Xbox

  News 
  Reviews
  Previews
  Hardware
  Interviews
  All Features

Areas

  3DS
  Android
  iPad
  iPhone
  Mac
  PC
  PlayStation 3
  PlayStation 4
  Switch
  Vita
  Wii U
  Xbox 360
  Xbox One
  Media
  Archives
  Search
  Contests

 

MVP Baseball 2004

Score: 95%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Canada
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1 - 2
Genre: Sports (Baseball)/ Simulation


Graphics & Sound:

Last year, the folks at EA Sports were able to exercise their baseball demons with the debut of their hit series, MVP Baseball. Looking to follow up on last year’s success, MVP Baseball 2004 has hit the proverbial home run. This starts with the overall look and feel of the game. All of the stadiums, current and classic, pro and farm league, are dead on in their appearance. The crowds in attendance appear to look life-like as well, although some appear to look 2-dimensional from the side from time to time. Regardless, they are there to cheer their team on, and for good reason. The player models, including the managers and umpires, all have different body types and sizes. You tend to see heavier set guys playing down in the minor leagues (more on that later), while the more athletic guys star in "the show." Meantime, the animations have been cleaned up from last year. Players are leaping, diving, and making off-balanced throws at a much more natural pace. Another impressive detail that’s back for a second season is the picture-in-picture in the upper left corner, showing you each of the runners on base.

The audio is just as sweet. The soundtrack for MVP Baseball 2004 is superb, while the background noises are what clinch the deal. You can hear fans from the stands arguing a call, along with the hot dog guy in the fourth row. The two-man commentary team of Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow call a fairly good game, although at times they tend to say some incorrect statements, like how many outs there are. Regardless, the rest of the time, they are accurate and follow the game pitch by pitch.


Gameplay:

EA separated themselves from the competition this year by including all AAA and AA minor league teams of all 32 major league clubs. Play within the farm system to find tomorrow’s star today. You can play with any of these teams within several different modes. Play Now and Exhibition are the standard one-time games, while Manager Mode allows you to call the game from the dugout as a manager. This is for all you baseball strategists. There’s also a Scenario Editor, where you can create the ultimate baseball drama... like two outs with a full count, bottom of the ninth, down by three with the bases loaded. The innovative Home Run Showdown is back again, where you compete against another batter in a race for a designated distance. New this year is the Pitcher Showdown, where you race to strike out a certain amount of batters. Of course, the bread and butter of MVP 2004 is the Dynasty Mode. Not that I think you’ll ever have the time unless you simulate each season, but you can play up to 120 years of baseball. Not only do you go through the rigors of 162 games for your favorite MLB team, but you also play through the AA and AAA schedules. Within the season, you’ll deal with players unhappy with their contracts or playing time, forcing you to make decisions on whether or not to trade them away, or maybe just send them back down to the minor leagues and call up their replacement. Being the baseball purist that I am, I fell in love with the minor league addition. However, for those that could care less about the farm system, MVP Baseball 2004 may be a little overwhelming and tiresome.

The reason for the popularity in the series was the innovative pitcher-batter interface. Similarly to the 3-click swing in many golf games when you can’t line up the target, tip-off pitches are what give MVP a fresh new style. This year you can expect to hit bigger home runs when you see those red, white and blue circles on your screen. In the field, you now have the option of diving or climbing the wall, something that’s new from last year. In addition, make sure not to throw your hardest when making a routine throw to first. If you put too much power behind it, you might end up throwing it away for an error.


Difficulty:

Rookie, Pro, All-Star, and of course, MVP, are the four levels of difficulty in MVP 2004. I found the biggest difference between Pro and All-Star, because a lot more pitches turn into home runs in the lesser level. Meantime, you can change variables such as auto fielding and the number of innings if you’re looking to spice things up. For most people though, the standard four degrees of difficulty should suffice.

Game Mechanics:

Probably the hardest thing you’ll go through when learning MVP Baseball 2004 is the controller configuration. There are a lot of buttons that have a lot of functions, so it may take some time to figure them all out. Still to this day, I have problems trying to get my fielder to dive instead of jump. Other than that, the rest of the game is solid. As with most Xbox games, the loading time is pretty quick, as is the minimal amount of hard drive space needed.

So there you have it: MVP Baseball 2004 is the real deal. For those of you that are still skeptical from EA’s last baseball series, start believing. The only advice I’ll give is rent first if you’re not a big fan of the farm system option.


-Red Dawg, GameVortex Communications
AKA Alex Redmann

Windows Mia's Math Adventure: Just in Time Sony PlayStation 2 Alias

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated