MVP Baseball 2003

It?s a bold move to bail on a franchise that?s sold well since the Genesis days, but Triple Play was a tired act that gratefully relinquished the spotlight to MVP Baseball.

MVP Baseball attempts to build gameplay into every element of baseball, and to pull that off, the developers cooked up some inventive new control schemes. Pitchers use a golf-style meter to determine a pitch?s accuracy and effectiveness. Batters? hot/cold tendencies are overlaid on the strike zone, and thankfully, there?s not a cursor-like artifice in sight. Runners can be controlled individually in nifty picture-in-picture windows, and the success of a fielder?s throw is regulated by a meter.

So a slew of newfangled gizmos fills the screen to bursting, and whether you find them revolutionary, gimmicky, or somewhere in between will be a matter of taste. Once the learning curve is conquered, the pitching has great feel?it?s a unique, creative approach that succeeds smartly. The batting is solid but would?ve done better by cloning High Heat?s league-leading approach.

Fielding is where the problems pile up. Fielders seem to waste precious seconds awaiting the results of the throw meter before throwing. You have no influence over when or even if your fielders dive or jump?MVP decides that automatically, but it?s maddeningly conservative, often leaving you aching to have taken a crack at the play. Trying to tag out runners in close plays often goes seriously wrong as the infielder will get the ball in time, but instead of just tagging the runner, a canned animation?that often isn?t even that close to the runner?unspools glacially. These flaws aren?t huge individually, but together they make the defense feel frustrating, almost like it?s a matter that?s out of your hands. Tighter defense?and a lot more user input on said defense?would?ve made a world of difference.

Franchise Foundation
The creativity behind MVP produces better results when it comes to the game?s awesome Franchise mode. Over the course of ten seasons of games and front-office management, you?re tasked with a series of goals: sweeping rivals, winning pennants, playing in October, and so on. The manager earns a grade that can improve or slash your budget, and your team?s momentum (represented by, yup, a meter) influences your win/loss record when simming. It all comes together to create a great motivation to play and sim through ten 162-game seasons. The gameplay itself is action-focused and realistic without even resembling the parody of baseball that Triple Play became, and the A.I. plays a reasonably good ballgame.

Most Glamorous Player
MVP executes one element of its game far better than any other title this year: It?s just stone-cold beautiful. Whether playing the practically identical Xbox or PS2 version (there?s no GameCube edition), baseball?s never looked this good before. The player models and ballparks are suffused with lush detail and lighting, and the player faces are startlingly accurate.

Of course, there are some nit-picks to be had. The players are almost heroically chiseled, giving them a comic-book sensibility. A rich audio landscape all around the ballpark delivers a strong sonic performance, though the two-man commentary by the Giants? announcers has its ups and downs.

Bottom line, MVP earns props for looking good and trying something new while delivering solid baseball. High Heat is a much better playing ballgame, but MVP will appeal to baseball fans intrigued by its individuality.

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