Triple Play 2002
- March 21, 2002 00:00 AM PST
It�s a shame that Triple Play focused on improving its strengths, not its weakness, in the offseason.
Sights and sounds are the best part of this ballpark. Hearing a legend like Bob Costas call the game practically gives you chills, and the sound effects around the field also score big. Visually, the stadiums�especially the lighting�look simply fantastic, and the players are modeled well, though they often bear only a passing resemblance to their real-life counterparts. Sharp new camerawork that highlights big plays and other key moments really pumps up the excitement, too.The trouble starts during the first pitch. The flawed cursor interface gives you little reason to do anything but swing at every ball�in fact, if you take a pitch, the announcers instantly chide you! The game also forces you to accept automated base-running, but the CPU regularly makes painful decisions on the base paths. Positioning fielders to make a play still requires excessive precision, but the strong parts are the cool options like opening/closing your batter�s stance and the pop-up menus for fielding strategy.
If you like watching baseball, Triple Play puts on a pretty glorious show. But if you like playing baseball, it�s more of a caricature that�s best suited for rookie gamers or the most casual of fans. Stick with High Heat MLB 2003 for the PS2�s best representation of America�s pastime.
