MVP Baseball 2005 Review

About.com Rating 4 Star Rating

User Rating 3 Star Rating (1 Review)

By Eric Qualls, About.com Guide

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Hitting

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Batting has also been well thought out and perfectly implemented. Rather than using cursors where you have to quickly place your batting cursor over the pitch cursor, MVP 2005 is more straightforward and relies simply on timing. Your batter will automatically swing high or low or wherever they need to in order to make contact and it is up to you to swing the bat at the right time in order to actually hit the ball. Swing at something far inside or outside and you won’t get the best results, obviously. Likewise, swinging too late or too early will end up in a pop up or foul ball or lazy grounder. You have more control than just pressing a button to swing the bat, though. You can press left or right as you swing to hit it to the left or right of the diamond and you can press down do hit a grounder or up for a fly ball. This lets you put the ball right where it needs to be to give your baserunners the best chance of advancing. Another nifty feature is the “hitters eye”. The ball will flash different colors as it leaves the pitchers hand which tells you what type of pitch it is. This helps you time your swing a little better. All in all, hitting is simple, but it is arguably more fun this way.

Fielding and Baserunning

Fielding fly balls is basically the same it has always been – you put a player on the cursor and they’ll catch the ball. Throwing, on the other hand, is rather different. The four face buttons on the Xbox controller represent the four bases, so B is first base, Y is second, etc. You press a button to throw to a base and a meter similar to the one used for pitching pops up. The idea is to have enough power to get the ball there without being wildly inaccurate. It is an interesting thing to get used to but works very well.

Baserunning is also very easy and is controlled by the same four face buttons as fielding. Each base has a little window in the corner of the screen so you can see what your runners are doing at all times. You can have runners steal or retreat as well as try to stretch an extra base hit or tag up after a fly ball with the press of a button. It is simple and clean and works great.

There are also special controls for baserunning and fielding that use the right analog stick. This “big play stick” lets you dive at fly balls, climb the outfield fence to snatch a potential home run, or perform a few different types of slides when you’re running the bases. A great idea that was well implemented.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, MVP 2005 looks gorgeous. The player models are incredibly detailed and everyone looks just like they do in real life. Most impressive of all is the animation. Each and every player uses their real life batting stance and all of their mannerisms have been recreated perfectly. Also, there are dozens of animations for every type of play you can imagine and even catching a routine fly ball has tons and tons of different variations. You can play dozens of games and not see the same two plays twice. Very impressive. The stadiums are also very detailed and look great. The game also features a 720p mode and it looks phenomenal. It is seriously easier to play because the graphics are that much clearer and better looking.

The sound is also really well done. The crack of the bat and the slap of the ball hitting a glove are clear and perfect. Stadium sounds such as different cheers from the crowd, noise from outside the stadium, players yelling advice to each other, and much more all make the game sound really authentic. The commentary team of Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow do a good job as well.

Bottom Line

If you are looking for a realistic and fully featured baseball game, MVP Baseball 2005 is the game for you. If you are looking for a simple baseball game with special options that let you adjust the game to play however you want, MVP Baseball 2005 is also the game for you. There are so many options and so many different ways to play that MVP 2005 is perfect no matter how big of a baseball fan you are. The great online mode via Xbox Live is just icing on the cake. MVP Baseball 2005 is a great baseball game at a great price of $29.99 and is highly recommended.

User Reviews

3 out of 5

MLB 2K7 (Microsoft Xbox), Member MicrosoftXbox

The Bad: When MLB 2K7 first came out for the Xbox, Everybody thought it was the next generation of video games. But when MLB 2K7 came out for the Xbox 360, the Xbox had no hope. The graphics for the Xbox 360 version were simply amazing. The stadium are different, the crowds are different, the animations and stances are different, along with the faces. The Xbox 360 version, obviously, is way better. The crowds in MLB 2K7 for Xbox look and are cartoons. But for the Xbox 360, the crowds look almost real. I wish they could have just made the graphics the same. But sadly, Xbox 360 is known for its amazing graphics. Plus, the faces and stances are different. For example, Albert Pujols face. On the Xbox, he has no goatee, he has a different stance, and he is very skinny. On Xbox 360, he has a goatee, the right stance, and he is the size he is. The Good: MLB 2K7 is very fun. It is a game that you would want to wake up at 5:00 in the morning to play. The graphics are pretty good. The gameplay is pure fun. And there are fun Game Modes like Season, Exibition, and The Home Run Derby. The only bad thing is the batting. You have to use the right thumbstick to swing, and it is very complicated. To change this, go to VIP Settings, and go to swing controls (or something like that.) Then change the setting to the other option. Now you press A to swing. The defense is pretty easy. It Makes it like a real diamond. Y :2nd Base X: 3rd Base B: 1st Base A: Home Plate Just like that. The bad thing is its to easy. right as you get the ball, and you throw it, the batter is about 50 feet away from the base. This is a fun game though. Great Gameplay, Amazing Comentary, and it has the feeling of a real baseball game. If you are looking for a great baseball game for Xbox, Pick MLB 2K7. It is WAY better than last year. You can find this game at at EB Games or Game Stop near you for about $20.00. This game is my favorite game so far. I give MLB 2K7 a 7.8 out of 10

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