last year, which was good to begin with. Anyone else notice this, or is it just me?
6) FRANCHISE MODE. This alone, I think, makes '04 a huge improvement over last year. Let's compare this year's season/franchise mode to last year's.
Last year's season mode was so watered down and plain, it offered little more than being able to edit your roster, check your schedule, check standings, and check stats. This year, the season mode is MUCH more robust. It covers all the bases that I want to see covered in a good season/franchise mode. Little things like a nice leage news section. I also really like the way they have the schedule screen re-done. Just a little nit pick but I'm nit picky with things like this hehe.
I may be biased in that I have always loved the HH series, but just looking at all the improvements of this year, I don't see how anyone can claim 3DO did nothing to make the game better. It just seems really ignorant to me.
I mean if you dont like High Heat, that's fine. There are 3 other respectable games coming out this year. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this year's version is much improved over last year.
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