MLB 2005

There is joy in Mudville and San Diego, the home of 989 Sports, as MLB 2005 makes a quantum leap forward in quality.

Back in the PlayStation days, 989 Sports was locked in cutthroat competition with EA Sports, a struggle that has been parked on the back burner for quite some time. While it?s too early to forecast 989?s long-awaited return to form, MLB 2005 represents the publisher?s best game yet on the PS2 and gives EA?s MVP Baseball a serious run for its money.

Swing, Batter!
Unique features, nice graphical polish, and smartly refined controls propel the MLB series back into the big league. The new Franchise mode is a baseball nut?s delight, serving up a simulation that?s so cavernously deep, it might even be a bit intimidating. Beyond the customary aspects like trades or contracts, you handle a vast number of business factors down to an extreme level of detail that includes training/rehab facilities, promotional ?giveaway? nights, loans and banking, scouting, player-skill development, and much more. It?s truly ?SimBaseball.?

For those with shorter attention spans, MLB 2005 also offers a downright cool Career mode and a standard Season mode. In Career, you focus on one player that you create, striving for attention in spring training, haggling over contracts as you move between teams, and even demanding trades or more playing time.

The creativity doesn?t stop there. You can use the EyeToy to photograph your face and map it onto a created player. Or plug in a USB headset to issue voice commands like ?steal second? or ?kick dirt at umpire.? Players, ahem, seem to ignore that umpire command, but the headset otherwise works well if you?re not shy about mumbling to yourself. The hot/cold zones for batters aren?t static, evolving over the course of the game in response to your patterns, while mound visits can help a flagging pitcher. An excellent Fast Play option trims the cut-scenes and otherwise makes for a quick game, while the online play includes tournaments, and two gamers can duke out a quick game by simming it as opposing managers. That?s a lot of different and interesting ways to play ball.

The Crack of the Bat
MLB 2005 has a great tactile feel?in your first trip to the plate, you?ll notice right away how much the ball moves like it should coming off the bat. Retooled controls that steer clear of cursors also augment the game?s serious, realistic style of gameplay. Pressure-sensitive pitching monitors how long and hard you jam the button to determine the heat and accuracy of the pitch. Three difficulty levels of batting controls let you build your skill at aiming the bat with the left analog stick, and you can also guess pitches or try for a fly/ground ball. Fielding and base-running is very smooth, but you can?t swings or control whether you slide, which count as significant shortcomings.

MLB 2005 has a few other quirks. There are some odd restrictions on the size of your bullpen and bench, and you work with inactive rosters, not minor leagues. It?s also the only game that doesn?t provide a fake player to represent Barry Bonds, who opted out of the MLBPA this season and appears in no baseball games.

Fast Pitch
MLB 2005 also benefited from a solid facelift. Between the remarkable animation and the well-proportioned player models, everyone on the field moves with uncanny, lifelike grace. Overall, though, the visuals are lower-res than those of competing games, which diminishes the impact somewhat. On the audio side, MLB 2005 provides three-man commentary, but only Vin Scully really soars?the color guy gets pretty grating, while the stat guy interrupts at awkward moments.

MVP Baseball 2004 remains the top overall pick this season, but MLB 2005 is an excellent alternative that will have strong appeal to diehard baseball fans. And it?s great to see 989 Sports getting back in the game.

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