Overall: its one of the best baseball games i have ever played, the best is RBI basebal for the NES...anyhow this game rocks, everything you could think of, except online is there, one downfall is its only 2 player Gameplay: just like base ball with not twists of any sort, just good old clean fun...this game is kinda complicated so beware little kids! Graphics: great looking baseball game, best on any system, from anytime in history, if you look to drool over graphics this is your base ball game Sound: its pretty good but it does get repetitve after a while, but you get used to it, i guess its better than that ridge racer game...bah Suggestions: nope
Overall: One of the best baseball games ever made, period. If you are a baseball fan, you are going to love this game. You'll find yourself playing this one for a while. Gameplay: This game has it all. The only downfall is that it's only 2 players, and no online gameplay. Graphics: Everything looks sharp and smooth. Pitchers sometimes seem to look alike though, but besides that everything else looks great. Sound: It's Good, coule be improved though. They seem to repeat them selfs way too often at times. Suggestions: Keep up the good work!
Overall: Overall, this game is not one that commands replayability. Too many things need to be changed or fixed. And, this is coming from one who has played sports games since the 1980's. Player movements overall tend to be very robotic looking, even stupid looking at times. Who the hell has ever seen an outfielder catch all balls while squatting and facing the outfield wall? I can't believe the developers didn't notice this kind of thing :(
The batting/pitching interface is horrible. Really, I've played many games over the years and I think the best kind of interface is one that doesn't have one. By this, I mean there shouldn't be a batting cursor on the medium level of difficulty (Pro). Hell, if you're going to do something like this, have the pitcher make adjustments to the pitch while in the act of pitching! When the ball is hit, either the camera angles are off, or the developers are hiding something from us. And, replays? Show use the flight of the ball, not just the player's face! Who wants to follow up a highlight moment (such as a homerun) with a replay that shows only the hitter making contact with the ball? Replays of grounders and double plays are horrendous. They only show part of the play. The parks look entirely too small, the commentary is awful. "And, he hits a long drive to the right side of the field, but foul". Problem with that comment is that the ball looks like it didn't get past the crowd near the first base bag. I have not seen ONE injury, not one error...in three games. Come on, in three games that any team plays in the major leagues, there will be at least one of these events occuring!
I have yet to play All Star Baseball 2003, and judging from how bad the reviews I read of that game were, and how great they were for WSB, I might just end up purchasing ASB2K3, and NOT purchasing WSB. Amazing how biased and uninformed reviews can be. By the way, this is the first review I have ever written, and the only reason I am doing it this time around is that I feel I have the gaming experience to justify doing so. Try the other games before you think about buying World Series Baseball, that is the least I can recommend to any serious baseball junkie out there. Gameplay: I read a lot of reviews this past month or so about this game, and was drooling over how great this game was going to be. Boy, do I feel like a fool! It was all hype! High Heat Baseball 2001 on PC is far more fun than this game. I'll even go out on a limb and say that Bases Loaded II had more appeal to me in the days of my Super Ninetendo gaming. The camera angles and pitching/batter interface need to be drastically worked on. There needs to be a feature built in, where you have to warm up your pitchers before using them. That's realism, otherwise perhaps WSB is headed the direction of Triple Play by EA. Homeruns need to bounce off the upperdeck or buildings outside the stadium. Why have these things not yet been put in a game? Graphics: If you can overlook the annoyances, such as how players look they're squatting when standing on the base, and how they seem to stick in this position while rotating around to catch the ball, the game looks pretty nice.
Probably the two greatest visual-type moments that occur in the game, and I think this is an indicator of this game not being so great, are:
(a) the batter walk-ups and when they are leaving the plate are really cool and get my blood boiling.
(b) when the fielder fields a ground ball while running, and makes a snap throw to second or first (where you will see most of these types of throws), it looks rather realistic! Sound: Honestly, I don't pay a lot of attention to sounds, since I think that with a game like baseball, realism ON the field is far more important than some bird chirping in the background, a plane flying by, or some heckler giving you a dose of "you suck" type comments. I have noticed some humming coming from the XBox, this does get in the way slightly. It could just be my XBox unit, or a widely-heard complaint. Suggestions: (a) incorporate collision-detection between the ball and the upper-deck or buildings outside the stadium. The ball just disappearing to nowhere doesn't make sense.
(b) player animations look goofy at times. I couldn't figure out how to make the fielders dive. This should be intuitive. Outfielders seem to run toward the wall to catch a fly ball, never looking over their shoulders. Then, they just stand there, squatting forward and catch the ball that way. It all looks very robotic, not human-like at all.
(c) I think you could borrow the batting/pitcher interface that High Heat Baseball on PC provides. The pitches just seem to disappear to nowhere.
(d) The ball looks too fat, and collision detection between the ball and the bat is horrible. At times, it looks like the bat is making contact with a ball that isn't anywhere close to being hittable. Curveballs don't seem to have enough movement, I have yet to see a pitcher that throws a sinker
(e) why not have the player manage pitchers the way they should be managed, like warming them up? Just putting pitchers that are immediately fresh into the game really cuts out the realism, especially for one that has played sports games since they came into existance.
(f) replays are horrible, at least show the part of the replay that everyone wants to see. How many times do I have to look at a batter smack a homerun, only to see automatic replya only show him making contact with the ball? Funny, how I did manage to get the replay to show where the ball was going, but the ball just sorta' disappeared when the meeting that invisible vertical wall that exists above the outfield wall. Perhaps the developers didn't want this to be shown in the automatic replays.
(g) where are the injuries? The walks to the mound? The calling of time by the batter? The batboys? Objects being thrown on the field? Insects or animals landing on the playing field or swarming around the players? Perhaps that last wish is too much for players that aren't die hard baseball fans :) What about errors? I've played three games, and have yet to see an error on Pro level. There are moments when I feel this game could be great, others when I wonder whether all the automatic replays and blurry animations hide the fact that maybe there isn't much in the way of realism with this game. Here's hoping that the next version is better, and thanking myself for not having purchased this one.
Overall: overall wsb2k3 is a good game, but it could use some improvements is certain areas as described below. but its the best baseball title on the xbox by far! Gameplay: game play is super sweet if you can manage to find the ball when its being pitched to you and your not using the rookie mode as an easy way out of that problem. but my three biggest problems are, its unbelievably hard to hit a homerun in any difficulty in the game, and that the homerun derby mode is incredibly cheap, and last when you win the world series all you get is an announcement from the commentary and a cheesy looking accomplishment screen. Graphics: the graphics are pretty sweet, even most of the players look like as the do in real life. the stadiums were cool also, but i cant seem to get over the fact that the crowd in every game seem to all look alike. ( i know its a waste of time to make them all look different but still). but no complaints from the visual aspect of this game. Sound: well i played this game using my surround sound and there was nothing to brag about from that. but its a baseball game so what is there to brag about?...the sound of the crowd? the sound of the bat making contact with the ball? what the goofy sound of the commentators voice? i think not!! Suggestions: i liked this game, but it could use some work on trying not to make the homeruns so difficult, and a better home run derby mode with more appeal!! i hate to say this but ken griffey baseball on the n64 had a better homerun derby mode!
Overall: I personally enjoy the sports games and this was by far my favorite baseball game. If I had the money to buy it I would do so, but money is always a factor for now. The game is great especially when playing with friends, so it has great overall appeal. Gameplay: The game is easy to learn and play. There's really not a lot to be said about it, because there's really nothing bad about it except on one playing mode you lose the box when batting and I had a hard time hitting the ball. Graphics: The game had really good graphics. When looking at most of the players you could tell who they were right away and the way they were animated with batting stance gave a feel for the player as well. The crowd left something to be desired though. Sound: The sounds were good. When you hit a ball it actually sounded like it and it had the stadium music as well. The commentators had a variety of things to say, so it didn't really get monotinous.
Overall: I havent played a baseball video game since atari 2600 realsports baseball. In most respects the game has come along way. The meat of the game revolves the pitching- batting relationship, and world series baseball does this well. Each pitcher is very distinguishable because of the speed, amount of curve and accuracy of his respective pitches. The batters also have hot zones and cool zones, offering a nice variety for every game. There are a plethora of options, franchise mode is particularly impressive, as you get to manage a team year after year with a remarkable amount of options. One thing i did not like was the fielding, not much has changed since the realsports days, and feel an oppurtunity is being missed here by the developers. I also started getting bored in blowout games, just like in real baseball. If you like baseball though, this is an excellent choice, has a great multiplayer game too. Gameplay: The game is centered around the pitcher vs batter like real baseball. The amount of effort in making each pitcher and batter reflect his real counterpart is commendable. Fans of the real game will appreciate this greatly. All the options are here to steal, hit and run, bunt, etc. Nice effort except the fielding, which is very simplistic and requires very little skill. Graphics: The game is very uneven visually, the players, grounds and stadiums look great. The players faces are recognizable! On the other hand the crowds are pathetic, when the players throw the ball they look like a girl throwing it for the first time, and i hated the way they put there golve in front of them each time they picked up the ball. Sometimes the swings looked pretty funny too. Sound: The sounds were adequated, the announcers were boring, they sounded as dead as the real life game. Once in awhile i heard heckling which i liked and wished they added more things like that. Suggestions: The fielding can be expanded upon greatly. Outfield should switch to a first person perspective with the camera switching to the outfielders view point. Right now the game is a one trick pony, and for me gets boring cause of the long games and repetive nature of pitching -batting.
Overall: Pretty good overall. I love baseball so I was psyched for this. It's got a good balance of everything a moderate diehard baseball gamer wants. Gameplay: I now realize how much of a hardcore baeball gamer I am, because I was disappointed. There are too many automatic actions. After playing Triple Play on Playstation, I got used to controlling every aspect of gameplay, unlike WSB. I miss; being able to warm up a pitcher in the bullpen, control the lead off with a baserunner, actually field a fly ball instead of just moving a fielder to the red spot, charge slow rolling ground balls, having 2 modes to throw (one normal, one fast-the fast throw has more tendency to end up as a throwing error), jump for balls going over the wall, moving the batter's position in the box, controlling what slide (if any) to choose from, and choosing between a home run swing, and a contact swing. There are other aspects I miss too, but this is the brunt of it. Graphics: No real gripes here, the stadiums could be sharper with more detail but overall it is pleasing to watch and look at. Also, players skin color is inaccurate, and they are all built the same, like Jose Canseco. Sound: Nothing fancy here and no complaints either. I have it hooked up to a surround sound system, but it didn't blow me away. Commentary is a little fflat. Suggestions: Allow more control for the gamer to utilize, make the player be accountable for all actions. This sometimes felt like it was in "auto" or "coach" mode.
Also, consider hiring me as a game tester, I now realize I may be in an elite category!
Overall: Overall, this is a tight game. The presentation and playability - combined with the realism of the sport - make this one of the best console baseball games...EVER! Gameplay: Batting is one of the biggest challenges of the game - as it is in the sport's real life counterpart. Where a ball goes, how far it travels, whether or not it rocks off the bat, or dripples off your bat like one of those cheap immitaion rubber baseballs, it is all determined by timing and placement of your swing. Whereas, in other baseball games, you can have your #4 hitter smack a homerun out no matter if he swings a second early and seemily misses the ball by a yard (the ball "magically" rockets off his bat)...not so in WSB. If you are late by a fraction of a second...you get a long foul. If you missplace your swing, at BEST you get a tough ground ball or pop out, at worse you are wiffing at air.
My only gripes about the gameplay are:
1) AI. The computer sometimes makes really, and I mean REALLY, stupid baserunning mistakes (i.e. computer has a man on 2nd, no outs, and the batter pops up to the SS. what does the baserunner do? he stands about 5-10 feet from second.) all you have to do is catch, and fire to second. Easy double play. This would rarely...RARELY happen in real life (I don't think even Daryl Strawberry would be high enough to wander off 2nd base with a sure pop-out).
2) Limiting easy homeruns is a good thing, but this game might make a a tad TOO hard to hit a home run. In over 20 games, my team has hit a total of about 4 homers. I think that is a little short. Better than hitting one every-other at bat, but still a little low.
3) This is a minor gripe. Being picky, I noticed in the outfield that they had other game scores posted..."DET 1 KC 0 6th"
I thought, "wow, that is cool...way to go for keeping track of every nuance!!". To my dismay, after finishing the game, I looked at the daily scores and DET did NOT play KC, they played TOR. It just bugged me that something like that was just there in a game. It pulled me out of make believe - BIG TIME. Graphics: Most of the players look realitic. A few look like the retarded, inbred cousins of baseball players though ;)
The Crowds could have been a little more aestetically pleasing. Sound: Sounds was decent. It had the usual repeating the same lines a billion times, but hey! that is better than most games where they repeat the same lines a trillion times!
good sound effects (bat smacking a frozen rope, etc.)
the sound of a called third strike as the curve ball slips over the corner of the plate and into the catcher's glove is so fulfilling *sigh* Suggestions: Having to reset the camera view every game, as well as certain effects (i.e. show strike zone) get rather annoying. As does the INability to switch camera view at anytime. This needs to be fixed.
???? What is up with the "all-star voting?" I played a game against the Mets. Mike Piazza went 1 for 4 with a single. My catcher went 4 for 5 with 2b(2), 3rbi, bb, and a put out at 2nd on an attempted steal. After the game, Piazza received like 120,000 votes and my catcher received O (ZERO!!!!!) WTF!!?
Overall: Although I've rented both Triple Play and WSB, I've not had a lot of money to buy a baseball game. I was pretty happy to arrive at a good friend's house to play some xbox to find a brand new copy of WSB, which in my opinion is the best baseball game on the xbox. After a marathon session of WSB, there is no doubt that this is THE baseball game on the xbox. Is it that good or are all the other games that bad? I think it's a little of both, but WSB is good enough to claim the xbox baseball title. Gameplay: The gameplay is a little complex, but very accurate in terms of realism. Home runs aren't too easy to hit, but they aren't that easy to hit in real life either. The pitching and hitting is accurate, as far as difficulty is concerned. You can't just press a button over and over and expect to get hits. You have to think, just like in real baseball. The gameplay isn't easy, but it is real, and that's its strength. Graphics: World Series Baseball is by far the best looking baseball game on the xbox. That exclusivity pays off. No other console can handle these graphics. The stadiums are good, but some key stadium features are left out. Little things like the home run animations of the different parks. It's just a little thing, but God is in the details. Sound: THe sound is amazing. Dolby 5.1...there is no substitute. If you close your eyes while playing World Series Baseball, you will think you're in a stadium. The commentary is better than most baseball games, but still leaves a little to be desired. Suggestions: Pay closer attention to the details. They make the difference between a great game and a legend.
Overall: This game is a must for all hardcore baseball fans. I've played all the baseball game available for Xbox And this soars high above them. This has easy to use controls and gameplay. Gameplay: The controls are easy to get the hang of. There are plenty of game modes. The batting cursor could also use some work, but in all this is a pretty good game. Graphics: The the graphics are awwwwesome. The batting stances are more authentic than all-star and triple play baseball. The gloves could use some work but that isnt anything big or harmful to your enjoyment of this game. Sound: the announcers get annoying and repeat the same thing over and over.
But the sound of the bat and the ball hitting the glove sound realistic Suggestions: Get more hit variety and make it easier to hit a homer. I've had the game for about 3 weeks and I havent hit a homer.
Overall: This year's crop of baseball games hasn't been too impressive. But out of the gates of Sega comes this god-send of a game.
Gameplay: Ahh yes, the meat of the game. The beauty of WSB is that it can suit any player. Like a arcade experience with tape measure homers? Then turn on the rookie mode, slow down the pitches and increase the size of your batting cursor. Like a real life experience? Turn on all-star difficulty, turn off the visual strike zone,increase the pitch speed and be prepared for a battle. The game uses a cursor style batting interface. It works very good. The fielding is very easy (a bit too many diving catches though). This game is nicely refined and plays great.
Graphics: This is a great looking game. Shadows are very realistic, the player models are very detailed, and the grass looks good enough to eat off of. And every thing moving at a silky smooth 60 fps. There is also many nice touches like birds flying in the sky and umpires/base coaches being fully rendered and in the game. But nothing is perfect. No apple at Shea after a homerun, no train at Enron errr Astros err Minute Maid Field. Also, the homerun celebrations are way overused. Over all, this game shows the power of the Xbox.
Sound: er. In a sports game that is. Turn on your sound system (the game supports Dolby Digital) and you could swear you're in the park. The roar of the crowd is deafening after a homerun, or its as silent as a mouse if your team is on the losing end of a shut out. Listen to the road team get bashed with ruthless comments from the crowd, and heck, the peanut man will sound off once in a while. The announcers are generally good. The play-by-play makes perfect sense, but some phrases are repeated too much.
Overall: After playing Triple Play, I was
looking for something a little
more, hoping WSB would be it. And
in some things, it was. But there
are some glaring problems with
WSB's gameplay that made it a bit
disappointing. Franchise Mode =
wonderful. This is by no means a
terrible game. But for someone who
likes the quick results of NFL
Blitz, you better wait until MLB
SlugFest Gameplay: I thought that the pitching aspect
of this game was dead-on. Not too
easy, but the strikes can happen.
Batting... why can't you move in
the batter's box? I'd like to be
able to hug the plate if I want.
Baserunning... a little tricky,
especially when attempting a hit
and run play. Fielding... this was
very different than Triple Play,
and my wife particularly didn't
like this style, although I thought
it was pretty decent, with the
exception of not being able to
throw to a cutoff man and going
straight to a base. Graphics: Absolutely gorgeous. I played
games in every park I had really
been to, and they all looked
exactly as I remembered them
(Astros field even had the train
and flag pole in center field).
The characters either looked very
much like their realy counterparts
or nothing like them. Randy
Johnson practically looks black.
But overall, highly impressive Sound: Not too bad. It's neat to hear
over in your left ear a heckler or
a vendor. The callers were pretty
good, and the over sound was smooth Suggestions: it just seems like some control
issues were skimped on. Other than
that, not bad.
Overall: Overall a good game though lacking in a few areas. In the actual baseball playing (very good english) the game is superb. It has a good balance of hitting/pitching which leads to an enjoyable experience. I was, however, dissapointed with the Franchise Mode. What? No career stats? You can't view other team's rosters unless in the trade screen. Trades also seem uneven. Sometimes when a CPU accepts your trade, and you reject it, then propose the trade again, it is rejected. Gameplay: This is the strongest point of the game. Games don't take too long to run their course as it sometimes feels in "real" baseball. No game can reach the excitment of a late inning rally or 500 foot bombs of home runs but this sure comes close. WSB really gets you immersed in the game. While playing my brother for the first time I actually started yelling at John Vander Wal for striking out. Graphics: Fantastic. The crowd is still not what I would like to see but its much better than Madden 2002 (wrong sport but anyway), for example. Most player faces are dead on, for example Jorge Posada and Randy Winn. Others are questionable. Jason Giambi is the cover boy yet I feel his face is one of the most innacurate in the game. Sound: Good. While the hecklers are interesting and even humorous at times, they can get old. So far Chuck Knoblach and Vladimir Guerrero have been "overrated." I just hope no one else falls into this catagory or it could become tedious. Ted Robinson and Krukow do a good job even though the color man (not sure who it is) seems to have the same tone in his voice with the same level of excitment for each quote. Suggestions: Its a good game but include career stats in franchise mode. A "cleaner" Home Run Derby and more choices for create a player would be appreciated.
Overall: Alright, to be honest, I am not the world's biggest baseball fan. In fact, I don't really like the sport, especially seeing as how my favorite team is the Angels, and they are never on except on ESPN where I live, in New York. I didn't even buy the game, my brother did. That being said, I couldn't be more happy with the $50 he spent :) We rented Triple Play, my friend brought over All-Star, and finally, we bought this game. Of the three, it is, by far, the best looking and best playing game. It is of my opinion that it is the best of the genre(for any baseball game I have played of ANY system), forcing me to give it a perfect & Gameplay: I love it. It's fun to just pick up and play, because it's so easy to get used to the controls. Looks smooth, and plays so as well. Graphics: BY FAR, the best looking baseball game released to date (on a console, I'm not a PC-sports gamer). Also, most realistic animations. If you looked at the other games, they were pretty weak efforts. All-star is decent, but that's about it. This game shows off the fact that it's an Xbox exclusive made by Sega, as it shines above the rest. Sound: Best commentary, atleast that I can recall, of all of the baseball games. It however doesn't have the option to listen to your xbox soundtracks, which I feel every game should have in use atleast during the menus. Therefore, even being the best in the genre, it still falls short, in my humble opinion.(imho) Suggestions: Next year, when the game goes to all three consoles, still take advantage of the hardware and make the Xbox one, atleast graphically, the best. Also, by then, barring disaster, Xbox Live will be out, so make the game online with lagless multiplayer. Soundtrack feature also helps. Other than that, this game is pretty much ideal.
Overall: WSB has a great feal. it is easy to pick and play and the controls are easy to learn. the franchise mode is the best part of the game but your schedule never changes year from year. Gameplay: the ai is tuff to hit at first but after a game or two it is a lot easier to hit. this game is not hit a homer in every at bat. the computer batters will swing at bad pitches. fielding is easy to master. Graphics: i have not noticed any glitches in the game and the graphics a clean and smouth. the player motions are smouth and fluient Sound: i dont have my stero connected to my tv so i dont have any super sound but it sounds good. the biggest problem is repetive announcing. Suggestions: make a mixed schedule and dont have the auto roster confiurator put superstars in the minor league
Overall: The game of baseball was the overall appeal. For all intense purposes this game is a flop. It is unreallistic and worst of all not fun to play. Gameplay: The gameplay is not good at all and definitely not worth the fifty clams I spent. Burned by the hype again. Triple Play was not good either. I haven't tried allstar baseball. Do yourself a favor and save your money. Graphics: It looks great too bad it is not fun to play in two player mode. When will these game companys stop spending all there money on making Luis Gonzalez look like Luis Gonzalez and make sure the game is fun first. Sound: The sound is great. Too bad I don't give a lick on how good the sound is.If the game is not fun WHOOOOOO Cares. Suggestions: You ripped me off and i am ticked off. Your pitching Batter interface sucks. Player reaction time sucks. Game is not good.Why dont you look at Triple Play "97" "98" for the playstation and steal the playability.
Overall: Overall this looks and plays very well. I don't, however, think this is heads and tails above All-Star baseball. The franchise mode is the greatest. Very fun, very realistic. This makes the game worth getting right away. Somethings that don't appeal to me, no warming up relief pitchers! What! Have you ever seen that or heard of that? You just bring them in. That is a huge mark against in my opinion. That's one thing that is great in All-Star baseball, you can see the pitchers warming up in the pen while your playing the game. No working scoreboards. Why not!? Just lazy I guess. It's the same thing over and over and over and over... same movements from players, same catches, after a play it shows a player, it's the same every time. He points to a guy, points to him self. Same with batters after they get out, or walk up to the plate. Just gets very dumb. It's fun to play, hard to hit, fun to pitch. Solid game overall, but my self, I'll stick with All-Star baseball. I like the working scoreboards, pitchers warming up, breaking bats, watching homers bounce off walls on homers and players climbing fences. Also why do players bodies all look the same? They look different while their batting, but in the field and after they get out, they all look really big and muscular. Come on, give us some random looks. Create a player is pretty good, except you don't get many things to change. You have stance, face(there are 4), elbow pad, socks, glove color, a few others. Then you get to make your player using Hitting, Power and Speed, and Arm Strength. WHAT! What about defence? Leaves a little to be desired here. Gameplay: Game play like I said is fun. Realistic most of the time, outside of double plays. It seems like players are way too fast, but yet doubles and triples have stayed respectable over the 35 games I've played. Nice diving, nice fielding and animations when throwing. Pretty much right on with most things.
No warming up pitchers is a big disapointment and ruins the realistic aspect a bit for me. Graphics: Solid, but like I said. Players all look the same, body wise. Faces look great for most, others it's not even close. I don't think some of the stances look that good either. But for the most part, everything looks good, and moves realistic. Sound: Terrible. The same thing is said every time you play. Every game the same thing is said over and over again. The crowd sounds good. Great heckling. The sound of a ball being caught is so loud, it sounds like your right next to the glove. I guess that's fine, but it doesn't work in my opinion. After about 12 or so games, I just muted the sounds. Suggestions: I'm not sure what to suggest, just try and work on the realistic parts of baseball. Think of what's in a game and try and work it a little more like that. Warming up pitchers, working scoreboards, dirty uniforms, stuff like that. Oh yeah, GET RID OF THE STUPID BIRD. Those who have played this know what I'm talking about.
Overall: Sega did an overall solid job with the game. Gameplay and pitcher/batter interface are right on. Graphics although very pretty, have their minor flaws here and there. What really wins me over is the in depth franchise mode. This game is a ton of fun, especially when you play in All Star mode. I am already well into my 162 game season. Gameplay: I don't understand why people complain about the gameplay when they can't execute the controls. Many people have said, its too hard to turn a double play....you can't hit the cutoff man. Well these people are WRONG. Yes its difficult to turn a double play on someone like Ichiro, as it is in real life, but its easy on slower players. I have not had any issues turning the double play, perhaps its people's timing when throwing to first. And BTW DPs are actually very difficult on fast players in the league, timing needs to be right on, as does yours in this game. As far as the cutoff man....try throwing to a base when the ball passes your cutoff man...C'mon people dont blame the game...blame yourself. My favorite aspect of the gamepley are the little touches of realism here and there. For example if you are an outfielder fielding a fly ball with runners tagging....if you get behind the ball and get a running throw, your throwing animation is different and your throw has a lot more mustard. If you are back peddling, your throw is kinda thrown back with more arc, because there is no momemntum behind the throw. True attention to detail. My other favorite aspect, is pitching in All Star mode. There is no ball cursor to guide you, so you have to finesse your pitches in with the analor controller. Really cool, feels like you are really pitching out there. Graphics: Great details and animations. For example barehanding groundballs etc. Biggest problem is the inconsistency of the faces. Some are right on, many are WAY off. Sound: Solid effort, but gets a bit repetitive. some funny comments from the crowds if you know details about certain players. I was shocked when I heard a fan yell at John Olerud.... Hey John Hows the head? Suggestions: Keep up the good work, but keep adding more details in.
Overall: I feel that World Series Baseball is just another bad attempt at trying to mix arcade and simulation. It is extremely tough to try and mix these two and only High Heat has pulled it off halfway succesfully. World Series includes a decent franchise mode, good graphics, and some nice sound quality's. However, that's about the end of the line. It lacks a major attention to detail in most cases. I want my baseball game to look and feel like a baseball game, and not have a half-hearted try at the game. Sega gave it a nice ride but it was only Warning Track Power. Gameplay: I originally owned a copy of ASB, and was happy with the gameplay, despite the minor glitches it had, there were occurences where you would hit the ball you never had before, and the hits were spread out. However, while playing WSB, the hits seemed to occur in the same places game after game, the fielders also seem much slower than the runners, therefore allowing for more extra base hits for batter's with just average speed. There are no broken bats, pitcher can't get thrown out, and some of the animations in the outfield look comical. Since when did outfielder sidearm the ball into the infield. Plus, I have never seen players celebrate homeruns like they do in WSB. Also, where are the player collisions? Something, ASB and WSB could not figure out how to include. Somebody also needs to tell Sega, that double play's are way easier to comoplete in real life then they are in the game, I know Sega wanted to make a game that was fun, but DP's are part of the game, good or bad. The franchise mode in WSB is very good. It is the light at the end of the tunnel. Sega, did a great job in including the franchise and trying to reach fans at the sim level. I have no problem with the franchise and only wish that ASB would have structured it more of the same way. Overall, the gameplay made me wish I hadn't traded in ASB. Graphics: Visually, the game looked great. The player's for the most part looked good, except for again some minor details. Some players were not included with there actual stances, and some of the player's faces did not look like there real life counterpart. These are everyday starters, not bench players. There are no reasons to brag about the facial features when all starting player's aren't correct. Plus, they lacked major detail on the stadiums, some did not have that real life feel to them, and seemed rather cartoonish. Plus, a feature that I love is the ability to see the ball repel off of walls and facade when you hit a home run. That is something that WSB also forgot to do. Plus, what is up with the same bird that always fly's across the screen. Sound: I felt that the sound had it's bright spot's and it's low spot's. The best quality is when the fans heckle the playes. It really caught my ear. The announcers do a nice job in the game, and like all other games contains some repeat phrases. Overall I feel that with the umpire's and the crowd it's better than ASB. Suggestions: Don't dog the game, put every detail of baseball into the game, every stadium detail, and every player detail. Make it feel like it's a baseball game, don't try to lessen the errors just because it's not fun having an error. True baseball gamer's want to simulate there real life baseball hero's, My advice to you- watch the game, study the game, and create the game.
Overall: This is the best Baseball game out right now. I am gald I waited for this instead of going for one of the other Baseball games that were released at the appropiate time. (the Begginibg of the Baseball season) This game has everything I am looking for in a baseball game, The batter Pitcher matchup is excellent as well as the graphics and season modes Gameplay: The gameplay is great. I am glad they went back to more of the 2k1 edition in that it is more accurate where the batters icon meets the pitch. However, it could even be better like how it was in the original game made for DC. The fielding is done well also. Graphics: The visual appeal is good. The player look real as do the stadiums. Keep up the good work in this area but maybe try to do something with the stick people in the crowd. Sound: The sound is not as irratating as most baseball games. The aounners do a nice job keeping quiet instaed of saying dumb things all the time. It is cool to hear the crowd heckling people. Suggestions: Here's the deal. You have got to start workig on next years version now, I am sick of waiting for your game when Baseball season is under full swing. i am not doing it next year. So make sure it is ready by Mid March just to be safe, Work overtime if you have too. You are missing out on sooooo many sales becuase not everyone is going to wait they will run out and buy the first Baseball game realeased reguardless of qulaity.Keep your high standards as for gameplay and always strive to make improvements were needed
Overall: This is a great baseball sim, that anyone who likes baseball should buy. The depth of the franchise mode is incredible, and adds to the realism of the baseball world. The game play is also great, with nice animations that are very smooth. The personalization of each player is also very well done. The only complaint may be the sound, because some of it is repetitive, but it isn't bad by any standard. Overall this game is fun.
Gameplay: The gameplay is excellent. The game allows for great stats and performances. The batter/pitcher interface is also very well done, and every aspect of the gameplay is just pretty much great. Especially the franchise mode, because you basically can control everything, and that is what I like about any sports sim. Graphics: The graphics are extremely nice. The stadiums are very nicely done, and the player models are realistic, especially with the true to life faces. The crowd isn't great, but it's not awful. Sound: I haven't played it a lot, but i think i've played it enough to where there is some repetition. The announcements on plays is nice, but some of the pre game is very repetitive. But the crowd effects are great, especially the hecklers who often personalize their rant. Suggestions: End of the year awards, such as MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year. And also, polish up the crowd, and give the game slightly better commentary.
Overall: This was a true baseball fan's last chance at a great baseball game this year. Every other baseball release has been pretty bad (except Highheat on pc, which was decent...graphics not so hot though). For the most part, this game delivers. This game is a sim. Very realistic stats, realistic performances. Game tracks lots of stats, has lots of player ratings. This is a baseball sim with great graphics. A true baseball fan's dream come true? Well, not quite, as I will get into, but, overall, this game does look GREAT, and has a great presentation. Gameplay: Gameplay has lots of really good things to said about it, and one glaring, totally incomprehensible, amazing screw up that I cannot believe could even be true. I will get to that in a second.
First of all, overall, very good gameplay. Batter/pitcher interface is excellent. Pitching is very good and realistic (even though my pitchers don't seem to tire fast enough), batting is very good and realistic. Fielding is decent. Baserunning is very good.
Great player ratings...VsL, VsR for both batters and pitchers is clutch. With these ratings, you really have to consider the rightie/leftie matchup with batter vs pitcher. Excellent. Other baseball games (except Highheat on pc) barely even take this crucial part of the game into consideration.
Minors league rosters are cool. Hire your scouts and managers, work within a budget. All excellent ideas.
Now for the glaring screw up. YOU CANNOT THROW TO YOUR CUTTOFF MEN!!!! I'm stunned. Floored. Amazed. How can you release a baseball sim that is lacking in one of the most basic fundementals in the game. Everyone remembers the coach screaming at you "HIT YOUR CUTOFF MAN!!!". In this game, you can't. Your OF can only throw to the bases...unless I just can't find the right control.
While this is just one screwup and there are so many other things right with this game, still, this is a major screw up, and really hurts in the overall rating of the game. Graphics: Visually, the game looks just great. Ballparks are done really well, player models are very good, with many players have their characteristic moves built in...example, Mike Mussina's odd move with runners on base. Even the crowd looks pretty good. The overall look of the game is great. Presented very well. Sound: Sound is good. The announcers do a decent job and have some nice comments that go with the particular play. The crowd, always a big deal with me, is very good. Great heckling at individual players, and the crowd is definately into the game. Suggestions: my god, no cuttoff man? Come on guys. That is just to much a basic fundemantal part of the game. Inexcusable. Maybe a patch? We got the great xbox harddrive, let's make use of it!
Overall: By far the Besy Baseball game made for a console. If you need a Baseball game to play, then this is the one. I could only find very monor details to complain about. The franchise mode is the best part of this game, it is awesome. Gameplay: Gameplay is superb, and realistic. Throwing to bases and running the basses is easy to learn. The hitting can be a real biaatch at first, who am I kidding it is still hard, but that is a good thing. Graphics: By far the best looking graphics for a baseball game. Triply Play looked very good, but that game sucked so bad it doesn't deserve and attention. My only beef is no anamations for the stadiums. I live in Kansas City and the fouintains work here, why not in the game. Sound: Sound is good, but could have been better. I love going to real cames to here all the Baseball sound in the game and in the crowd. Suggestions: Better attention to detail in the stadiums and well not much else except for an online mode.
Overall: I have to agree with wreqtgamer...to give this game a low score is ludicrous! Even worse...comparing it to Halo? What the @#%$ is that about? You can't compare the two...they are two different categories. I am a huge Halo fan and I agree it is one of the best...if not the best game on the Xbox...but to compare a baseball game to it. Give me a break! This is by far the best baseball game on any console and possibly PC as well. It doesn't appeal to any baseball fan? That's idiotic. I can't stand when people put stupid reviews on this forum and bring the average score down. Heck, he or she probably hasn't even played it! The game is ultra realistic...from batting to pitching to fielding and not to mention the indepth franchise mode. The only disappointment I have is it doesn't keep track of career stats like ASB does...or maybe it does and I missed it, but I have searched high and low for them. If somebody knows otherwise please let me know! Gameplay: As I mentioned, gameplay is ultra-realistic. The franchise mode is outstanding, from player development to the budget system to scouts and free agents...I would like to see career stats though...hopefully next year. The different bat settings and pitch settings and cpu levels make it easy to adjust the game exactly the way you want it. Graphics: The graphics and fielder animations are outstanding...especially the plays some of the 3B have made fielding a ground ball and spinning to throw across to first...or the bare hand plays...or throwing from the knees. The stadium detail as great, but would be nice to have animated and working scoreboards...this is still not enough to drop the score...hopefully they will add that next year. I would also like to see alternate uniforms like ASB. Sound: The sound is great, but needs some improvement on the announcing...not much, but could use some. The crowd heckers as well as the crowd getting into the game is outstanding not to mention the umpire calls. Suggestions: Only suggestions would be to add career stats and alternate uniforms. Other nice feature would be to keep track of awards won, all star games voted to, and have a hall-of-fame...similiar to NFL Fever franchise.
Overall: First off, I'd like to say that whoever
gives this game a low score is an
absolute retard! They either have
something against Sega or are
just plain lyingabout having played
it. Anyways, this game is the BEST
baseball game I have played so
far. The franchise mode is
awsome, and I can't say enough
about the player animations. The
replays are even really fun to
watch. Very well made game.
Hands Down!!! Gameplay: The gameplay is fast and fluid,
and overall is a very fast paced
baseball game. Every menu and
option that you have to access is
straight forward and not
confusing. Graphics: The player animations are
probably the best I've seen for any
baseball game. And the amount of
different animations is truely
unbelievable. The graphics and
textures are smooth. The only
glitches are dealing with the ball
itself. But its very minor. Plus we
can't forget how good the player
faces and models look. Sound: The sound is great. Super sweet
in Dolby 5.1. The crowd hecklers
are really funny too. Plus they have
the umpire yelling his calls, which
already makes this game better
than ASB 2003. Suggestions: To be honest, I can't think of
anything that they should change,
other than work on better motion
for the baseball itself and maybe
improve the colition detection.
Overall its an awesome baseball
game!
Overall: Overall, you can't go wrong with this game. I've never had more fun playing a baseball game and there isn't anything sign that I will get tired of it like most games. Gameplay: The gameplay and depth of this game is the most ambitious we've seen. It's easy to pick up and play for anyone and difficulty can be fine-tuned(as well as many other things).
The new coaches features puts you in control of your teams destiny.
Drafting coaches and scouts based on their skill in different areas and thier cost, effects your team and minor league club immensely. Graphics: The graphics are bascically jaggy free. Faces and stances are dead on, except for Jeter's and R. Johnson's faces.(what's up with that?) Animations, presentation, cut scenes and pro moves are so sweet it feels like you're watching a real game. It's so cool to see the infield players scoop the ball bare handed and make the thrown outs all in one motion. There's so many moves like that. Sound: Commentary is not a highlight but it doesn't disappoint either. Sometimes they're right on the money but it can get repetitious after many hours of play. Sound effects and crowds are great and I like when they boo me when my team is away or when we screw up big time at home. Suggestions: Only thing I could ask for next year is online play with xbox live.
Overall: THIS GAME IS SWEEEET. The best baseball game I've ever bought, and I've been around. From Earl Weaver in the 80's, to High Heat, to the saturn World Series, to ASB, to Triple Play, I've played them all. This one definitely takes the cake. Gameplay: The gameplay is what we've all been looking for. Its definitely up there with the high heat series, if not above. It's got extra's galore, and the franchise is just RIDICULOUS!!!! You'll definitely have fun playing the game. Graphics: The visuals are very crisp and detailed. The animations are smooth, but not the smoothest I've seen. It definitely flows great from one animation to the next though. It wont disappoint. Sound: I still don't like the announcing that much. It seems like baseball never gets great announcing, not like NFL and NBA 2k2. Mike Krukow does an amazing job, but Ted Robinson lacks a little, but it's not horrid like Madden, to where you can't take it anymore, just not as good as the other 2k2 franchises. But the ambient sounds of baseball pretty much make up for it. It's also sweet hearing the people in the background. I once heard someone say to Pokey Reese, "Hey Pokey, where's Gumby???" I thought that was pretty great.
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