Customer Reviews

High Heat Major League Baseball 2004

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

 

 

I've been playing baseball games on computers and consoles for a long time. I date myself here by saying that I started with Microleague Baseball on the Atari 800XL. I still regard that as my favorite experience in the baseball genre. I recently purchased an X-Box and when I buy a new console I always buy my gaming staples. A baseball game is always one of my first priorities. There are a lot of choices out there. I picked HIGH HEAT 2004 based on what I'd read in magazines and on-line.
The game is good but flawed. It isn't the prettiest baseball game out there (particularly on the X-Box), but boasts some very strong features. If you're like me, one of your favorite things about a baseball game is the simulation aspect. The best thing this game offers is the pitcher/batter interface. It really makes you work the count to have success as a batter, or to retire your opposition.
The stats are deep in the game, but the interface is sometimes difficult. For example, when looking at your team's pitching numbers, the batters are listed as well (even though they obviously have no pitching stats). Also, league leaders only lists about the top 5 in maybe 7 different categories. The game tracks what must be about 50 different statistical categories, why can't I look at who is leading the league in doubles, or walks, or innnings pitched, or you get the picture.
The minor league system with the game is interesting, but I'm not sure I'd want to replace current major leaguers with computer generated farm-hands with names like "Chappie Gardner". The player creator is somewhat lacking details as well. You only get to choose height and weight and whether the player is muscular or "average".
I still give the game a good score though. The game has done something I have rarely seen with a baseball game of this type, eliminated the possibility of throwing runners out at first on singles from right field. You can also hit legitimate doubles and triples, something very difficult to do on most console baseball games. I recommend it to baseball fans. I'm hoping to win a World Series with my Marlins.

High Heat Baseball is one of the most in depth baseball simulators ever created. The ammount of statistics is overwhelming. The minor leqague farm system is well incorperated in this game as well. However the actual player and team names are not used. It is a great representation of the actual game. If your looking for an in depth, statistically superior game, with the ability to draft, sign, and trade your entire team, as well as your minor leage teams, through a plethora of multipul seasons, than this game is for you.
However... the graphics leave A LOT to be desired. The player animations are generic. They don't varry from player to player. The only difference you can see is either their pitching style, if they have a unique style, or their batting stance and styles. For example Nomar Garciaparra fidgits with his gloves and taps his feet in the box. Really cool.
Along with the lacking graphics, the commentating, music, and ambiant noise is horrible. Very noticable pauses in between the announcement of teams while the commentary is "loading" is extremely annoying. "The.........Red Sox.......5.........The........Yankees........nothing........in the.......bottom of the 9th. That can get frustratring especially since there are awesome games like FIFA 2003 with superb commentary. The crowd is very unimpressed with any major event taking place in the game. Hit a HR and see NO dramatic replays or hear any excited crowd or commentary. 3DO needs to improve those things first before it can compete with MVP.
It is however a fun and addicting game to play. I got hooked. But I am still planning to buy MVP, maybe today! Stick with MVP in the long run, you'll be happier with all the extra graphical and audio features it has to offer

I was truly disapointed with this game. I expected to be blown away by the game play and the graphics, only to be let down. Its not a bad game, but I just wasn't impressed. The pitching is super slow, even when sped up. The camera angles on home runs dosen't allow you to see the ball leave the field. The crowd noise is on a loop. You hear chears for a while, then a sharp stop in noise for a half second, then the crowd starts up again. Again play is not awful, but I just expected better graphics, better simulation and better audio.

A few run throughs with this game and I thought it was good.
After playing numerous games though, I have to disagree with my initial response.

After playing MVP with my friends, I have to agree that the graphics in High Heat are terribly generic. But, I can get by on lousy graphics if the gameplay was good.

These are my frustrations on..

Pitching:
- you can somewhat control where the ball goes, but really all you do is angle a pitch and select ball or strike. Then it's up to the AI to either opt for good control or not.

Fielding:
- it takes too long for a fielder to field the ball then crank up the throw. This makes it almost impossible to turn a double-play.
- It is IMPOSSIBLE to field a ball with the first baseman and have enough time to get back to the base to tag out the runner. To complicate things, the pitchers and second basemen take forever to get to the base so by the time they get there, the other team has a cheap infield single.
- when the ball gets to the outfield sometimes the camera gets stuck where the ball is and you don't know where your player is so you might be taking the wrong angle to field the ball.

BASERUNNING:
- i think baserunning on any baseball sim is complicated enough, but on HIGH HEAT it's even worse. MVP has better base running. On MVP you can view the lead-offs.

Other stuff:
- If you have more than one team picked as Human control, it's complicated switching through the teams one the schedule. You can't just pick the team you want to play with and play their scheduled game - you have to adjust the team control. BIG WASTE OF TIME.

- because it came out so early, some of the roster changes had not been adjusted yet (but that goes for a lot of baseball games)

- The trading function is complicated too. Trading is easy but having to reset which team you're trading with is a nuisance. There's also numerous lists you have to run down (and i'm not talking about the different leagues) to trade. It's just monotonous and not fun.

- I AGREE about the terrible AI on the commentary.

- THERE ARE A LOT OF BUGS. I've struck out numerous times only having one strike prior.

OVERALL, it's just a boring game. I haven't played the other mini-games yet, but I'm not into them on any sports game.

I DO LIKE the batting in the game where you try to hit the location of the pitch with proper timing. I don't like the style of MVP where you target the area of the field you want to hit.

Pros: 1. High Heat is on Xbox!

2. The great simulation engine comes along with it

Cons: 1. No Improvements at all on the gameplay

2. About the worst graphics i've ever seen on the Xbox

3. Sound and announcers are humdrum and repetitive

4. Menu system is too complex to begin with

5. Market system needs tuning

6. Potential to be a great game gone to waste.

FINAL VERDICT: just a rental. Not worth the [$$$]fee to buy it. But baseball fanatics will find it interesting

I played all 3 of the major baseball games this year(HighHeat, InsidePitch, and ASB) I liked High Heat the best because of the graphics and gameplay.Also i think it is the most realistic baseball game out this year. Graphics are awesome and the gameplay was smooth. Pitching is great but i liked Inside Pitches the best. The thing i liked best about this game is that you can now select to throw balls or pitch out a hitter. In previous baseball games it did not give you an option to throw balls or strikes it just made you throw strikes or if you got the chance to throw a ball the batter never swung and he always knew. In previous baseball games you threw 40-50 pitches a game and usually after you threw the first pitch they would hit the next one. In previous baseball games i didnt like the ability to hit a homeruns in every inning and like BarryBonds hit a homerun at every at-bat and over one hundred in the season.I did hit a homerun in the first 10 minutes i played it(Albert Pujols) i thought it was going to be just another one of those previous games. But homeruns did not come easy. i hit 2 in 3 games . this was a good game buy it over any other game. But if you like hitting hundreds of homers but allstar baseball, the games are usually won by a large margin. I beat one team 23-2 on veteran level on the 5th day i played it. Inside pitch's pitching was awesome but lost everything in its gameplay and feilding. Catching the ball in the outfield was so easy, even if it was popped not so high between the ss and outfeildser. The ball usually hung for more than 15 seconds. Buy High Heat it easily beats out the competion if you like realistic baseball games.

The game is full of problems..players walk through players, choppy gameplay, repetitive announcers, and boring gameplay. Another problem is when your the batter, you have no control of your batter. All you can do is swing and bunt and you have no control over where your bat is or the position of your stance. Please rent this game before buying.

This game totally captures the authentic feel of a real baseball game. The strategy that goes into pitching and batting is totally realistic. Real life strategies for setting up a batter with different pitches applies in this game, and they're actually required. There are a few flaws but they do nothing to detract you from the fun you're going to have. If you're a real nitpicker, then I feel sorry for you. With a few tweaks with the gameplay tuning sliders, this game is as real as it gets.

This is not the best baseball game to come out for this year. I am a little disappointed though at some points in the game. How do you control the pitch, its hard. And when you try to get a relay or throw from third base to first or second to home, it takes a bit longer than it seems like it should. The graphice are pretty good except all the players faces look the same. This is a pretty good game though. I would consider another game but its your choice. I would also consider buying MLB Sluggfest 2004. I have played 2003 and it was really good. So enjoy baseball fans!

True, graphics and sound are not the best; but if you are a real baseball fan, this is the game to buy. Some tuning is required for a more realistic experience; once you're done with the fine twicking, the game play is fantastic. Buy it.