I finally broke out of my Halo 2 rut and decided to do something a little different. Ok, alot different. I bought a baseball game. Heck, for $19.99 plus tax, how could I resist? The last baseball game I had was for Super Nintendo. All I can say is WOW! Things have certianly changed.
When you boot up the game you have a nice little video showing actual sports clips. Not like anyone cares. You then have many different modes you can use. You can trade players, bring them up to Triple A, move players around, etc. You have a salary cap and can make offers to free agents. They will either accept or reject your offer.
Offense: Batting is kind of difficult as you don't know where you are aiming your bat. You can get an idea by moving your left thumbpad, but you don't have an exact spot. You have a power swing, bunt, and normal swing button. Running is HARD. Getting to first with one guys is fine. You have to continuously tap the A button. No biggie...right? HA! Get more than one man on, you need to continously hit more than one button. Try running with the bases loaded. The other more difficult feature is controling more than one man on base. You try to only get one guy running and others to go back, etc, it's hard. There are times you have no idea where runners are headed. Don't get me wrong, it is difficult, but gets easier the more you play.
Defense: Pitching rocks. You can really control where you are pitching. You start out with a big target. From there you click the type of pitch you want. You then wait for 2 circles to line up in the target. You press the button when they are in the target and your pitch is thrown. It really does make a difference when you're pitchers is tires. Pick a guy to warm up in the bullpen. It takes about half an inning for the guy to warm up fully. Fielding is fairly simple, as long as you make sure who the guy is that the computer picks. Sometimes it's the wrong guy and causes you to lose the ball. So make sure that you keep a close eye on that one. Throwing the ball is simple as hitting the left trigger for a 'smart' throw. The X, Y, A and B buttons are for the bases respectively.
Online play is pretty good. When someone sends you an invite, you can tell if they have a bunch of drops and can decline with a reason. I've played online several times and have enjoyed each experience.
I give the game an 8 outta 10. Definately worth the $20 bucks if you're into baseball.....and even if you're not to switch things up a bit.
Gameplay: I'd give it a 8 outta 10
Offense: Batting is kind of difficult as you don't know where you are aiming your bat. You can get an idea by moving your left thumbpad, but you don't have an exact spot. You have a power swing, bunt, and normal swing button. Running is HARD. Getting to first with one guys is fine. You have to continuously tap the A button. No biggie...right? HA! Get more than one man on, you need to continously hit more than one button. Try running with the bases loaded. The other more difficult feature is controling more than one man on base. You try to only get one guy running and others to go back, etc, it's hard. There are times you have no idea where runners are headed. Don't get me wrong, it is difficult, but gets easier the more you play.
Defense: Pitching rocks. You can really control where you are pitching. You start out with a big target. From there you click the type of pitch you want. You then wait for 2 circles to line up in the target. You press the button when they are in the target and your pitch is thrown. It really does make a difference when you're pitchers is tires. Pick a guy to warm up in the bullpen. It takes about half an inning for the guy to warm up fully. Fielding is fairly simple, as long as you make sure who the guy is that the computer picks. Sometimes it's the wrong guy and causes you to lose the ball. So make sure that you keep a close eye on that one. Throwing the ball is simple as hitting the left trigger for a 'smart' throw. The X, Y, A and B buttons are for the bases respectively.
Online play is pretty good. When someone sends you an invite, you can tell if they have a bunch of drops and can decline with a reason. I've played online several times and have enjoyed each experience.
I give the game an 8 outta 10. Definately worth the $20 bucks if you're into baseball.....and even if you're not to switch things up a bit.
