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All-Star Baseball 2003

Score: 80%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Acclaim
Developer: EA Games
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1 - 4
Genre: Sports

Graphics & Sound:

Not that I didn't like the graphics of All-Star Baseball 2003, it's that I wasn't blown away by them. I consider this to be the year of the gaming system. With the PlayStation 2 in its sophomore season, and the releases of both the Xbox and GameCube, I think it's about time the developers give us their best stuff. So like I said before, I wasn't catching my drool with the look of this game. Things are basically the same from a year ago. The facial features got a little touch-up, but that's about it. I found the animations to be a tad off at times, primarily speaking about where the ball is released during a pitch. Otherwise, the baseball parks look good. But again, nothing really caught my eye.

The play-by-play with the three-man team of Thom Brennaman, Steve Lyons, and Bob Brenly did OK. I thought they followed the game quite well, in fact. However, when it came time for second and third seasons in the Franchise mode, the color man would still bring up stats from the 2001 season. I was really hoping they would be able to mix things up a little, but I guess not. It sounded like Acclaim just rehashed everything from a year ago when it came down to the sound effects. They were also OK, not great.


Gameplay:

When it comes right down to it, All-Star Baseball 2003 had what other baseball games are lacking: multiple game modes. However, this doesn't mean it didn't come without flaws of its own. First off, let's discuss the game itself. ASB 2K3 plays decent enough, but that's only after you're able to HIT the ball. I really got frustrated after striking out after my first few hundred at bats. This probably can be attributed to the fact that you have no time to react to a really small ball coming at you at a really fast pace. Besides that random crapshoot we'll call batting, the rest of the game was playable. I thought the infielders tended to be a little slow when trying to field a grounder, as opposed to the outfielders that could run down everything. There is one thing I think Acclaim went a little overboard with. Generally, you can turn Injuries on and off for a game, but rarely does anyone ever get injured. Well, that's not the case for All-Star Baseball 2003, where my men were dropping like flies. This truly happened to me: my second basemen pulled a ligament running back to the dugout after the inning was over, and was out for 1-2 weeks. The next inning, my shortstop apparently swung the bat too hard, because he went down in the middle of his at bat. I like the realism of injuries, but I think they need to come at more realistic times in the game.

All-Star Baseball 2003 contains several different game modes to choose from: Exhibition, New Season, New Series, Expansion, Franchise, and Home Run Derby. Besides those game modes, you can also collect Player Cards to unlock cheats, or can also play the Trivia Game, which will definitely test your baseball knowledge. The first three modes I listed are the generics, single game (Exhibition), one full season (New Season), and just the playoffs (New Series). The Expansion and Franchise modes are the exact same thing with continuous seasons of play. The only difference between the two is that Expansion allows you to create your own team. Whichever mode you choose, you'll probably end up with the same result as me at the end of the season: you can't afford to keep any of your free agents around, and the computer automatically drafts some players onto your Farm Team in the minors. Finally, there is Home Run Derby, which was such a joke to play. First off, it's not about WHO can hit the most home runs, it's about which TEAM can hit the most. Four players from the American League face off against four players from the National League. You also have to control each player, so I guess you have to root for both teams. Bottom line: there's no point in playing Home Run Derby alone.


Difficulty:

All-Star Baseball 2003 contains four different levels of difficulty: Manage Only, Rookie, Veteran, and All-Star. However, you can only play the game with Rookie, Veteran and All-Star. Manage Only just lets you make the pitching and batting decisions, the computer does the rest. Besides those four levels, you can also make the game easier or harder just by changing a few variables: East Batting, Pitcher Aid, Strike Zone Aid, Fielder Control, Defensive Position, Leadoff Control, or Game Speed. Any of these can be turned on or off, all to your liking. But like I mentioned before, it's a crapshoot with batting.

Game Mechanics:

There's good news and bad news when it comes to this section. The loading time and memory space used when saving are both very minimal. Minimal is the last word I would use when describing the amount of buttons used for the controller configuration. It really felt like every button had a purpose. Now while that may be the case, I was able to find a comfort level with the controller. Since we're on the topic of the controller, it will shake time to time when you aim your pitch outside of the strike zone.

While I did have problems with a few aspects of the game (pitching speed and way too many injuries), I did like playing All-Star Baseball 2003. I don't think it's the best baseball game ever by any means, but you may find it worth your while.


-Red Dawg, GameVortex Communications
AKA Alex Redmann

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