So EA Sports polished it and made it spin a little smoother. MVP Baseball 2005 is, on the surface, nothing more than a cheaper, glossier update of the previous year's tremendous success story. But those familiar with last year's game will be impressed by the subtle enhancements: * The most radical gameplay change is the "hitter's eye" feature that uses color-coding to give you an idea of what kind of pitch is coming your way while at the plate. This, of course, helps prevent those embarrassing moments where you flail away at a curveball in the dirt because you thought it was a heater. Theoretically, this will also keep every game from becoming a pitcher's duel. * You can move your batter around in the box and adjust his strike zone accordingly. Amazingly, this was omitted from MVP '04, which was otherwise the most detail-oriented baseball game produced for the current-generation consoles. * Create-A-Stadium. 'Nuff said. I haven't toyed with it yet but it looks like a fun way to waste time. * XBox Live support and a new pitching minigame. These speak for themselves as well. Playing online is always a blast, and the minigames make for decent entertainment every now and then. * 720p HD support for the XBox. An already-sharp game visually gets an extra boost--looks absolutely fantastic on a widescreen DLP unit. MVP Baseball 2005 is a fitting culmination of a three-year project designed to get EA Sports back into contention in the baseball market after the Triple Play series began to show serious wear. The only glaring omission remains a single-season mode, but that's ultimately nothing more than quibbling, and you can't very well complain about the reduced price point this season.
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