MVP Baseball 2004

Well, this game comes to the rescue. The graphics are really the best I have ever seen and could really imagine. Every single detail is perfect - eyebrows, eyes, mustaches, goutees, hair style/color - on every single player. Kazuo Matsui (who is in this game!) has the little red lock of hair on this neck. Ichiro's whole face characteristics are incredible. And the batting stances are just right. Ichiro's impressed me the most since his is probably the hardest in baseball to imitate in a game. They did it classically and perfectly. Nothing is flawed as far as graphics go.

Gameplay is too awesome. Pitching is a breeze to figure out, but that's just figuring out. You must practice to perfect your location, velocity, etc. Batting is a little easier, but on the harder levels of difficulty, it is very hard. You really have to decide quickly whether that next pitch coming is a 95 mph fastball or just a slow uncle charlie curve ball. Bunting, like in real life, is difficult to master, but when perfected, it is a sweet thing. Ichiro is very capable of beating out a bunt if it is placed right.

Nothing in this game is downright EASY. The difficulty level is such that it takes a while to master Rookie - then there is pro, advanced and MVP level. Never even tried MVP level - it is, I'm sure, for the expert baseball gamer.

The gameplay announcing is nice too. It is not annoying with repeated sayings, clich'es, etc., rather, they are quite intelligent. And they do take notice and point out whether some has hit his 30th hr of the year, is throwing 7 innings of perfect baseball, and that sort of thing. Intelligent, like I said.

The different managerial modes are awesome, you have free reign of your MLB, AAA, and AA clubs. Creating a player is fun, too. But if you make his generics 100%, you will have to pay him the money he's worth. Make sure your team can afford him!

Get this game, whether you have doubts or not because they will be completely put to rest once you spend just one day on the game.

Signing Out... PLAY BALL!


It's Good!   April 27, 2004
T. D Huske (Illinois)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

At first, I was very disappointed with the controller issues. I started the game, Microsoft Sidewinder ready to go, only to find out that it wasn't supported. Ouch...I wasn't too happy.

I have been using the keyboard since. It was very confusing and frustrating at first, but after remapping some controls, I am starting to get the hang of it. So, if you don't mind using the keyboard, don't lose hope. Just remap some controls to your liking (although inconvenient, it doesn't take that long to do) and you can really enjoy this game. Oh, just a little advice. If you use the keyboard, the arrow keys on the number pad are what determine your swing location. Maybe I didn't read the manual well enough or I might just be a little light headed, but I was trying to use the regular arrow keys. Very frustrating when you make a juiced up power hitter with over 90 Power and all he can do is hit line drives. Well, by chance, I realized the NUM Pad arrows determined swing location and right away I was belting them out of the park. Only problem is I needed to remap my baserunning keys so that my runners weren't leaving early. For controller users, I noticed they have a fix at the EA website.

Controller issues aside, I love the graphics and gameplay. In old versions, there were too many line drives, but now I get a lot more bloopers and high pops to the shallow outfield. A whole lot more realistic. Pitching is much more fun than in the past too! I had an easy time blowing it by batters in old EA titles, but this year, you have to work for your K's. I love the fact that you can charge the mound, although I haven't tried it yet. Oh, the crowd is kind of silly looking. Cardboard cut-outs with Wookie hands. I try not to pay much attention to the people in the seats. I like the Homerun Showdown mode. In it, you go head to head, split screen, with another batter and the first batter to accumulate a total distance wins. This is cool, but I wish you can have an old fashioned homerun derby. Another feature that would be nice would be a batting practice mode. It would be nice to get your timing down or just to see how far the old lumber can launch one.

One major flaw I noticed was that I would try to select gameplay options during the game and it would boot me directly to my desktop. EA has a patch for this and some online issues at the website. It is about 3 megs and I installed and have had no problems since.

Anyways, I have rambled long enough! Controller issue aside, I have really enjoyed MVP 2004. If you love baseball and want the most realistic offering that's out there, then this one is the one for you.


Fun but Frustrating   February 24, 2005
Daniel L. Carlson
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

First off, as far as computer games go this one is pretty good. The graphics are excellent, the menu's are easy to use. But there are some serious kinks in this game. Left-hand batters no matter what their power, rarely hit homeruns. In dynasty mode, players retire for no reason, and many minor leaguers simply disappear. If you don't have one of the 3 or 4 supported gamepads/controllers yours won't work with this game, and using the keypad presents major difficulties, like not being able to lead off, slide, or swing and control runners at the same time. Despite these deficiencies the gameplay is excellent, the difficulty levels and dynasty mode provide great challenges, and their are fun bells and whistles which add to the fun. I would buy it, but don't expect perfection.



The New Pennant Leader Emerges   May 7, 2004
John L. Maillard (Toms River, NJ USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

For years, I was a High Heat baseball fan (see previous reviews). But with 3DO slowing falling into obscurity and their titles suffering because of it (the last HH was a sheer debacle), I knew it was time to jump ship and see what the gang at EA Sports had in store with MVP Baseball 2004.

Right off the bat (excuse the horrible pun), this game delivers. The presentation is solid, with easy-to-read menu choices and a nice interface. You can choose from many modes of play, including exhibition, Dynasty, Home Run Challenge, Pitcher's Duel, etc. These modes are all well-done; however, the one glaring ommission (shame you, EA), is the Season Mode. The Dynasty mode is fun since it lets you control one of MLB's entire franchise, even the AAA and AA teams. Still, this is a little much since not many people are going to want to mess with the lineups and defensive formations of a single-A team and have it affect their "manager rating" in the end. Still, a worthy mode for those wanting to really get their hands dirty.

Onto the game. Graphics are tremendous, with each player's likeness looking exactly like his counterpart, sans the lesser known guys. Batting stances are perfect, from Sosa's hunch to Sheffield's waving bat. Pitching animations are also included, and they look great as well. The stadiums are perfectly rendered for each day or night game, and the shadows will even travel across the field to let you know that time is actually passing.

As for gameplay, the pitching controls are terrific, but as people have been complaining about, you must have a compatible controller. If you do, you'll be throwing a "slurve" in no time. This also goes for running, batting, and fielding. You can control your slides, rob home run balls, turn double plays from your knees, and so much more. The computer opponent is a challenge, so you'll have to know a little strategy as well. Keep throwing high fast balls, and sooner of later, one is going yard.

Sound really lends an authenticity to the game, with plentiful crowd noise, realistic hecklers (ah, to hear the Boston crowd at Fenway chanting "over-rated" to A-Rod), and a wonderful play-by-play and color team that is right there for all the action.

EA has never really made a terrific baseball game, but MVP 2004 is definitely the best out there right now. You can tune the game any way you like to make it as hard/easy as you want, and you have complete control of your team, from infield/outfield alignments to warming up relievers in the bullpen (which are seen via cutscenes - a nice touch). Stats are displayed with each batter, and even the nice little milestones during your season (dynasty) are represented via cool e-mails from the league. You can scout the teams you're playing, check out their starting lineup, adjust your own, and decide whether the next pitcher in your rotation has the stuff.

MVP Baseball 2004 is the best baseball game to come out for the PC in quite some time. It has everything a true baseball game shoudl have, wrapped up in an excellent package that oozes fun and slick presentation.


Good...not Great   March 19, 2004
6 out of 14 found this review helpful

I have never played the MVP Baseball series, but after hearing so much about the game (how great it is, etc) I decided to give it a try. I have been playing Madden NFL from EASports for years and love what they have done for that game in terms of Dynasty Mode, etc. My big complaint with MVP Baseball is that when you are in Dynasty Mode you cannot set ticket prices, merchandise prices, food prices, upgrade your stadium, all of the cool stuff you can do with Madden. I figured that this being an EASports brand game that they would have put that stuff in there. Stuff that makes Madden over-the-top great. As a Montreal Expos fan, I can't tell you how much I wish I could move that team out of Montreal/Puerto Rico and build them a nice state-of-the-art stadium in Northern Virginia where my Redskins play, but the yahoo's at EASports DIDN'T GIVE ME THAT OPTION! I would easily have given this game 5 Stars, but this lack of control over every aspect of the team left me wanting MORE from this game.

In terms of the actual game, it's pretty good. The players seem to make way too many "ESPN Highlight" catches...like 8 to 10 a game, which seems a bit much, but all in all, it's a solid game. There are a few minor things that I would fix, if they asked me, but it's a fun game that I have a hard time pulling myself away from. Now if they would just pump some steriods into their Dynasty Mode, and give us all the goodies that Madden enjoys, all would be well.