Ever since the last GREAT baseball game, and maybe the ONLY great baseball game (EDO's High Heat Baseball 2002 for the pc), I have been searching. Each year around February, I start getting all excited about the new crop of baseball games that are about to come out, and by the end of March each year, my hopes are crushed. More bland, blah, unexciting, unrealistic, uninspiring baseball games. So, being my cynical self, I was listining to all the hype about MVP 2004 with a jaded ear. I've heard it all before. Like the IGN review of WSB2k3 last year that said not only did the game have the deepest baseball franchise mode ever, it was the deepest franchise mode for any sports game ever! Turned out the franchise mode for WSB2k3 was about as deep as a mud puddle. So, I got my copy of MVP 2004, hoping for the best and expecting the worst, and so far, I AM LOVIN' THIS GAME!!!! I AM REALLY FEELIN' IT!!! I've excited. I can't stop thinking about it! The franchise mode is mad-deep! The actual gameplay FEELS like baseball! Stats that I need during an actual game are avaialble!!! Great player animations! Crowds sound like real baseball crowds!! The actual AAA and AA teams for each Major league team!! And these are not just a handful of players and call it a minor league team...these are FULL teams and you can play every minor league game if you want!!! HOLY CRUD!!! AM I FRIGGIN' DREAMING????? This game is hot. Real hot. Graphics are not the greatest. But, they certainly don't ruin the experience. The crowd looks pretty crappy and the player models are not the best, but they are good enough not to ruin the experience. Stadiums are realistic and look good. So far the one thing that is missing that I am always screaming for....BALLPARK SPECIFIC EVENTS!!! Example, at Yankee stadium when the home team hits a home run they always play the, what I call, the NY Bells ("BUM, BUM, BUM"). You really need to bring in that ballpark specific stuff. That would really send a baseball game over the edge if they could ever do that with each ballpark. But, make no mistake, this is the best baseball game I have played in a VERY long time. If you are looking for an exciting, deep baseball game....go get MVP 2004. And, by the way, I usually try to find ways to not like an EA game. Not possible with this one.
MVP Baseball 2004 pretty much revolutionized the term "baseball video game". It has so much that you can do in a (baseball) game. First is the Pure Swing System. This allows you to actually control where you want to hit ... Read Full Review
I will first start off by saying that I am not a big baseball fan at all. However, this game is still a lot of fun to play even if you are not a baseball fan, let alone a die hard fan of the sport. The game play of thi... Read Full Review
