Out of the Park Baseball 2006 Review (PC)
Submitted on: Jul 07, 2006 by Aaron HolbertText-based sports games have never been able to serve as a replacement to the major releases from major companies like EA and Take Two. They have always served as companions to gamers who like deeper games and only want to serve as a general manager. The problem with most of text-based games is that they are very hard to pick up and play. Text-based games are built for the gamer who has patience and can put a lot of time into creating a league and handling the minutiae of maintaining a sports franchise. The exception to this has always been the Out of the Park baseball series. The series was always one that hardcore fans would love because of its depth, but casual players would play because it was incredibly fun and easy to play. This was the first text-based game that could stand as a substitute for a graphics-based video game for me. For the past few years, this was the only baseball video game that was consistently good, in my opinion. So it should not be a surprise that I am excited about Out of the Park Baseball 2006.
There are some things about Out of the Park Baseball 2006 that remain the same. This game is an extremely "moddable" game - in that you can change every thing about this game, from the roster to team logos to different interface skins. This is a must, because this game is not licensed by Major League Baseball. The beauty of this game is that everything can be edited, so you can make all of the changes yourself or you can scour the internet and download mods. Out of the Park Baseball 2006 is a very feature-deep videogame. Do you want to view players based on their home country? Just click on the Explore World tab. Wondering what Detroit's team ERA was two years ago? Just go to the History section. This is by far the most complete baseball game, text- or graphics-based, video game on the market.
My biggest complaint about this game is the interface. For a novice, it’s not easy to just jump into a game. For example, if you are a newcomer and just want to jump into a quick game, it can be very confusing. It took me ten minutes to finally find a way to get into the schedule so that I could play a game. Now some of you may say that I should have just read the online manual and it would have saved me some time - and you would be right. However, game interfaces in this day and age are expected to be more intuitive. The way this interface is designed, it’s easier to find league news than to play a game.
Once you are able to get into a game, Out of the Park Baseball 2006 is the best sim baseball game on the market. This is one of the first text-based sim games to offer multiple ways to watch a game. The first view is the broadcast view, which features a scoreboard and a view of the entire baseball field and stadium. The second view is the webcast view, which is built more for the stat geek. This view is primarily composed of box scores and stats. The final view is the network view, where you can not only see what’s going on with your team, but also the scores and stats of other ongoing games in your league. The beautiful thing is that you can toggle between each view during a game.
Regarding the AI, Out of the Park Baseball 2006 does a lot right. The thing about baseball games and AI is that when it’s done well in a game it sometimes goes unnoticed, but when there is a bug, it stands out. One thing I’ve always been able to say about this series is that the AI is nearly perfect, and this year’s version is no different. There are some issues with the AI concerning when the CPU pulls a starting pitcher in the version I played. There were a few games where even though the starting pitcher was getting lit up for five or more runs, the CPU left the starter in to receive more punishment. I also noticed a high number of intentional walks in strange situations and some weird pinch-hit substitutions, but on the whole, it's excellent.
Don’t let the few AI bugs scare you away from purchasing this game. First, the Out of the Park Baseball 2006 team constantly visits their own message boards and the Operation Sports message board looking for feedback on the game. Also, this is a PC game, so patches are always available. In the many years that I played the Out of the Park Baseball series, the developers constantly patch the game and fix any AI bugs whenever they creep up.
If you are a baseball fan and don’t mind the lack of graphics or the fact that you can't control your team’s every move, this is a must-buy. With the limited number of graphics-based baseball games available, you may find yourself immersed in Out of the Park Baseball 2006 and no longer trying to find ways to make 2K Sports' MLB 2K6 playable just so that you can soothe your baseball fix.
There are some things about Out of the Park Baseball 2006 that remain the same. This game is an extremely "moddable" game - in that you can change every thing about this game, from the roster to team logos to different interface skins. This is a must, because this game is not licensed by Major League Baseball. The beauty of this game is that everything can be edited, so you can make all of the changes yourself or you can scour the internet and download mods. Out of the Park Baseball 2006 is a very feature-deep videogame. Do you want to view players based on their home country? Just click on the Explore World tab. Wondering what Detroit's team ERA was two years ago? Just go to the History section. This is by far the most complete baseball game, text- or graphics-based, video game on the market.
My biggest complaint about this game is the interface. For a novice, it’s not easy to just jump into a game. For example, if you are a newcomer and just want to jump into a quick game, it can be very confusing. It took me ten minutes to finally find a way to get into the schedule so that I could play a game. Now some of you may say that I should have just read the online manual and it would have saved me some time - and you would be right. However, game interfaces in this day and age are expected to be more intuitive. The way this interface is designed, it’s easier to find league news than to play a game.
Once you are able to get into a game, Out of the Park Baseball 2006 is the best sim baseball game on the market. This is one of the first text-based sim games to offer multiple ways to watch a game. The first view is the broadcast view, which features a scoreboard and a view of the entire baseball field and stadium. The second view is the webcast view, which is built more for the stat geek. This view is primarily composed of box scores and stats. The final view is the network view, where you can not only see what’s going on with your team, but also the scores and stats of other ongoing games in your league. The beautiful thing is that you can toggle between each view during a game.
Regarding the AI, Out of the Park Baseball 2006 does a lot right. The thing about baseball games and AI is that when it’s done well in a game it sometimes goes unnoticed, but when there is a bug, it stands out. One thing I’ve always been able to say about this series is that the AI is nearly perfect, and this year’s version is no different. There are some issues with the AI concerning when the CPU pulls a starting pitcher in the version I played. There were a few games where even though the starting pitcher was getting lit up for five or more runs, the CPU left the starter in to receive more punishment. I also noticed a high number of intentional walks in strange situations and some weird pinch-hit substitutions, but on the whole, it's excellent.
Don’t let the few AI bugs scare you away from purchasing this game. First, the Out of the Park Baseball 2006 team constantly visits their own message boards and the Operation Sports message board looking for feedback on the game. Also, this is a PC game, so patches are always available. In the many years that I played the Out of the Park Baseball series, the developers constantly patch the game and fix any AI bugs whenever they creep up.
If you are a baseball fan and don’t mind the lack of graphics or the fact that you can't control your team’s every move, this is a must-buy. With the limited number of graphics-based baseball games available, you may find yourself immersed in Out of the Park Baseball 2006 and no longer trying to find ways to make 2K Sports' MLB 2K6 playable just so that you can soothe your baseball fix.
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