MVP Baseball 2003

MVP looks great. The field, players, and animations are all smooth and realistic looking. Instead of placing the camera directly behind the batter in the default view, they've gone for a slightly tilted camera that better simulates a batter's view of the ball screaming in. The only graphical glitch is that the batting box is too small visually. Curves don't break correctly, change-ups don't drop enough, and this just plain looks weird. However, the mini-diamond that shows the situation (including how much of a lead the opposing team's runners take) is just about perfect.

Rather than simply demanding you keep your eye on the ball, MVP has a batting box that predicts where the ball will go. This makes hitting too easy and pitching a bit too hard. A pitcher has too little time to get the ball icon within the strike zone. Other sims do it better. The other problem is with fielding. You have decent control (they avoided World Series Baseball's rookie error) but changing players is neither quick nor easy and the game forces your player to dive when you don't want to. Tossing it back to base isn't as intuitive or smooth as it should be either. You'll get used to it but, again, other games do it much better.

MVP is a strong debut but it just isn't a contender for the Hall of Fame.--Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

• Great graphics
• Realistic baseball action
• Franchise mode

• Pitches don't "break" correctly
• Fielding system is out of whack
• Franchise mode lacks initial draft

The graphics are good and the ballparks look great. The players look pretty good, though some look better than others. For instance, Giambi doesn't look much like Giambi, but Pettitte looked just like Pettitte. Right down to the chin cleft. Also, the pitchers pitch just like they do in real life. It's especially fun when you have a pitcher that has a distinctive style. I laughed out loud when I played the Angels and Ben Weber came in to relieve the starter. He does that same jerky thing with his glove before he throws a pitch!

I did like the fact that you can download updated rosters and even brand new players like Matsui and Contreras. One thing I don't like about the rosters is that when players are traded, they wear the same numbers and there is no way to change them. That is frustrating not only because of retired numbers, but also because you might get 2 or more players with the same number.

Another thing I like is they actually have umpires and you can see them make the calls, though you can't argue the calls. I think they should have included base coaches too.

All in all this was a fun game, but they could've made it a little better.


Brilliant!   December 7, 2003
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

EA Sports' MVP Baseball 2003 is the best baseball game I have ever played. I'm not sure how they are going to make a better game next year. The pitching and batting interfaces are ingenious. The graphics are amazing, the best I've seen of any of the games I've ever played - and that's a lot.

The game has four different modes (besides "Play Now") - Franchise, Season, Tournament, and Home Run Showdown. I think Franchise is the most fun because in Franchise you are the manager. You are given a set of goals you must complete within a 5-year period. Your team has a budget and payroll, and the players have contracts. Your team may not go overbudget. You will learn this when you first try to trade a half-rate mediocre pitcher for Barry Bonds. The currnecy is in "Points". For example: A-Rod is about 8,000 of 40,040 points the Rangers have. Also when you create a player they are given point values depending on how good or bad you make them. When you sign free agents, they will want a certain amount of money, and if you can't give it to them, they will become angry and refuse to negotiate. Only play Franchise mode if you are an experienced gamer, who plays fair and is experienced in economics. You are graded on your managing skills (F-A+), good grades increase your anual budget.

Season mode is for those who like to stack up their own teams and blow all others out of the water. You can create a mass of elite soldiers and simply add them to your team. And this is where you can trade a half-rate pitcher for Barry Bonds. There is no Payroll of Budget, and you are not graded.

There is really nothing to say about Tournament mode, except that there is pool play or playoffs.

Home Run Showdown is different from a derby, you set a distance, and the first one to reach that distance with all your combined hits (homeruns, flyballs, groundballs) wins. It is a lot of fun.

This game is wonderful for the baseball fanatic. Most of the players' faces are edited to look like them in real life. And there are many signature batting stances and pitching motions (that you can assign your created players.)

The controls in this game are your basic number pad controls.
For pitching and defense: When you pitch, you control how fast the pitches will be and how much movement is on them. Any pitcher may have up to 5 pitches, and Pitch Types are rated on a scale of 100. There is a pitching meter that will tell you how much speed and movement is on the ball. And finaly, there are different types of curveballs and sliders, some sink, some move across the plate, and ect. Controling your fielders is difficult at first but you will adjust quickly. Use the arrow keys to throw to a base. You can also contol how hard your fielders throw by holding in the key.

For Batting: All you realy need to know is CTRL is swing. But you can control if you will hit a fly ball of groundball by using the arrow keys.

For Baserunning: Use the arrow keys to control which base you want them to run to.

This game is excellet. If you love baseball, you will love this game.

The only thing was - When I first got the game and installed it, there was too much choppiness to play. I was very fustraited. I soon realised that the feature "Live Big Screens" was on. I turned it off and the game worked fine. all the feature is, is a screen on the score board showing the exact same thing on the monitor. It really makes no difference.

Overall Presentation: Brilliant. Menues, Gamplay, Graphics, all brilliant.

Graphics: The best I've ever seen on any console.

Gamplay: Outstanding. Will not take up much time, the games seem to be long, but when you look at your clock you realise it's only been about 25 minutes.

Sound: Excellent quality sound. Commentators can be repetative (but who isn't) but they will keep you in the game.

Lasting Appeal: This game will last you a long time. Once you are done with a season, play another one, you won't get tired of it.

Difficulty: Not too difficult. Rookie, Pro, and All-Star. Rookie is increadibly easy, you will soon move on to Pro and All-Star.

If you ever read a negative review about this game, DO NOT LISTEN!!!! This game is a masterpiece by EA Sports.