Customer Reviews

MVP Baseball 2005

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Too bad for every fan of baseball videogames that this year's installment of EA's "MVP Baseball" franchise is likely the last for a while. Rival developer Take Two has agreed to exclusive third-party rights to all MLB properties, i.e. player & team names, stadiums, logos, etc. beginning next year. Unless EA partners up with a game manufacturer to release it on one platform or another, you can kiss this gem goodbye. The good news is that MVP Baseball 2005 is a game so deep and enjoyable, it might be the last baseball game that you need to buy for several seasons anyway.

First and most importantly, MVP makes each game a lot of fun for baseball fans of all skill and interest levels. Controls are deep but intuitive - as the cliche goes, they're "easy to learn but tough to master", so you can either just sit down and quickly begin playing at a basic level or else put in some practice to begin hurling some nasty stuff and running your opponent silly on the basepaths. Basically, the left analog stick controls player movement and the right one control actions. The right stick is an especially nice touch. When you're batting, you use it to try to aim your hit - lob it deep for a sac fly, ground a line drive past the pitcher, pull one down the line, etc. When you're running the bases, the right stick control slides: head-first or foot-first, aiming away from the tag, even steamrolling the catcher to try to knock the ball loose (you'll go crazy the first time you pull this one off). When you're in the field, the right stick controls big moves such as lunging for a line shot, sliding for an outfield shoestring catch or even climbing the outfield wall to reel back a would-be homer.

You've also got a full roster of in-game manager controls at the ready via the shoulder buttons: set infield/outfield depth and position, send in subs, call pitchers down to the bullpen, etc. You can also view tons of data on your opposition very easily: season stats, ability scores, hitting tendencies, and even the pitch history of previous at-bats for the current game. Very deep and very useful once you get to a highly competitive level vs. friends.

BATTING

When a batter is at the plate, you see a grid of squares covering the strikezone; each of these squares may be tinted either red or blue to indicate a hot or cold zone for that batter's swing. It's obviously helpful to the pitcher to know where the batter doesn't like his offering. It also helps you learn patience as a batter, helping you decide when to let one go by. Unlike other baseball games, there's only one button for the batter's swing, i.e. you don't have to decide in a split-second whether you're hitting for contact or power. This is instead determined more by the position of the right-analog stick, your timing, the position of the pitch and the batter's natural characteristics. All in all, this sets up a much more realistic batting scheme and makes offense an enjoyable challenge. It also keeps players' results realistically in line with how I'm playing. For example, if I keep aiming Sean Casey's swings for the far wall, I'm going to have a terrible average due to lots of outfield fly balls - very un-Casey-like. However, if I'm playing like Casey really plays and aiming shots at holes in the infield and the shallow outfield (as in real-life), then I'm a candidate for the batting crown. To help you with the timing aspect of pitching, there's a picture-in-picture window after all missed swings showing you a slo-mo replay of the point at the pitch was at its most hittable and where your swing was in relation.

PITCHING

Pitchers have individual arsenals of pitches based on real-life capabilities. The act of pitching is very similar to most golf videogames: the circular arc containing a moving line that you try to time your presses to. The first press begins the pitch and sends the line in motion. The second determines the amount of "oomph" on the pitch, i.e. raw speed on fastballs or break on off-speed offerings. Once you make this second press, the line shoots back the other way. Your third press determines how pinpoint the pitch is - miss this third tap by too much and you'll hang a breaking ball over the plate or bean the batter on an inside fastball. Using the analog stick to paint the corners coupled with mixing up fastballs with breaking balls makes pitching a really fun chess match against opposing batters. You also need to keep baserunners honest by throwing to their bag occasionally or else the game will steal mercilessly on you (I've never picked anyone off, though it's hypothetically possible).

FIELDING

Fielding is a bit disappointing compared to the super pitcher/batter action at the plate. First off, control is analog but still very touchy - jerk the stick a little too much and you'll run right past an infield dribbler. Plus, the right-stick functions are very unforgiving. If you slide into a sno-cone catch in the outfield and mis-time it, the ball will likely roll all the way to the fence. I gave up a lot of inside-the-part homers this way during the first couple of days of play. A little experience will solve this frustration, though. Double plays are exciting but not easy to pull off because a lot of opposing runners will hard-slide into second to break up any potential throw - very realistic. When throwing, you get a meter similar to that of pitching: how long you hold the button determines how hard you hurl it but the harder you throw, the more likely you'll be off-target. You may pull your first baseman off the bag or even worse toss it into foul territory. Each player has a different threshhold of risking an error based on real-life characteristics. The game automatically decides which player is in best position to make a play but doesn't always make the choice that I would. The L1 shoulder button is always available to switch to the next closest player if you don't agree with MVPs initial decision.

GAMEPLAY

Playing the computer is a handful because the AI is no pushover. The opposition knows when to bunt, when to steal, how to position defensively and will keep you on your toes. It also fields flawlessly, which can be frustrating when you see your infield laser knocked down and converted into a rally-killing double play. There are plenty of game-tweaking sliders available to customize the gameplay to suit your sim vs. arcade tastes. But even with default settings, you'll run into a lot of exciting game scenarios - close pitchers' duels, come-from-behind wins, etc.

There are numerous game modes: quick game, tournament, dynasty (the traditional multi-season mode with basic GM duties) and the new Owner mode. As an owner, you not only play all of the games that you choose to and perform all of GM tasks but also try to make money for the franchise. This idea was initially trotted out in EA's Madden football franchise. It certainly adds a new challenges for those who can't get enough out of their sim experience, but some aspects of it are lacking, such as the create-a-stadium feature. You don't have many choices when initially building your field and the upgrades are so expensive that you'd have to play or sim several very successful seasons to afford them. Owner mode looks like the start of something good, but most will prefer to play the Dynasty mode rather than continuously decide how much to charge for popcorn and when to schedule team magnet giveaway day. MVP 2005 also adds several enjoyable mini-games, the best being a hitting drill that's part home-run derby part shooting gallery. You can play under a user-specific profile and earn points for performing well on the field; these points can then be traded in for locked goodies such as older stadiums, classic/retro uniforms and all-time great players. MVP 2005 also supports online play (broadband recommended).

GRAPHICS

Graphically, MVP is top-quality. There is a seemingly limitless supply of smooth and realistic player animations to handle all situations on the field. Some of the transitions are choppy, though. For instance, if you hit a line drive off of the pitcher, it results in a animation of him recoiling from the hit (looks good), followed by a lightning-fast cut to put the ball in his hand (looks not so good), followed by the throw to first (looks good). Still, these situations where the game doesn't quite know how to string multiple actions together in the absolutely prettiest fashion are few and far between. For better or worse, players inherit their physical characteristics - sorry, David Wells, but EA is on to you. Player faces are generally well-rendered for close-ups, although facial movement has that "mechanical zombie" quality that is typical of all videogames right now. The stadiums are highly detailed right down to specific celebrations (the outfield train at Minute Maid) and the city visible beyond the outfield (Cubs fans are in for a treat).

SOUND

The commentators are about average: the play-by-play guy is just what you'd want for a baseball game while the color announcer quickly becomes a little repetitive and annoying. Still, there are a lot of audio clips and the game does a nice job of mixing them up from pitch to pitch and inning to inning. The commentary content is questionable at times - they are both of a mind that virtually everybody should bunt every time at the plate and they're also very high on almost everybody's ability to steal second. The sound effects are fine. The now-familiar trend of EA Trax music offerings are a pretty mix of modern-slanting rock. The main problem is that there aren't many selections, so you're going to hear a lot of repeats, especially if you turn off some songs that you just can't stand.

SUMMARY

MVP Baseball 2005 is a superb baseball game. The ESPN franchise may be the only game in town this time next year, but it's got a lot of catching up to do to convince me to not just keep playing this ultimate incarnation of MVP for the forseeable future.

PROS
* Gameplay is loads of fun
* Controls are very capable but easy to learn because they make sense
* Graphics and player motion are very attractive

CONS
* Fielding is relatively unforgiving, which can lead to frustration
* Announcers get repetitive over time
* Owner mode is not quite fully-developed

The big question for me this year was which baseball game to purchase: MLB 2K5 (to be referred to as MLB) and MVP 2005. Sure, I could have shelled out $50 for both games, but that didn't seem to be a good solution when I don't have the free time to dedicate to two seperate baseball games. Here is my own take on the matchup.

Presentation: I give MLB 2K5 a slight edge here for a number of reasons. First, the commentary is better, hands down. The real-life commentators from ESPN blow EA's fakers out of the water. There is an issue with the booth guys calling every hit a rookie makes his first hit of his career, but that's not nearly as bad as the repetitive banter of the MVP guys, which is just rehashed from previous years' games. The ESPN presentation in general is just awesome and every game feels like a real ESPN broadcast. MVP's got its own good points. I really like the ability to check out previous at-bats to see how the pitcher is handling your hitter. Both do pretty well with the accessibility of pinch hitters, the bullpen, etc.

Graphics: Again, I gotta go with MLB here, but only by a little. I like the style of the graphics in MLB better. MVP seems to be more cartoonish. Both have issues with players diving through walls or missing the bases, but such things are rare. MLB has some awesome animations for dives.

Sound: The sound in both games is good enough for me. MLB is much better in terms of commentary, as mentioned before, but both are good with ambiant sounds. MVP has the advantage in terms of menu music, though it does not have very many songs, so it can get repetitive quickly. However, MLB's constantly looping Baseball Tonight tune gets quite annoying, especially since changes screens causes it to restart from the beginning.

Gameplay (in game): Gameplay is really a toss-up and I'm afraid I'll have to declare it a push. MVP gets the edge with the hitter's eye, which comes in fairly handy, but I do like MLB's pitch-guessing. Slam Zone for MLB is kinda cool, though it can be unbalancing in gameplay and the computer is very difficult to beat in button mashing, at least for me. MVP's arguing calls feature is a neat little add-on, but not something I would have to have in a game I bought. As a veteran of MVP games, the K-Zone in MLB is a nice change-of-pace pitching mechanism, and the option of being able to use an MVP knock off pitching style is nice.

Gameplay (franchise/dynasty/career): For me, this is the most important factor in a baseball game. I'm a hard-core sim fan, and I want realistic stats from my franchises. This one was hard to call, but in the end all the little nuances of MLB won out over the extra features of MVP. For those who have played previous installments of MVP, I'll address some of the new additions, and then compare with MLB.

MVP has added position player fatigue, which means that your guys in the field will tire the more games they play in a row. However, it did not appear that the computer would sub in bench players to give your every day starters a break. MLB, on the other hand, lets you set up depth charts with percentages of playing time for each player at that position. For instance, you can give your start 85% of the starts, and his backup(s) 15%. The computer will then actually make these substitutions in simmed games. One drawback to the depth charts, though, is that you cannot assign a backup to more than one position. However, you can get around this by setting your starters, and then telling the computer to auto-generate the depth chart, which leaves your starters in there but inserts your bench players into the chart as backups to every position the player is pretty well rated in.

This leads me to another difference between the two. MLB actually has fielding ratings for every player at every position, whereas MVP only has a primary and (sometimes) a secondary position for players.

Speaking of ratings, MLB has a very nice potential rating for players, indicating how good the player will become (at least, in the opinion of your scout). MLB's overall rating is also very nice since it is an actual number rather than a red bar that makes it difficult to compare players.

Both games are pretty similar in terms of including injuries and suspensions, and neither game lets you have a pitching rotation of less than five players. If you want to pitch your rested #1 instead of your #5 (or even #4), you have to manually plug him into that spot and move the rest of your staff accordingly. Both games let you plug in a pitcher or spot start when going through game by game, but neither will then change who is scheduled to pitch the next game.

When going through game by game, MVP is at the advantage. Its manager mode is a really robust way to go through games quickly, yet maintain some control over the performance of your team. MLB has Gamecast, which is similar but has far fewer options.

MVP has brought back its Franchise mode, in much the same form as last year, but has added owner mode. This is a cool feature that lets you run the business side of a ballclub, but it has a big drawback in that it REQUIRES you create a stadium to start. This stadium is much smaller than any other in baseball, and does not really have all that many options for personalizing it, at least not at first. This seems to put your team at a disadvantage. MLB has two options for going through multiple seasons as well. One is very similar to MVP's Franchise mode, with team goals to reach, etc. The GM Career mode, however, is the one that I really like. You play as a GM (or up to 4, unlike MVP, which limits you to 1 in both modes), trying to take your team to the World Series while pleasing the team's owner at the same time. Your owner will give you certain objectives to complete, and if you fail, his mood will sour and you may find yourself on the chopping block. Succeed, however, and you'll find a lucrative contract extension in your future. If you build a powerhouse with your first team, or if you fail miserably, you can sign a contract with another club.

Both games include an in-game e-mail system, neither of which is particularly dynamic. You'll find yourself receiving the same reports over and over, but in MVP at least you can change the filters to get rid of the seemingly endless stream of injury reports coming from other teams.

Both games include minor league systems, though MVP is much ore robust in this aspect. MLB has AAA and AA, but you cannot play games. MVP has all three levels, 90 teams in all, and you can play games for all three. However, it can become rather tedious setting four lineups each for your three minor league teams. You can let the CPU do it, but who knows how well it can be trusted? MLB has fewer minor leaguers (which may or may not be a good thing), with handy arrows that tell you if the player is improving or suffering at their current level. This makes managing your own minor league rosters in MLB much less tedious.

Stat-wise, both games are pretty robust. They have most of your basic baseball stats, but none of the in-depth splits. There is no way to know how Jeff Bagwell is hitting against lefties at night, in domes, on the second Tuesday of the month. However, all the most important stats are there and are kept for past seasons. MVP's season-by-season stats only go back five years, but the career totals are accurate. MLB keeps track of a players stats for as long as they have played.

Both games also have a number of post-season awards to hand out, from the Cy Young and MVPs to Reliever of the Year and Rookie of the Year. MLB also has a hall of fame, which is very cool.

In terms of menu layout and accessibility, MVP is the clear winner. It has brighter, cleaner menus that load without the lag time that MLB has. MVP also makes every bit of info about a player available every place you find that player. In MLB, you have to move constantly between menus to find out different info about your players. MLB does have a player card for every player, but this is not all-inclusive. For instance, it will tell you that your player has a C+ range, but does not say what positions (other than his primary) he is able to play well.

Winner: MLB 2K5

I hope that you have found this long and rambling review at least moderately helpful. Thanks for reading!

MVP Baseball 2005 is the closest game currently on the market to give you the most in-depth baseball experience possible. In my opinion, the only people not liking some aspects of this game will be New York Yankees fans. It's not only Manny on the cover, but also the intro video, cracks and comments throughout the games and even a song praising Boston's first title in 86 years. Well, all I can say is, if you can't overlook those things, you're missing one fantastic game. Let's break it down:

Owner Mode:
New this year is Owner Mode where you begin with picking a stadium (not one of the existing ballparks, but a starter stadium) and making a few upgrades (seating, lights, whatever you can afford before opening day). You can add a restaurant, set ticket prices, make promotional days and on and on.

You have a financial advisor for the season, budget reports, player contracts, etc. One note: Yes, you can be the owner and play the game just like you would in Dynasty Mode. You can sim, play individual games, manage the game or sit in your luxury box and watch it all take place. There is so much to this mode that I couldn't possibly fit it into this review.

Dynasty Mode:
This mode is essentially the same as last year. Keep the owner happy, the players, do contracts and play the games. It's been updated and tweaked for more user friendly experience. And I can't leave out that this year, you even have single-A teams in addition to AA, AAA, and MLB.

Mini Games:
Instead of just a Home Run Derby, EA has included a variety of features that can teach you different aspects of the game. There is batting practice, pitching practice and also a scenario editor. To me, I found it to be an enjoyable experience especially when hitting the cars and busses over the outfield wall. This seems like a throw back to Triple-Play 2000 when you had target practice.

Graphics:
Simply amazing. Need I say more? The players faces and stances are mirrored to their real-life counterparts. Cutscenes, and animations are gorgeous. The only thing I found a proble with was the crowd...even in 2005, they are still wooden-looking. That's a sacrifice you have to make and it doesn't detract from the game experience.

Gameplay:
What a shift from last year! Pitching is now a lot more realistic with the way you use the meter. Instead on the old meter where you set power and tried to hit right spot, they have upgraded it to you having to stop it and exactly the right moment, if not, you risk and early or late breaking pitch. In rookie mode, it's not as big of a deal as it is in MVP mode. Make some mistake pitches in the higher levels and you're asking for trouble.

Batting is great! When you foul off a pitch, a little screen comes up and shows you how you hit it. Fouling off a pitch is a mistimed swing, same as a swing through. Gone is the animation where you swung, missed the ball and it popped up the crazy box to show you missing it. Instead, this year, they have the popup box, yet include the ball trail so you see how you missed it.

Fielding & baserunning is comparable to last years version with some great upgrades to visuals. There are plenty of dives, showboating grabs, wall jumps, and take-out slides.

Ok, I could go on & on with this review because, like I said, this is the most in-depth baseball game I have ever seen. If you want the best out there, MVP Baseball 2005 hits a Home Run.

If you thought MVP Baseball 2004 was a great game, and could play it for hours and hours on end ( as i surely did) then you will love 2005.
First of all, i would like to address the new stuff.
1.) Hitters Eye: basically it shows you for about .5 seconds a color on the ball. If it is a fastball it will be white, if it is a breaking ball it is red etc. This does help, but there is so little time to adjust, you will still swing early or late time to time. This is really the only good part of hitter's eye. The magical "contrail" that shows you the trajectory of hte ball is complete garbage, and so is the swing anylasis replay.
2.) Spring Training mini-games: Really boring, but helpful. It will help develop younger players, and it is the only easy way to earn MVP points.
3.) New Pitch Meter: It makes it a little bit harder to pitch, since the once gigantic green zone, is tiny, but if you get it anywhere in the orange to green zone, your pitch will come somewhere close to where you wanted it.
and finally
4.) Owner Mode: I like the idea, actually loved it; but the way they did it was bad. First off create a ballpark is junk. There are very few options and at first you can only seat 20000 people. Then the object of owner mode is to make money buy selling tickets, food, and toys and games at your ballpark. All these concession stands and things cost money, and money is very hard to come by. EVERY GAME you have to spend money on salaries and maintenance of your ball park. but, You can only make money on tickets etc. at home games. So for over half the year you are in debt. So the only way to make money is to sell-out every game (hard to do), and have a tiny payroll. It will take years to make the ballpark of your dreams.
Now To Gameplay. Te glitch is gone from 04, as in lefties can now hit homeruns!! The homerun hitting is harder, but at least they can do it. Hitting is still diffucult until you master it, and same with pitching with the new pitch meter. Fielding is a tad easier than last year, and now you can throw to your pitcher on the run, very helpful. baserunning is as hard as last year, since stealing a base is near impossible. As for graphics, they are indeed better than last year, especially the heads. The ballparks do look better as well. The commentary sucks, but i usually tune that out anyway. The soundtrack is good for me, but i like the punk/soft rock tunes that they have, some might hate it.
Overall i would buy this game because of updated rosters, and that this is the last MVP game, since take two won the MLB deal, so this game will not lose its value as quickly as others. If you want proof, triple Play 2002 (the last triple play game) has a higher return value, at EB Games or Gamestop, than MVP Baseball 2003.

Also to address the Barry Bonds issue. The mean, cold, terrible, steroid using Bonds has cut ties with the MLBPA, so he can not be on the game. Also for you Red Sox fans, same goes for the goofy Kevin Millar. Instead Jon Dowd is there for Bonds, and some black guy is there for Millar.

I absolutely love this game and plan on keeping it until the nezt MVP comes out in about seven years.. I know- bummer! But, since there are many opinions on this game I will be partial and list the pros and cons for you>

Pros>
1. AAA, AA and A teams for each one of the 30 MLB teams
2. Every stadium is in the game including old stadiums (such as Sportsmann Park an old Fenway Park and the Expos stadium)
3. Unlockable historic players, teams, uniforms and stadiums. When you accumulate "MVP points" you can use these to buy Cooperstown players and much more. Just imagine having in your team Babe Ruth or having Cy Young as your ace starter...
4. Nice gameplay- allows you to do huge plays on defense, sweet double plays and even rob a Homerun! When batting, you can pull or push the ball, look for a groundball to advance the runner or aim for a sacrifice fly.
5. Sweet pitching using the Pitch Meter. Pitching gets tougher when your pitcher gets tired and you start making more mistakes. WALKS are possible- not common- but possible. You might do Wild Pitches or hit a batter without wanting to...
6. Finally, Owner Mode ROCKS! You can do everything such as plan giveaways in your ballplark, build a new stadium and build it up as time goes by, do REALISTIC transfers and manage all you minor leaguers. My favorite part: You are able to manage you prospects from minor league organiztions and grab 16 year old players and make them future MVP winners!!!

Now the other sie of the coin: The NOT SO GOOD stuff
1. Comments are not as varied as one would desire. They repeat some words over and over again. If you buy this game you will get used to: "That is not a bad pitch. It just keeps the batter off strike" and others. Another minor detail, sometimes they will confuse the pitch. For example, you strike a guy with a high fastball and the comment will say: "Got him with the slider"????
2. From time to time, you will be charged with unexisting errors. I was playing with the CARDINALS (I love that team!!) and my opponent hit a hard ground ball up the middle. I tried to stop it with my Shortstop but could not reach the ball and it went on for a single. When I checked my boxscore I had an error charged to Eckstein!?!?!?!
3. If you are like me and want to play with all teams(MLB, AAA, AA, A) on your Owner Mode you will have a hard time finishing even one season!! Come on lets face it, it is at least 120 games with each team and nobody has time to complete 400 games!!!
4. You will hardly hit opposite-field singles. It is way easier to just pull every pitch since you wont hit the ball hard to the other way.
5. Few realism- unlike other recent games you wont feel like you are in the stadium. Very few cutscenes, players dont get mad or happy. There is no background emotions. A player will have the same plastic face when he hits a Grand slam than when he Strikes out.

Apart from those, this is a really good game that will keep you hooked. If you are a true baseball fan you will enjoy every single inning of the game. Isn't basbeall just great?

i enjoy the hitting aspect of the game and when you foul off or miss that you get a replay(the little touches)also how you have to move the fielder to go get the ball so you actually have to read the ball of the bat so you won't get shorthopped or you have to charge slow rollers. announcers do get annoying at times but what baseball game has announcers you like. great game. great graphics

I must give EA sports credit, they improved 2005's version in so many ways. This is a very good baseball game, the only problem I'm having is it's pretty hard to hit homeruns and score in general. I'm having a lot of 2-1, 1-0 games but I am still learning the finer points of hitting and it's a heck of a lot better than having 9-7 games all the time. Overall the fielding is very good and the baserunning is simple to grasp which is unique compared to MLB and espn. You can tell the difference between players speed in the outfield and their throwing arms, good pitchers have better control and more movement on their pitches and contact hitters like Ichiro will actually make more contact. I have to say I hated MVP 2004, but this year they really nailed it.

After playing '04 for months last year, the hype and commercials had me greatly anticipating for MVP 2005. The game meets and exceeds all expectations.
New additions to the game include The Hitter's Eye, Spring Training, Mini-Games and Owner's Mode, as well as many other small changes to last year's game. The Hitter's Eye allows the player to see the pitch before it comes to the plate, as the ball changes color (red for curve, white for fast etc.) after it leaves the pitcher's hand. Also there is a white stream behind the ball to show its path to the plate. While these new features are helpful, it doesn't drastically change batting from '03 or '04, see the ball, move the stick, hit it where you want it to go.
Spring Training is updated, as you have a chance to improve players' attributes through new mini-games, kind of like Madden '05s Training mode. Its really helpful for improving young players to develop your farm system and franchise.
Owner's Mode, although a good idea, is difficult to master, I'm thankful they still included Dynasty Mode. First off, you're forced to create a new ballpark, so if you're a fan of a particular park (Example Sox fans with Fenway), you can toss it out the window. At first you start with a small park, and you're able to upgrade it with different items. Its difficult to make money in the owner mode, as you are limited a lot of the time to what you can do. They should've taken pages out of Madden's playbook again and followed their owner mode.
However despite a dissapointing Owner Mode, the rest of the game is fantastic, head and shoulders above the other two. Graphics are unbelievable as always, but this year they paid a lot more attension to little things, player's faces, nooks and crannies of stadiums etc.
Audio in the game is again fantastic, from everything from the umpires to the crowd chants. The commentary is improved from last year, but the pair of announcers are still just as annoying and repetitive.
Gameplay is as stellar as ever, as batting is improved with the new additions. Pitching is a bit harder with a shrunken green "perfect" zone, but basically unless you drop the controller you can get the ball where you want to. Fielding and baserunning are also tweaked and improved, and proper use of the right thumbstick can make you a master baserunner and fielder in no time.
Overall the game is much improved from last year, everything you loved about this series is bigger and better, if you're an MVP or just a baseball fan this game is the one for you. Anyone who bashes the game probably can't play for his life. This game is the most authentic, realistic and enjoyable baseball game of the year (maybe the best sports game of the year), and I'll be sad to see it go next year.

I really enjoy this game, going back to the "Triple Play" days. Granted, the play-by-play team, while professional broadcasters are given only a few lines of script are a little on the stale side after about 4 or 5 games. But all in all, it's a lot of fun. There are cheats out there that allow for the full compliment of awards (Throwback jerseys, HOF players, and stadiums); but part of the fun is to work one's way through the entire season and see how many points one racks up.
I have noticed the "Classic Stadiums" are presented in an archival film footage style. Meaning newer "Classic Stadiums", like the Astrodome and the Expos' two ballparks (in Quebec and Puerto Rico) are as colorful as, say Yankee Stadium. However, Metropolitan Stadium and Cleveland's Municipal Stadium are presented as a faded, slightly yellowed night time scene. Shibe Park and the Polo Grounds are almost a sepia toned "worn out" film presentation. Which is understandable, considering the age of the ballpark itself...
The "Owner Mode" is fun, but it's tough to keep interest after a few months of owning; "Create a Stadium" gives you basically 5 templates, nothing more, to start out.
"Franchise Mode" is the best part. Not only does it give you the chance to make trades and send down/call up players, but also lets you try your hand at some single A minor league games; the Single-A ballparks are very small, and the crowds are sparse...giving you a definite appreciation for the long (or short) journey from high school to "The Show".
Take Two is taking over the EA reigns for the next couple years, but I am sure it's going to be in good hands. ESPN 2K5 is good, but I prefer EA.

Welp, spring is upon us and the heat being generated by MVP Baseball 2005 is incredible.

Graphically, this game is impressive. Every patch, stitch and wrinkle in the players uniforms is visible. The sky is gorgeous during the day and filled with stars at night. The grass looks great and every stadium is meticulously detailed down to the little things, like running fountains in KC. The player animations, which looked awesome in 2004, have been completely upgraded. I've played approximately 30 games and I still see new animations for fielders taking hops or scooping a bum throw. EA has included crowd animations for the "lower bowl" section of the stadiums, so it truly seems that they get up and cheer when they are expected to.

The gameplay on the field is much the same as 2004, and this year All-Star actually seems to be a difficult setting. I can tell that I'll be playing a full 162 this year. On the field, the players play pretty much the same, with throw meters and so forth. Nothing has changed. Of course, EA has once again added the gameplay sliders to increase or decrease the game play abilities in nearly every facet. The sliders will have to be played with and adjusted to your liking. The outfielders run and throw a bit weakly on the default settings, so its common to give up 4 or 5 triples a game. Playing with the sliders has increased the realism dramatically.

Pitching is exactly the same. Pick your spot, throw your pitch and hit both spots on the meter or its gone. The selection of pitches seems to be realistic and they break the way they're meant to break, so it looks really nice.

Hitting is much the same as last year. Use the left analog to control the direction of the hit, and be patient. The CPU throws alot of offspeed stuff and striking out is very much a big reality, at least to me. Ive learned to lay off the bad stuff, but it took some timing. If the CPU throws a ball thats way out of the way, the yellow X comes up. If they botch a pitch in them zone, the pink or blue circle comes up, just blast it to where it has to go. Sometimes you get a bunch of bad pitches in the game, sometimes you dont. The opposing pitcher really does make a difference if it's an ace of a staff or some nobody just called up from thje minors.

Speaking of minors, this is a really cool aspect. Every team has its AAA, AA and A affiliate available to use. You can control the minor league teams as part of your dynasty. Call up a rocket starter, or send down a poor perfomance reliever if need be, and the greatest thing is, many of the players in the minors are the actual players in the organizations farm team.

The major league rosters are updated as of 1/2005, so don't expect Delgado on the Marlins, just simply trade him over and save it as your roster. Also, EA has the updated rosters available for download once you start up the online facet of the game.

As for the online play, the servers are a bit better this season. The length of rated games was cut to 5 innings, so some people aren;t too happy. I don;t use the online play too often, as I really like concentrating on my season.

EA still has the little things that add to the game. Once again, if you get beaned with a pitch you have an option to charge the mound, resulting in a bench clearing brawl. Your player will be ejected, and possibly injured or suspended, so dont charge just for the fun of charging, unless youre just playing around. Also added this year is manager arguments. If you feel a call was blown, and some are, have the manager act up. I do not like this feature, as it serves no purpose and my manager is always tossed leaving you no control of the team's substitutions. In other words, if you're pitcher is getting really tired, you have to wait for the computer to decide when to sub him out.

Yet again, the SF Giants have a very powerful, very good outfielder named John Dowd. Simply edit his name and b-day and you've got Bonds in the game. There are a bunch of guys in the game that aren't part of the MLBPA such as Kevin Millar and Damian Miller. These players are on the roster with a number of 86. Simply edit the names and batting stances.

Overall, EA has always impessed me with graphics and short term fun. This product looks like they've answered the calls of many fans and created a game which will have long term playability.