Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Solid"

First off, I'm not a fan of baseball. Sure, I'll watch it from time to time, but I'd much rather watch other stuff. I don't follow baseball, yet I love this game. This game has taught me many things about baseball...

Graphics: Pretty amazing. There's a lot of detail. Players are recognizable, usually, and locations are detailed. The crowd could use more models and have different actions, but it works. Replays are amazing to watch, though a tad off when rotating the camera. Really a nice game. Since people often mistake me for watching a real baseball game.... 10/10

Sound: The crowd sounds real. Commentators sound legitimate, but are a bit redundant at times. Music selection is fairly good. The sound really adds an authentic touch to the game. 10/10.

Gameplay: I must admit, I'm not that great at batting but it is none the less fun (and infuriating....but in a challenging way). Rumble is awesome while blind pitching. I only hate the "realistic" touch added to the game, where umpires make mistakes and such. Sure it makes me happy when its in my favor, but its horrible when its not. (Ex. the AI was running to 2nd base...the umpire ran across base to get a view towards outfield...while he ran over, 2nd baseman caught the ball....then the runner slid in (all while the umps back was turned). He then blindly calls "SAFE!". Major WTF!). 9/10

Controls: Perfect. I really like the setup. 10/10

Replay factor: There's just so much to do. Play a season as your favorite team. Road To The Show....where you make your own character and lead him to fame and a happy retirement. And other modes that I haven't even gotten to yet. There's more than enough of content to last you until 09's edition of the game. Or for me....until HD is considered obsolete :D 10/10

Random bads: Long load times...but I usually don't solely focus on playing so its not a problem for me. Some positions in RTTS can get boring. Batting coaches are a bit demanding (forgive my pathetic batting TT.TT). Still...these don't dent my opinion on the game.

Note: I put difficulty "hard" because I'm junk at batting. Some people are really good at batting however, and this game will be a cake-walk....even on higher difficulties.