Gaming Target - Xbox: MVP Baseball 2003

Written by Adam Woolcott on July 29, 2003

Full Review: Well it's one, two, three strikes to the head, at the old ball game!

While EA Sports traditionally has held a firm lock on football, hockey, and basketball games, it seems that the company has struggled to establish a baseball license. From the solid Tony LaRussa baseball on the Genesis to the horrid Triple Play 2002, EA's hardball games have been a hit or miss affair. Thankfully after the travesty that was the 2002 version of Triple Play (complete with ridiculous player models that looked more like bobbleheads than actual baseball players), EA Sports has taken their baseball series into the shop, wiping away the Triple Play name completely, and promising a move away from the poor arcade-style baseball and creating something that could be called innovative.

That game is MVP Baseball 2003. EA has pulled out most of the stops this time, delivering a baseball engine that is fresh, unique, and...yes, innovative as well. While the game needs some tuning before competing with the High Heat and World Series games (though who knows about HH anymore, thanks to the demise of 3DO), EA's latest baseball effort is a step in the right direction, offering almost everything a baseball fan could desire.

As MVP carries no online play for either console version, EA Canada went all out to develop a unique and entertaining Franchise mode that might be solid enough to convince even the slightest baseball fan to try playing multiple seasons. Each franchise is goal-based depending on the team, for 10 straight years - for instance, the Yankees have very hard goals, including winning World Series titles, individual awards, and constantly winning 90 some games every year. On the other hand, a bottom feeder like the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will have very easy goals, like finishing above .500 and making the playoffs once or twice in a 10 year period.

Also, MVP's Franchise mode relies heavily on momentum, especially when simulating games. The better you play, and the more games you win that are important (i.e. rivals and top league teams), the faster your momentum adds up - so if you're on a roll, your players are all hot, and if you start going cold, things go the other way. What's interesting is the simulation aspect. As most people will never have the patience to play a full 162 game season, MVP lets you simulate games, as always. However, momentum does play a part - if your momentum is high, the chances of the simulation going your way are better. Best part is, MVP lets you actually hop into a simulated game at any time, so you can try to mount a comeback or step in and make sure your team pulls out the victory. As such, even when you aren't playing a game, you still factor in the decision if you choose so.

Aside from that, there's only one other option besides the usual playmodes, and that's the Home Run Challenge. Now, this isn't a home run derby - it's more of a distance test. You choose one player and one opponent (or one friend, as it's 2 player), and you set the distance, be it a mile or whatever. Then, your job is to reach the designated number first, through hitting homers, long flies, and just solid hits. You lose distance for missing a pitch or hitting a foul ball, and there's a Money Ball for doubling your distance, so hitting a 400 foot homer means it's 800 feet in terms of points. It's a unique twist, but it's a lightning fast affair, that ends after maybe a couple minutes. Great for playing during commercials of Sunday Night Baseball, though.

Where EA really makes MVP stand out is on the field. Instead of going with some of the tried and true practices of other baseball games, MVP Baseball reinvents the wheel of sorts and created something that hasn't been seen in baseball games.

Where you see this in action is with the pitching game. MVP borrows a cursor that you might find in Tiger Woods golf; it's 3 button presses to Heaven, I suppose. The first press of the button starts the cursor, the 2nd press (which you hold down, as I learned after about 25 games) designates how fast the pitch shall be, and the 3rd and final press is the one that makes sure the ball ends up in the place you requested it to be thrown to. As you pitch more, and into the later innings, your velocity falls off, and the window (in this case, a red window) for hitting your target accurately becomes smaller. It all adds up for a unique experience pitching, and when you start getting into this game, the duels between the pitcher and the batter are usually very heated.

It's not really all perfect though - it's almost impossible to actually walk someone, as you always hit your location if you hit the cursor presses correctly. Also, it's not too easy to get lots of strikeouts, either, unless you find the pattern of suckering the batter into swinging on an offspeed pitch. When Schilling and Johnson average about 4 K's per outing, it rears its off-balance head.

The hitting game isn't quite as unique - it borrows more from High Heat than anything. The lone difference is the default camera view is tilted a bit sideways, which actually ends up being better than the usual behind the catcher view. Instead of using a cursor, EA has what they call Total Control Swing, letting you aim the bat where you want to and it goes pretty much where you'd expect it in reality. That is, if you hold up on the left thumbstick and swing, the ball will be a fly, a grounder if you hold down, and flares/line drivers pulling the stick left or right. It results in some rewarding gameplay, as there's no way in hell you're going to hit a home run swinging downwards, or hit a grounder swinging upwards. The only stinky thing is a lack of jam swings and popups - it's all or nothing here.

Out in the field, EA again goes with a momentum-based system, which is pretty cool. When you have a play to be made, a meter will show up on screen as you throw the ball. If you let go right away, the fielder will lob the ball slowly, but it will probably be right on target no matter who it is. On the other hand, if you wait until it's in the red and chuck it, there's a chance the throw will be off-target and can cause more harm than good, unless you have a very talented fielder (especially in the outfield). It's very creative and makes you think twice before just hauling back and throwing to home plate to pick off a runner, as things could go bad and make matters worse. Hitting the cutoff man is extremely simple in MVP - just hit the Right Trigger when the game says so and the job is done. There's only one bad thing about fielding - and that's the automatic dives and leaps, which all fall under computer control, even with auto-fielding off. It's a minor thing in the scheme of things, but annoying when a silly play is made.

When all these elements are mixed (along with the standard, generic baserunning that's pretty self-explanatory on-screen), MVP Baseball is a fine baseball simulation that is the anti-Triple Play; but still not perfect. The game skews towards the easy side, even on high difficulty levels, as once you learn the patterns and tricks of the cursor pitching and Total Control Batting, the game becomes mindless. However, statistics and balances play out very, very well - nobody will have 20 homers and 25 RBI's, or 150 RBI's and no home runs. The momentum-based action for pitching and fielding (but especially pitching) can create some nailbiters late, as your pitcher tires or you go to a tired bullpen if the case arises. When playing a Franchise, all the elements create what might be the most well-rounded baseball game on the Xbox - but more like a jack of all trades, master of none kind of baseball game.

When it comes to MVP's graphics, EA Sports went all-out to create a new graphics engine that measures up against the tough competition. Gone are the microscopic stadiums and lame player models of Triple Play, replaced by gigantic fields and realistic player models that look accurate and human-like, complete with many authentic batting and pitching stances. Each stadium is rendered to look exactly like the real thing, including accurate details of the unique aspects of the different parks, such as Wrigleyville surrounding Wrigley, and of course, the infamous swimming pool at the BOB. While the game was designed with the PS2 in mind, the Xbox conversion looks nice and sharp, worthy of the console.

As usual, EA went all-out with the audio portion of MVP, and it shows. The announcers, Duane Kiper and Mike Krukow (who was in World Series Baseball last year. Musta got tired of "Mr. Exciting" Ted Robinson), do a solid job of calling the game, even if the common phrases end up being repeated early and often. They don't grate on the nerves (as the old TP team of Hughson and Martinez managed to be), and keep a close, accurate call of the on-screen action.

When in-game, the stadiums are alive with noise. While the fans are actually way louder than you'd expect (almost deafening), at least they're enthusiastic, and will even get into a loud "MVP" chant when your best player makes a big play or gets a big hit. It adds a nice touch of ambiance and realism to baseball games - which have never been home to the best sound effects.

Finally, EA has peppered the menus with EA Sports TRAX, full of real bands playing some of their best tunes. You can expect tracks from Socialburn, hed(pe), The All-American Rejects ("Swing Swing", of course), and especially The Donnas, who's inclusion of "Who Invited You" really doesn't fit into the guise of the game, but is probably the best track on the soundtrack. Shame they couldn't get The Ataris and their "Boys of Summer" cover, as it would kinda fit, and all.