ESPN Major League Baseball

This year brings not just an updated version of the game Ц not just in updates in the game, but an actual name change. For better or worse, the World Series Baseball name Ц one synonymous with Sega Sports Ц has been retired in lieu of the ESPN Videogames brand, renamed ESPN Major League Baseball. Thankfully, the same solid play remains under the hood, merely with more ESPN integration, updated rosters, new gameplay features, and thankfully, Xbox Live compatibility, meaning the new name doesn't have to mean a new game. The result is a solid baseball game that hasn't evolved too much from the initial Xbox WSB release in 2002, but is still fun and extremely customizable to suit the taste of any type of baseball game-playing gamer. However, if updated rosters and online play aren't important, you could get by with World Series Baseball or World Series Baseball 2K3 instead Ц cheaper, and just as good a game, just without some of the features of ESPN 2K4.

Just about everything from the old WSB games returns in ESPN, from the same kind of Franchise system to a basic season mode. There's also First Person Baseball, which on paper would have worked, but it's so vomit-inducing and disorienting here that they should have just forgotten about it and concentrated on something else. It worked okay in ESPN Football, but it's horrible here. Also new to the game is the GM mode, which is an enhanced Franchise mode for those who want more behind-the-scenes activity. Effectively, you choose a team, and each team has a different kind of owner who expects different things Ц some owners are tightwads with their money (mostly small-market teams) and others are free spenders doing anything necessary to win (like, I dunno, the Skunkees). Play well with their money, perform well, and win lots of games and achieve different goals, and you'll earn the confidence of your owner, as well as attract attention from other teams. Do poorly, and find yourself in the poorhouse. It's interesting, and I'd imagine a lot of fun to take a team that's light on funds to the World Series consistently. Xbox Live play makes its debut here, and is a lot better than the disaster that was WSB 2K2 on Dreamcast, with lag-free play and little troubles, however, it was difficult finding games online with just a few going on at any given time. In addition to actual games, you can download new rosters, check your friends, etc. Ц all stuff you know and love about XBL. One thing I found slightly disturbing, however; it seems you can see if someone on your friends list is playingЕbut it won't actually tell you what they're playing. Which sucks.

For the uninitiated, the ESPN Franchise mode, which is the main way to play aside from GM and XBL play, is basic, yet pretty deep and lengthy. As manager, you have full control of rosters for major and minors, the ability to call up and demote players, sign free agents, make trades, and whatnot. You're limited by a Сsalary cap' of sorts which is just a way to separate the markets, large and small, but doing well with smaller teams means more expendable cash, and doing badly with major-market teams means the cash flow gets a bit tighter. Moral of the story Ц do well, make money, do bad, lose money. Pretty simple. Tack on extensive career stat tracking, and ridiculously cool ESPN presentation (in each game, it actually makes mention of career milestones, individual player ant team stats, and whatnot, for authentic feel), and you have a Franchise that's deep, yet never winds up overbearing at any time (which can happen in MVP with all those minor league teams floating around). The newest addition is ESPN Gamecast, which is taken straight from MVP Baseball 2003. In essence, you can simulate a game like normal, but as you're simulating, you can jump in and save a game, or mount a comeback. On the other hand, if you have a game well in hand or just want to get it over with, you can set it to simulate and finish the game under your watch, in case you need to leap back in. It won't be long before every sports game uses this. However, it might not entirely be necessary, as ESPN lets you save between each half-inning (well, you can save at any time, but it goes back to the last half-inning completed) if you don't have time to play all 9 innings and don't want to simulate the game away. It can allow forЕuhЕabusing the game to get wins (like you could do in NFL Fever), but for convenience it can't be beat.

A new feature to all aspects of the game, and one that affects all manner of the game, is the Confidence meter. It's pretty much exactly what it says; if you pitch well, hit well, make a great play in the field, or steal some bases, your Confidence meter can rise. On the other hand, if you do poorly in any of those areas, it will slowly drop, and your performance can falter. On paper, this is a great idea, but the execution is flawed. The whole thing is so random, and there are times when it makes a huge difference (more than once, my pitcher's confidence would drop after a single, and then spiral into a 7 run inning because of it), and other times when nothing happens. A guy could go 4-4 with a homer and 5 RBI's and never see their confidence rise one time. It just doesn't work well, but thankfully, it can be turned off (and it was turned off 3 games into the season). Actually, turning things on and off, and tweaking becomes the main reason why this is perhaps the most accessible, customizable baseball game around.

The pitching game hasn't had a whole lot of changes, but it really didn't need much as it worked pretty well. New to ESPN is the Сeffort' meter, which basically tells you how long you've held down the pitch button. This was also in WSB 2K3, though it was done through discreet use of pressure-sensitive controls. It does, however, really help if you're looking to take some zip off a pitch to sneak one by a hitter, though it actually affects velocity on curveballs and slidersЕtake effort off and the pitch might not go where you intended. This can be turned on and off, for the classic WSB style instead. You can turn on and off the pitch location icon, that tells you where the pitch is going (good for multiplayer, naturally), and even fool around with the hot/cold zone meters and such. Some changes have been made to actually selecting pitches Ц rather than using the d-pad and selecting your throw, they're assigned to a button on the Xbox controller, which is a change for the better. With changes, or without changes, the pitching engine is solid and will provide a great many duels with some hitters. The only problem I find is that it's way too easy to give up homers this year Ц 95% of the runs I've allowed have been via the home run, with very few Сmanufactured' runs. The live-ball era is over, folksЕ

It's the batting side of things that offers the most customization, however. While no matter which way you hit, the game is great in its variety of hits and location of them, this customization allows for being able to play the game to your specifications. By default, the new True-Swing hitting is in effect, where there's no batting cursor, and where you swing determines what kind of hit results, a la MVP and High Heat. You can elect, however, to radically change how it functions. There's the ability to turn on pitch preview to see where the ball is headed (which is cheap, of course), the ability to change from a 2 button hitting system (where one is for contact, the other for power) to the classic one button system, and being able to actually bring back the classic cursor-based hitting in numerous sizes. Thus, fans of WSB's hitting system can immediately bring it back, and others who perhaps came from High Heat will get a lot out of the True-Swing system. Everyone else has plenty of optionsЕif one doesn't do anything for you, another just might. Mixing in lots of different kinds of hits, from broken bats, bloopers, line drives, shots down the lines, and whatnot, the hitting engine never really gets old and offers so much variety that it actually feels like a real baseball game at times. With that in mind, it's a little unfortunate that hitting is a lot easier this year than in recent years, so expect a lot of high scoring games thanks to the crazy trouble with a barrage of homers. Running bases after getting the hits is intuitive and useful, and the simple design of baserunning controls means ease in sending some or all runners depending on the situation. This functions the same in terms of stealing bases too. With so many other baseball games struggling to come up with good engines for running bases, ESPN is the head of the class here.

Fielding remains the same as previous editions, which means, yes, still some great controls for handling the baseball. Simple yet intuitive, the controls allow for diving, leaping, and climbing fences to steal home runs. Playing the field is a breeze and handling hot shots in the infield are also executed well. Unfortunately, there are way, way too many bobbled balls and errors, and it's too easy to make a bad throw and pull your 1st baseman off the bag on routine grounders, or lackadaisical tosses to firstЕleading to costly runs. I'd say at least 5 times a game the fielders will bobble and fumble basic hits, which gets extremely annoying. Even CPU players have the exact same troubles, but even so, it's frustrating to see so many errors and flub-ups in the field.

Perhaps the single most disturbing aspect of ESPN Major League Baseball is how many tricks and exploits from the original Xbox game still exist. If you use cursor-based batting, it's still possible to swing just under the ball location and smack it for a homer, nearly every time (turn on pitch preview and see for yourself how you can have 3 guys hit 4-5 homers in one game). It's actually easier to pitch by merely tossing fastballs over and over, rather than fear leaving hanging curves, break-less sliders and over the plate changeups, which leads to repetitive pitching. It's still way, way too easy to steal bases, and many guys will wind up with over 100, like we're playing in the Astroturf area of the 1980's. Because of all this, it makes it extremely easy for veterans to jump right in and do well, and exploit the game. I honestly hope Visual Concepts and Blue Shift eliminate this stuff next year, or it will make them look really bad. This is still perhaps the most complete, balanced, and customizable baseball game around despite itself, but Sega and ESPN Videogames needs to follow in the footsteps of the football franchise and redefine it every year before people stop playing it. As is, those who loved the original Xbox WSB games will enjoy thisЕbut anyone else is probably playing the rapidly improving MVP series from EA Sports.

The visuals have taken minor improvements, but nothing to really write home about. There's still great stadium designs and environments, great pitching stances and batting stances for hundreds of players (they stuck in even Dontrelle Willis' leg-kick to perfection), and the models themselves are serviceable though don't always look realistic. But if you played WSB 2 years ago, it's almost the exact same thing with the exception of the new stadiums like Petco Park. Some new stuff like dirt flying when running the bases, players leaping off the bag to catch a ball and then landing on the base to make the play, a bat flying when it's shattered, and the outfielders leaping to steal a ball (which can become a hindrance if it doesn't leave due to the stutter in the animation). It looks fine on the whole, despite not being improved much, and still looks like an Xbox game, yet again, the familiar feel with so few improvements smells of a rush job. It's more polished and smooth, but that's about it.

Thankfully, there is improved play-by-play in ESPN MLB. The eternally boring and lifeless Ted Robinson is outta there, replaced by ESPN Sunday Night baseball announcer Jon Miller, who joins Rex Hudler, returning from last year. Even though I wish Joe Morgan, Miller's Sunday Night color man, was here, Miller himself does fine, and only Vin Scully in MLB 2005 can topple him in PBP quality. He calls the game in his signature style and sounds great doing it, and he and Hudler match up quite well throughout the season. With this tandem in the booth, it really feels like an ESPN baseball game. Joining the duo is Karl Ravech from Baseball Tonight, handling the pre-game stuff, but it's never as in-depth as it was in ESPN NFL Football and Chris Berman. On the other hand, the sound effects are not too bad, with great baseball sounds, from the crack of the bat to a bat cracking in half. Unfortunately, the crowd is lifeless and doesn't get excited unless there's big hits or runs scored. They just sit on their hands, and make the stadium seem empty at all times Ц even game 7 of the World Series.