MLB 2005 Review

Developer	989 Sports
Publisher	SCEA
Genre	Sports

It’s beginning to seem a little redundant, but every time a 989 Sports title is reviewed, their great PlayStation 1 days are compared to their recent slump on the next-generation platform. Over the last two years, vast improvements have been made to all of the games, especially the football titles. Most baseball fans were generally looking forward to 989’s return to the baseball genre last year with MLB 2004, but it was deeply flawed and offered little enjoyment.

Thankfully, there is always reform. And reformation is exactly what has occurred in MLB 2005. Not only does 989 relinquish their title as lackluster sports developers, they hit a grand slam with what could possibly be the best baseball game of the year. Everything about this year’s edition is fantastic, and the incredibly deep franchise mode nearly dwarfs the competition in every aspect. One thing is for sure; 989 Sports have returned.

Gameplay - Last year, the MLB series featured an inconsistent, downright buggy gameplay engine that ended up being more frustrating than playable. This year, while more basic than original, the gameplay is nearly perfect. Whether it’s batting, pitching, fielding, base running, etc., flaws are nearly nonexistent, and those that do exist can easily be played through without causing an annoyance.

First and foremost is the batting, which features a timing-based system dangerously similar to that formally found in High Heat. If the pitch is high and away, hold up on the left analog stick and press away from the batter and he’ll swing high. Hitting can be reasonably easy due to the simple batting structure, but scoring runs is another story. Home runs tend to be few and far between, but every now and then, your team will catch fire and have an explosive game.

This year MLB lacks the ability to hit with power or to hit regularly for contact. This can be credited mostly in part to the fact that the batting cursor has been eliminated. However, if players think they have the picture figured out, they can opt to execute the Guess Pitch function. If used correctly, extra power is added creating the ever-present chance of a homerun or a double. Guess wrong, though, and grounding out is the likely outcome.

Batting involves pointing to a certain area comparative to an on-screen strike zone. The strike zone is divided into nine zones, all of which will be hot or cold relative to the player. By default, realistic hot/cold zones are presented, but in the other gameplay modes, performance can improve or exacerbate the zones. While not revolutionary, the zones can create variable games and drastically affect a season. The intuitive part of the strike zone in MLB 2005 is that its size varies based upon the height and stance of the player, which is a first on console baseball.

For hardcore baseball fans, pitching is more than likely your favorite thing to do. There’s really nothing more fulfilling than striking out an entire side in an inning, or reaching ten or more “K’s” in a game. MLB 2005 utilizes a pitching system where each primary face button (SQUARE, X, CIRCLE, TRIANGLE, and occasionally the shoulder buttons) is certain pitch. Depending on the player, one pitcher such as a closer might only have three pitches, but a starting pitcher has five. After the pitch has been selected, by holding down X, the velocity of the ball can be determined. However, there is not a meter, so it’s basically about guessing until you’ve figured out the speeds.

The pitcher interface is the same as the batting, making it easy to adjust from fielding to hitting. It’s essential to pitch to the cold zones to attempt to either strike out or force an out on the opposing player. It’s important to note that just because the pitch is in a cold zone does not guarantee an out. Just like in the pros, players can battle through cold streaks and potentially turn that spot hot. Pitch location must be made quickly, because the indicator disappears after a few seconds. Computer pitching very rarely throws balls, though, so drawing a walk is nearly impossible. It’s one of the irks that need to be improved upon in 2006.

MLB 2005 sports what 989 likes to call Total Control Fielding, a gameplay feature that can really benefit the player in a sacrifice fly situation or an aggressive base runner. What it does is allows the player to control the power of the throw. Again, the game lacks a meter to gauge the exact power. When a sharp liner down the third base line causes your third baseman to throw off his back foot, the power better be all the way. Also, if you hold down a base before the ball is fielded, it creates a fluid transition between catch and throw and also allows for a quick throw to home as the third base runner tags up.

Baserunning is such an essential part of the game, and MLB 2005 does a pretty good job of replicating how it’s done in the Majors. Once a runner is on base, by simply pressing L1 it will advance the runner, and pressing R1 will cause the runner to retreat. However, once a few bases are filled, L1 will advance all runners, which might create problems. Simply press the base that the player is on and then press the direction you want him to go and just the individual will run. Leading off for a steal is made easy by the windows at the corners of the screen, displaying where the runner is in relation to the base.

New to this year’s game is the ability to use the cut-off man. In real life, the cut-off man is extremely vital to major league teams because it provides an easy option for the outfielder and the cut-off man can gun it home quicker than a throw from the outfield. By pressing L1, players will automatically throw it to the correct cut-off man. The positioning of the players are fantastically realistic, making bloopers like Luis Gonzalez’s drop-in World Series winning hit against the Yankees few and far between.

MLB 2005 comes packed full of gameplay modes, including an excellent Career mode, and of course, the most extensive and thorough Franchise mode in a sports game to date. Naturally, the usual features such as an Exhibition mode, Season, Playoffs, and Home Run Derby grace the list, and offer little replay value in comparison to the Franchise and Career modes. Oh yeah, there’s also Online gaming, which is nearly seamless. 989 Sports feature the most unique and systematically sound online infrastructure on the PS2.

The Franchise mode, again, is absolutely insane. If there’s one feature that absolutely crushes the competition this year in MLB 2005, it’s this. The basic premise owes a lot to EA Sports and Madden NFL 2004, but even EA would be impressed by what 989 have done. This option puts you as the Owner of any team you want in the Majors, and requires you to reach or maintain certain goals, which are team-based. Sounds easy enough, right?

Then the complexity kicks in. The Franchise mode deals with the hassles of real life managing, where keeping the players happy while maintaining a profit is only a quarter of the battle. Players have to have decent coaches, or else their performance drops; in other words, hire to the best of your funds if you want victory. Keep the fans interested by advertising a current Winning Streak on television or talking about the latest player acquisition in a big-name magazine. All of these things make up a small percentage or what the owner is forced to do.



It truly is amazing. In one review I could not talk about everything that goes on in the Franchise mode. The only thing I tell you are the highlights and some of the things that could be tweaked. Having to get a TV contract is awesome, but I really wish there was a difference between which network you choose. For instance, the TV overlays would be drastically different. Or maybe there could be real life advertising deals, such as with Pepsi or New Era, two companies that are already featured in the game.

MVP Baseball, EA Sports excellent baseball title that many feel is the game to beat, sports a well-designed owner mode as well, only they include AA and AAA minor league teams which can be played around with. If 989 could somehow incorporate this nifty idea into their franchise without totally copying the idea, it would basically be the knockout punch. But for now, minor additions to the stadium upgrades, rehab facilities, promotional offers, and other cool features in the Franchise mode will bring players back next year.

The Career mode was the saving grace of the MLB series last year, and this year it’s back with all kinds of revisions. The coolest of which would be the inclusion of EyeToy support, Sony’s PS2 camera. By taking your picture, you can put your actual face into the game, which is an excellent idea. Sure, the PC gaming environment has been tackling this accomplishment since 2000, but it’s still a novel concept.

Anyway, the idea behind the Career mode is that you create an authentic replication of yourself and then try to make it in the big leagues. Once created, teams will give the player a scale of their chance of being signed based on his skill and the need for the position he plays. You get to select which team you want to tryout for, and then do the best you can in Spring Training. Certain goals must be accomplished in order to be signed, and the player must beat out another player who is also trying to make the team. Good stuff.

The original rosters presented in MLB 2005 are extremely fresh, especially when compared to MVP, which lacks the A-Rod to New York in exchange for Soriano deal (there is an online roster update for that, though, for you MVP fans). By going online, players can download the latest rosters, ensuring that everything is up to snuff in the game. Live score updates in real life are present online in the form of a sports ticker similar to something found on a sports channel. Also, players can use the USB headset to communicate with others, which is always a nice addition.

For those who lack the Network Adaptor, you can always manually move the players freely. For instance, say there is a trade of some no-name player with Albert Pujols; in a standard trade move, the trade would not be accepted. However, with the ability to move players freely, it can make for accurate rosters should the player choose to do so. It also creates the ability to cheat, but most sports gamers tend to be honest.

Something that really agitates me this year is the fact that you cannot edit a real-life player. Case in point: trading for someone in the Franchise mode and not being able to change the number. I'm a diehard Yankees fan and hate seeing Alfonso Soriano on the Rangers, despite his terrible playoff performance, so I offered the Rangers two young relievers and they accepted. The only problem is that I can't correct Alfonso's number from 6 to 12. Oh well.

There are numerous items available to unlock in MLB 2005 with the profiles, adding to the replay value. You can gain points by accomplishing certain tasks, much like the Madden Challenge and things of that sort. Players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Nolan Ryan, and Mike Schmidt make up only a small amount of the total players available, which are separated by era (Golden or Silver, golden dating back to the early 1900's and Silver a little more recent). Gameplay oddities such as playing as black and white and big heads are also offered, though they don't do too much. Stadiums and teams can be unlocked as well.

The bugs in the game are almost non-existent, as mentioned before, but the ones that are present do cause a slight annoyance. For instance, a ground ball to the first baseman usually calls for the pitcher to scramble to first base for an easy out. But in MLB, the pitcher runs and waits, and no matter how hard you hold the button, the throw is soft and more than likely won’t make it to the pitcher in time for the out. You should be able to throw to the pitcher as he's running to the bag. Another issue occurs after the play, say, whenever a fielder throws the ball to second base. Neither the shortstop nor the second baseman are covering the bag, and it results in a bad throw to the outfield.

Graphics - One of the bigger turnoffs last year was the pathetic visuals, and thankfully, they’ve been addressed. As many informed gamers know, 989 Sports rarely have the best visuals when it comes to any sport. This year, however, things are different. When compared to MVP, All-Star, and ESPN, MLB looks very impressive, despite rather lackluster textures with the grass and dirt.



Player models, from default camera views, are spectacular. Jason Giambi is his normal, muscular (notice how I didn’t say steroid-induced) self and Kenny Lofton is as skinny as ever. A guy like David Ortiz on the Boston Red Sox is appropriately proportioned, with huge upper and lower bodies. The faces from a distance are excellent, though up close they look poor and are sadly not as impressive as initially thought.

The animations are top-notch this year, clearly beating out MVP and ESPN with over 3,500 personalized animations. All sorts of clever and nifty animations have been put into this year’s game, and they all look wonderful. Double plays are as seamless as they can be, and with the fantastic camera work, it really brings out the best in one of the more exciting defensive plays. Batting stances look very realistic, along with the excellent individual pitchers modeling. A major annoyance is that every player has the same follow-through for swings, so things get very redundant.

The audience in the stadium, for the most part, look very well, fluidly animated and moving at all times. However, in the upper deck, the crowd is just a cardboard cutout of sorts with absolutely no movement. Seriously, it looks like it was taken straight out of MLB 2001 on PSX. Throw that in with the little detail in the grass and dirt textures, and it really brings down the visual score. Pluses in the graphics category include the 60-FPS game engine, enabling smooth gameplay at all times, and of course, the active and real-time scoreboards in the background.

Sound - The audio in MLB is pretty much standard, with nothing spectacular really brightening the experience. Hall of Famer Vin Scully and ESPN announcer Dave Campbell handle most of the commentary, and occasionally San Diego commentator Matt Vasgersian chimes in with statistics and “this day in baseball”. The trio does a great job of calling the action, but never really seem to gel like a real broadcast team. One would think that after years of providing audio commentary in video games, they would sound as natural as ever.

There are several cool things about the audio, though. Sure, the standard baseball sound effects such as the crack of the bat and ball hitting the mit are great, but what really stands out is the crowd’s constant reaction to the game. Not one big play or base hit goes unnoticed. I just really wish there were player-specific chants or even fans yelling out in disgust at a player, but it doesn’t happen very often. At least the PA announcer comes in occasionally, with funny dialogue such as, “Fans, don’t forget next week is Computer Programmer day. First 200 Computer Programmers receive free admission.”

The sound-track is more than excellent, though, boosting the score of the sound. Artists like the Black Eyed Peas, Nickelback, Alient Ant Farm, and Jet are all put into the game, though I personally can't stand Jet (and luckily for me, they have two songs in the game rather than one. Thankfully, whenever a song that does not suit your tastes begins to play, you can easily progress to the next song by pressing L1.

Bottom Line - After hours and hours of gameplay time, I think it’s safe to say that 989 Sports has totally out-done themselves this year with MLB 2005. It’s amazing to see such improvement in so little time, but the expanded development team has done it. For many sports gamers, the Franchise mode will have them hooked for eons, while others may opt for the Career mode or excellent Online option. And then there are the exceptional gamers who find the time to play all three.

And despite a clustered market, MLB 2005 sticks out among the other baseball titles, proving it is the baseball game of the year. Yes, this game is better than MVP Baseball 2004 by EA Sports, Acclaim's All-Star Baseball, and ESPN Baseball. Kudos to 989 for creating the most realistic and fun baseball game currently on the market. I just can't wait for next year.

Review by Brian Williams