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(More customer reviews)How does the saying go?The more things change, the more they stay the same...
Well, that's pretty much the mantra of this latest installment of the MLB franchise.With some new tweaks (and some new bugs), MLB 08 has crash landed on the PS2 console with a few changes that may either excite or disenfranchise some gamers.
First of all, the biggest change is the Guess Pitch feature, which no longer gives you the help of an exact location of pitches as last year's version did.For some, this change makes the game more difficult, as they could always hold back and wait for that perfect fastball in the lower half that you could rocket over the wall with relative ease.Now, should you select the new option for the Guess Pitch feature, you are only given an indication that the pitch will be in the area you guess.So, if a low and inside fastball is thrown by John Lackey, and you're clever enough to have selected the area you think the pitch will go, you can no longer rest assured that your guess will lead to an automatic base hit because the pitch could be low and waaaaaaaaay inside.You swing, you miss, or you chop the ball into the dirt.This, of course, adds to the realism of the game more and creates situations that n longer hinge on your habit of always guessing low and down the middle (Which was what I did all the time in MLB 07).
Another improvement is the Rob Home Run feature.I particularly love this because timing the jump was always the most difficult thing to do in any of the baseball games.Now, this doesn't mean that you'll have any more luck at robbing the home run, it just means that you can.Still, the ball may be too high, or your player might not be too fast, but the added excitement of snagging a foul ball in the stands or a home run from over the fence increases the playability factor exponentially.
Other than those things, not much else has changed between versions of this game.There are still bugs-a-plenty...outfielders that continue to run against the wall even though the ball has ricochet back into the field of play.Shortstops that inexplicably snag sure-fire homeruns out of thin air, and the plethora of foul balls the CPU hits even after getting a batter to an 0-2 count on off-speed pitches.
The umpire feature never seems to be of any prominence.I remember the advertising for this series that bragged how an umpire's strike zone varies depending on the ump's personality.Well, that is a crock because the strike zone variable seems wholly random.Sometimes, an ump will call an outside pitch a strike, but later on that same ump will call an inside pitch a ball.The probability is wholly random, as I see it.
Base running is still an incredible blunder.It is impossible to send a runner to steal a base.it is reliant on the computer, and taking the CPU option off results in a confusing button configuration that never seems to be wholly accurate or effective.I long for the days of EA Sports easy stealing and base running system...want your runner to advance to third on a slow roller up the middle?Just press the Left directional button and they're off to the races.In MLB 08, the controls are incomprehensibly convoluted, and having to memorize button procedures takes away from the fun of the game.
As always, the announcer team is morbidly banal...many of the same one-liners and comments were just repackaged into this game.It's gotten to the point now where whenever I hear "The 3rd base coach had to do a skip-to-my-lou", my body instantly seizes and my bowels release.OK< not really, but it's as annoying as listening to Tim McCarver in the playoffs.Either get new announcers or write new scripts for these guys cause recycling these "gems" demeans my intelligence.
Things that are missing:Fan interference!?How about a little love for the guys who lean over and try to snag foul balls?Also, an easier way to manually update rosters during the course of a season would be preferable then having to do it before starting a franchise by adjusting the rosters for those unfortunate enough not to have a PS2 with internet capabilities.And those bugs!Ugh!I'm not talking about the ones that swarm Joba...I'm talking about the others.Like a pop-up skied up the middle beyond second base that the catcher has to run through the infield to get?What's up with that?
Anyway, those points I raised are more nit-picky than anything.MLB 08 is still a quality baseball game, better than 2K's.The gameplay is smoother and the myriad of options regarding gameplay blows the lid off of the shell that is 2K.I would recommend this game for the hardcore baseball fans.Especially if you have an internet connection for your PS2 so you can get updated rosters, because as fun as it is to reflect on the times when Santana was on the Twins, it's extremely annoying to have to face him in the course of a season in the American league.
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