Customer Reviews

ESPN Major League Baseball

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well color me stunned. I've been a life long EA fan and then this game comes along and totally rocks my world. ESPN Major League is the best baseball game out there this year because of one very important thing - GAMEPLAY. It's a simple thing, but it matters so much. After an afternoon with this game - I was hooked. The p/h interface is flawless, i love having up to date rosters, and the introduction of pitcher confidence gives this game a huge boost. Oh yeah, it's online too. Tons of fun. If you want to PLAY a baseball game instead of watch one, grab a copy of ESPN Major League Baseball.

I hoped they continue this game's title as 'Sega World Series Baseball 2k4', but they changed their name. Otherwise it's good. Graphic was good, especially Byung-Hyun Kim's Submarine and how Derek Jeter acts at batting stands. Well, that's for players, stadium graphics and shadows were 5 stars, crowds too. They're better than ASB 2005 and MLB 2005,which are just like cardboards. There's only one problem for player, (or some) player faces are kinda like dead meat that are dried in kitchen for month. Some guy's face are richly detailed, but Sammy Sosa and Hideki Matsui's face were like unreal.
Commentary was nice, Karl Ravech was kinda annoying though.
Gameplay was good, but batting was kinda bad. It was ridiculous those players immediately get back to batting stands right after they swung.
Sweet sound effects in the stadium. But I kinda didn't like the musics. ( I'm Metallica fan)
GM office was nice, so was Franchise.
First person baseball, and action cam were bit annoying but nice and exciting.
Certainly I'm kinda impressed with this game. I have no idea they could made it like real. I think this is better than MVP, so I recommend you to buy one.

ESPN MLB is one of the best baseball titles out their if not the best. the staduims, sound efects, and players are very detailed. It's these little details that make this game great. The general manager mode is great the ability to be lured in by other teams instead of staying with one team expands your horizons and makes the game more realistic. The gamecast mode is very useful when you don't want to play a whole game yourself. You can start at the middle of the game or the end for a comeback win. ESPN really outdid themselves this year with this game.

Yes it is the same game from last year. No the crowd does not cheer when you do a curtain call. Sure, confidence meters are cool, though completely ineffective. First person is not worth your time. Comparred to last year, nothing really special. Some new animations, like player reactions, i.e. the pitcher throws a fit if he doesnt get a call on a good pitch. Homerun animation is the same. The trophy room has improved a bit. Create a player took a step back from last year. Though this time, when you make your all 100 stat star, it will cost the team a lot to hire him. The only real differences, GM mode for one, dual instead of homerun derby, and the simple fact that, if you throw a curveball on the outside of the strike zone, that damn ball will curve right back across the plate, just like reality. Last year all the pitches went straight, curve slider or otherwise. All in all, everybody goes out year after year and buys madden, why not 2K series baseball? It might not be totally new, and in some cases it is actually not as good, but it has new rosters, and for some who enjoy, online play. I still love it.

New ESPN packaging including the voice of superb announcer Jon Miller is no improvement on last year's model. Though there are some improvements (there better be!!) but it seems like it is at the cost of past improvements.....
I do enjoy being capable of playing regular season games (in GM mode) at any stadium I please including The Polo Grounds (now that's cool!).....
How could they get rid of being able to edit the players (adding a bit of power to your favorite player if you want for instance)?...
The GM mode does put a fun twist when you have to decide to follow orders of the boss or not....
I like that the Phillies and Padres new stadiums were added (why not add some more old stadiums though ex/Ebbets Field)....
It doesn't seem like they added any new vintage uniforms to the choice list from last years version (especially when you know there are so many cool uniforms to choose from in the history of baseball its a real disappointment what there is ex/70's White Sox)....
The graphics don't seem to be as quality as last years....
The statistics are more involved (that's a good thing)...
The games still has a poor minor league system....
Ichiro has a last name, use it!(last year I could add it on)...
Rex Hudler is still annoying....
After listening to Jon Miller say "...and the throw to first and he's out!!!" well after the play has been made and the fielders are running towards the dugout....
The system of saving the games is much more confusing than it has to be....
Game Play Sliders is improved over last years with more options...
BOTTOM LINE: game play is as fun as usual- playing in the stadiums that your favorite teams and ball players play in is awesome. I like the new TV style viewing/playing- and the new gm mode makes it worth the lowered price. If you already have last years game you could go either way on whither you would think this is an improvement worth your paycheck.

They changed the name this year... but they hardly changed the rest of the game. I do appreciate that Sega didn't charge me $50 for basically the same game I bought last year. Why can't everyone charge $40 for a game? I bet they'd sell a lot more at that price.

The graphics are, dare I say, WORSE than last year. I'd never seen graphics actually decrease from year to year, but they seem to be worse.

There are horizontal glitches on the screen quite a bit. These blurry-bars remind me of the old Nintendo days.

The players faces often don't look anything like the real players.

Rex Huddle's color commentary is annoying and way too repetitive. Swings are rather choppy.

Another annoyance is the amount of bad throws you get throwing guys out at first on ground balls. Seriously it's at least two or three times a game that the throw from the shortstop/3B will pull the 1B off the bag and the runner will be safe. Again, very unrealistic.

Also, thankfully, you can change the rate at which pitchers tire, which is a must since all of my guys seem to be dead tired after throwing only 40-50 pitches in a start. I can't imagine what a normal 80/90/100 pitch start would be like. That's a definite problem with whoever programmed that portion of the game.

Also, it's darn near impossible to steal a base. I get thrown out more times than not. And that is with real basestealers, guys with good speed rating and good steal ratings. Completely unrealistic. Very Frustrating!

However, the gameplay is still very good. It's easy to pick up and play. The controls feel natural and don't require too much learning.

The franchise mode is a bit better this year as you can become the GM and roam from team to team if you choose. You have specific goals which you need to achieve to keep the owner happy. That new feature helps add a little something different and new to the franchise mode.

One complaint though with the new GM mode is that you can't load your custom roster. So if you go tinker with Sega's default rosters (Change "Joe Young" back to Barry Bonds, move guys who have switched teams, fix some starting lineups, etc) and save them, they won't import into the GM mode. Frustrating.

It seems odd that game makers have been able to master all the other sports (football, basketball, soccer) but really have yet to completely nail it on a baseball game. Overall though, this is a mixed bag. Good gameplay but a ton of things to annoy me.

The biggest problem with this game is that 1 out of every 3 games i play it freezes (usually during a pitching change or to pinch hit) and in each game there are MANY MANY glitches. An infield single is ruled as an error? I cant even list all the problems with the announcers, one is when they say "Wow what a homerun" 2 or 3 batters after the homerun was hit. Overall its a good game if you can finish a baseball game and you dont mind the glitches, but i think Sega rushed this game and it is very sloppy.

I have been an All-star Baseball fan for years but last years version had me put off. (bad graphics, horrible fielding) I decided to go with ESPN this year b/c it was a good deal (discounted b/c i play fantasy baseball on espn) and MLB is not online for the xbox. I am very pleased. The batting interface is not as good but other than that it is far better. The graphics are fantastic!!!! It is 720p and in widescreen which look amazing on my 50" widescreen HDTV. But best of all the fielding is smooth, well animated and FUN. Unlike others i have played you can actually see the ball go into the glove, not just within a few feet of it. The depth is good and the presentation is great. I am a new ESPN'er.

I was kind of reluctant to buy this based on those reviews, but those guys were totally WRONG. They've got best stadium graphics so far, they've got good faces on Pedro, Ichiro, and some cool dudes, Jon Millar's voice makes any baseball games real, First Person Baseball brings YOU to the shoes and eyes of major leaguers (Boy, I love that feature for best), and in the GM career, you can get points or fired based on how the owner of the team's feeling on you. I tried MVP too, but it was too cartoonish and worst controls I ever saw. ESPN will rock the Baseball game's world!!

With the best most solid gameplay in a baseball game already with some new additions in gameplay & animations and tweaks its even better and xbox live. You wont find a more complete baseball sim out there then ESPN Baseball 2k4. Not saying it's flawless because no baseball game or game is but it's the best complete package if you are a baseball fan.