Customer Reviews

World Series Baseball

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Year two of my franchise and I'm having trouble stopping. After playing all three baseball games for the X-Box (Triple Play, ASB, WSB) I can say without thinking, WSB beats them both. Triple Play is just plain bad. ASB is very good, almost as good as WSB, but it doesn't offer as many features. Now, back to WSB. Fans of the 2k series of any sport will instantly be familar with the layout of the menus of the game, simple to navigate. I have yet to find a real flaw in the gameplay. It's very easy to pick up and play, the batting, pitching, and fielding all goes very well. The graphics are excellent, the player faces are copies of their real life counterparts. The commentary lives up to the standard that the 2k series has set so far.

One of the games best features is it's franchise mode. For those of you that don't know, it really puts you in the game, you sign coaches, bump up the minor leaguers, sign free agents, and all very easily, not the same clumsy menus of NFL 2k2. I played two seasons as the White Sox, the first went pretty bad, but the second was half decent after I drafted some potential and made some trades. I also beefed up my pitching staff. It really makes you feel like you own the team.

Lastly, for those of you who are very picky on accurate rosters, you'll be pleased. The rosters are, from what I've seen, accurate within very recently.

Overall, this is the baseball game I'd recommend for anyone. If you have doubts, rent it first, but, you probably won't regret buying it.

This is basically a slightly enhanced version of World Series 2002 for the Sega Dreamcast. As such, if you liked WS2K2, you will like WS2K3. Others have focused on the many, many positives of the game (graphics, player animation, pitching control, franchise mode, etc) so I'm going to focus on the few aspects of the game that prevent it from being perfect:

A) I realize that the developers wanted the graphics & animation to be silky smooth, and they are, but that hi-res visual goodness comes at the expense of fielding accuracy. I'll echo the complaint that double-play grounders that should be automatic are far too often not. I'm sorry, but Kevin Young hasn't been seen beating out a DP ball ever. Same goes for outfielders after catching a fly ball. The CPU AI is tight and will run on you at a moment's notice, but the throws from the outfielders are very slow to react when they throw to a base, thus giving an unnecessary edge to baserunners. Both problems would be solved by ironing out the "molasses effect" that restricts fielding.

B) The commentary, while not often incorrect, is horribly bland. The play-by-play is strictly meat-&-potatoes stuff (name & position) and the color commentary is often too generalized and rote. Besides the opening of the game, and maybe during a relief appearance, the announce team will say nothing individualized about any of the players. And there is a glitch when it comes to CPU pinch-hitters: they are 100% always announced as pinch-runners by the color commentator (former SF Giant pitcher Mike Krukow). This might be being tough on the game, but a powerful next-gen console like the XBox deserves better than PS1-era play-by-play announcing. You'll be begging for NFL 2K2's cheesy announce crew by the time 9 innings are up.

C) Make sure you know what base you want to throw to as a fielder, because once you press the button, that's where the throw is going. I have botched a few plays at the plate because at the time I caught it, the runner wasn't tagging, but then he decides to go, but the fielder will throw to whatever base you initially chose. In other words, there is no button override function. This goes similarly for baserunning: if you are halfway down the 1st-base line and push the button to go to second base, then decide against it, make sure you return to 1st base because the game keeps that first button press in memory, but luckily the baserunning allows you to return fairly easily.

D) The graphics often fail to match up to the play being made. A runner attempting to steal might be called out merely because the throw was in time, though the tag was obviously (via replay) not applied at all. The fielders will occasionally pull a Matrix move and magically slide across the field on their feet to make a diving catch. Once again, it's not to much positioning deciding the catch, but general timing. Which again, might be harsh, but in a next-gen universe, these same old shoddy corner-cutting measures need to be cured, or we all might as well go back to MLB '99.

Even with the small gripes, WSB2K3 is still far and away the best choice for baseball on the XBox. And perhaps because the game is so strong in most areas, it leaves itself open to minor criticism in lesser areas. Sorta like pointing out a handful of weeds on an otherwise lush, green lawn. I can only imagine if Sega remedies these small issues, we might be as close to perfection as possible.

The much anticipated World Series BB2K3 is a phenomenal effort from Sega, and does not disappoint. The game delivers on all levels:

>> Superb graphics: This game is rich in texture and the graphics are deep. There are hundreds of never seen before action sequences, highlights, play-making shots, slow-mo, instant replay, batting stances, authentic pitching motions, etc., you name it, Sega's done it.

>> Realistic playability: On the "All-Star" mode, the game provides a solid challenge. There'll be close games, occasional blow-outs, hot streaks, cold streaks, etc., just like a season should be.

>> Miscellaneous: Other options include -- Extensive franchise mode to test your managerial aptitude; Legend Mode where you can play with the likes of Cobb, Mays and DiMaggio; Create-a-Player mode (where you can choose gloves, shoes, sleeves, bat color, stance, power, speed, etc.); Season, Playoff, Quick Start modes; Home Run Derby ---- basically, there's enough exciting options for hours and hours of competitive fun.

A must have for the baseball season ahead. A leap beyond WSBB2K and 2K1, and an eternity from half-inspired games such as All Star BB and Triple Play.

Now get to it.

This game is great!

Pros:The graphics are excellent, the player animation is awesome and lifelike, the artificial intelligence is superior, the announcers (Mike Krukow & Ted Robinson) mix into the game well, the contol is customizable and easy to learn, the difficulty is adjustable, fielding is a breeze, and it's fun!

Cons: The announcing repeats a little too often, jumping for fly balls are not an option (although sliding is), there are hardly ever any walks, and there are no bench-clearing brawls(not expected, but would have been fun to see).

Definitely Recommended, Worth the Price

First off, the graphics in this game are UNBELIEVABLE. Birds fly through the outfield, the animations are awesome. Batters adjust their gloves and stance, fielders shift from foot to foot and kick up dust to dig their cleats in. This is by far the best looking baseball game I've ever played. The sound is also top notch. During a Yanks Red sox game in Boston a fan yelled "Jeter, if you retire you can spend every day with models!" simply amazing. The announcers are good, the sound effects are dead on, all and all a great presentation. As far as game play is concerned the game is great, fast and realistic. Everything is selectable, from turning the batters box on or off, three different pitch speeds, to making the pitching and umpires realistic or computery (ie make mistakes or not). The stat tracking isn't as robust as High Heat but they are serviceable, unless you really care about how many times your catcher threw out a base stealer, and what your pitchers WHIP was you won't bat an eyelash at the basic yet complete statistics WSB tracks. This is also made up for by the fact that this game has the best franchise mode EVER. I already have a season and a franchise saved on my Xbox HD, the franchise I only manage while the season I play all the games, both are fun, considering that there are some PC games which only offer management and are quite successful this is almost like having two games in one. My problems with the game are few: you can't warm up pitchers; no team/league creation other then fantasy draft (though if you really wanted to you could draft every team in the league to emulate your fantasy league, but this would take a LONG time and I wish there was a way to simply create custom teams or leagues); confusing menus which differ slightly from the other 2k games; and no season MVP/golden glove type awards.. The only reason I don't give this game five stars is because I think that Sega and VC and iron out some of these problems/omissions. All and all WSB is a great baseball game that plays at least as well as and looks a ton (A TON!) better then High Heat for PS2. In fact the only reasons one should ever buy High Heat are; if you're really really... really into stat tracking, or if you don't have an Xbox. WSB is by far the best baseball game on Xbox, and with its presentation and gameplay one of the best (along with High Heat and Saturn WSB) baseball games ever made.

This is the best sports game I have ever played. I've only played this year's versions of All Star Baseball and this game (Don't play games w/o franchise) and this game is so much better than WSB. I was scared to buy this game at first because I had never played it and I played and enjoyed ASB but I decided to buy WSB based on the reviews. If you're in a simular situation, I'd go with WSB because it's leaps and bounds better.

The gameplay is a little frustrating but once you get the hang of it, the game is a blast. I'm a big fan of Franchise mode in sports and this franchise mode is unbelievable, even better than Madden's franchise mode. Unlike any other game, you have an unlimited number of season to work with. You also have to hire managers, batting coaches, etc. and that's part of your budget. The budget system varies (You can choose to have the current budgets of the real life teams or have the budget off alltogether). What's also great about the budget system, you can gain more budget points depending on your team's success and W/L. There is also a player draft after each season where you draft new players for future use (Very cool!).

The point system for players is better than ASB and doesn't use the annoying A/B/C system, instead using a numerical system that goes up to 100. The system is very realistic as well, because unlike madden and other sports franchise games, if you have a great year with an average player like Kip Wells, his ratings will boost the next year and he'll be one of the best players in the league.

There are so many other things that make this game so great and realistic (GMs of bad teams getting frustrated and willing to trade a proven high priced players for some younger and cheaper talent) so buy the game!!

Oh by the way, that's just franchise mode. There's other features in the game, but franchise is so good it could carry this game alone.

I should preface my remarks by saying that I haven't played any of the other modern baseball video games and so can offer little in the form of comparison. However, standing on its own merits, WSB is an excellent game. The franchise mode is everything it has been hyped up to be and it sets the standards for sports franchise gaming on the Xbox. Gameplay itself is slick and accurate, with a huge range of options to create an ideal gaming environment. You can make the game incredibly easy or incredibly difficult, making this the perfect "father-son" game. Dad can play with a slower pitch speed and really enjoy all the nuts and bolts of the franchise mode while the kid, with the reflexes of a eleven year old, can play with blink of the eye pitching speeds. The baseball is balanced and realisitc, with scores and the sort of plays you would see in a real, major league game. Pitching and hitting are both a ton of fun and the pitches really act the way they should. Curve balls curve, change ups look like fastballs until they suddenly droop out slowly at the end, sliders will flare out and then break sharply over the plate, and so on. If you have a good eye, you can spot pitches as they come out and hit accordingly, but better pitchers have better stuff that is harder to read just like better batters have larger hitting cursors and can drive the ball farther.

My criticisms of the game are minor, but enough to keep it from earning five stars. The baseball AI is occasionally questionable. Baserunners will make some of the most idiotic mistakes sometimes, manufacturing double plays that never should have happened. Also, against the computer, stealing a base is nigh to impossible, even with speedsters like Ichiro, and walks are not nearly as big a part of this game as they are in real life. Finally, it can be hard on the eyes to read over your stats sometimes as the folks at SEGA have decided to put colored stats up against similarly colored backdrops, causing them to meld together on poorer quality TVs. Straight black numbers against a white background would have been much easier to read.

However, please don't view the above list as a serious set of detractions. The game as a whole is enormously fun and dangerously addictive with tremendous replay value. The franchise mode is truly something special and if you like baseball, you'll love this game.

While far from perfect, this is the only excellent baseball game available for the X-Box.

The Positives:

1. The franchise mode is very deep in this game. Not only are you able to conduct trades and manage your roster, you also have to worry about resigning free agents and checking the scouting reports on your minor league roster.

2. The graphics are good. The player movement physics are great.

3. I have played a full season and the end of season stats on the all-star mode skill level are more or less true to life. Though this game is not as good as High Heat Baseball for the stat junky, it nevertheless does a reasonably good job of mimicking the player's real on-field performances.

4. The sound is fantastic. From the crack of the bat, to hot dog vendors, to fans heckling certain players on the visiting team (example: Hey Jeter, you're overpaid!).

5. You can choose to play in "classic" uniforms. For example, if you're the Pirates you can play in those gold uniforms with the black pill box caps. Aklaim's All-Star Baseball game for the XBOX only allows you to do this in Exhibition mode. This game allows you to play in those uniforms even in franchise mode.

The negatives:

1. The crowd graphics are the worst I've seen for any high end console game. They look like blurred out cardboard cutouts.

2. The play by play commentary is even more dull and repetitive than in most baseball games. Furthermore many mistakes are made. For example, often when a line drive is hit right to the third baseman the announcers will scream out: It's a fair ball down the 3rd base line! Or a routine play will be made and they will scream out that it's a great play.

3. You can't tweak or edit the player profiles like you can in High Heat's PC game. For example, if a certain player is hitting way too many home runs in High Heat you can go in and tweak his power rating. If the same thing happens in this game you just have to grin and bear it.

4. Fielder reactions can be sluggish. This is especially frustrating when you're trying to turn two or prevent someone from taking an extra base on a hit to the outfield.

The bottom line is this: despite it's flaws if you own an XBOX there is no better baseball game available.

This is by far one of the greatest games that I have ever played. It is very realistic and satisfying. Unlike other games, it is impossible to win every game, which is a great thing. In order to do well, you must be able to use strategy when you pitch. It is impossible to fool the computer with the same pitch. The franchise mode is just like EA Sports, which is nice to have. Also, the games fly by pretty quickly. It takes me 20 minutes to play a game, which I like. Over 162 games, who would want each to last an hour??? This is a must buy for every Xbox owner.

World series baseball this year is the best of the best. It makes me want to forget every other baseball game I've ever played. For example the graphics are outstanding with 95% of all players looking like their real life counterpart. The fielding is also probably the best out there. With throwing on the run and being able to dive for ground balls in the infield. Also the pitching is great with player specific pitching styles and hot/cold zones for batters. I feel that the franchise mode is also very great. You can hire coaches, re-sign players, and even control your farm club. This is the best baseball game out there. I only have one complaint being they got rid of Pedro for Giambi. Hopefully they'll fix that next time. But that is the only problem.