High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 Preview
We take a crack at a nearly complete build of this impressive baseball game. Read on for our impressions.
Damned hard to design. That could very well be the subtitle of each and every PC baseball game to hit the marketplace. The combination of a persistent real-world benchmark ("There's no way Fernando Tatis could do that--just look in today's paper!") and millions of stat freaks ("Yeah, like Chick Gandil was really good for a .320 average against lefties in 1919. Everyone knows he's .278, tops.") makes the job of a baseball game designer nearly as antacid-demanding as that of an air traffic controller. All of which makes the High Heat Baseball series one remarkable line of games. From the very beginning, the design team members at 3DO have made it clear that they understand the national pastime. Since the summer of 1998, when High Heat Baseball 1999 emerged as a dark-horse candidate for sports game of the year, the company has been regularly crafting games acceptable to even the most discriminating fan.
That doesn't look to have changed this season. High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 is currently slated to arrive at the end of March with even more features (and one fewer spokesman--Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa was dropped as the game's pitchman over the winter) than ever before. A look at an alpha build reveals that this is a remarkably full sequel that doesn't follow the standard sports genre formula of providing buyers with little more than a new date on the box and updated rosters on the disc inside. Along with all the series standards, like career play with full custom league support, Internet mode, and the home run derby, come a number of additions that add a lot to gameplay.
Due to user demand, a cutoff man has been added. Now those long throws home can be cut off with the click of a button in an attempt to catch an enemy runner daydreaming. In a similar vein, catchers can snap-throw to any base from their knees. When those opposition runners get used to standard pick-off attempts, use this Pudge Rodriguez-derived tactic to keep them on their toes. Managers can now be sent out to visit the mound in an attempt to calm down their pitcher of the moment. As in real life, this can have a dramatic effect on the situation. In one recent game we played, a shell-shocked Pedro Astacio retired eight batters in a row after one of these conferences.
Inclement weather is perhaps the most intriguing new wrinkle. Rain can move in at any time during a game, causing a delay or even the postponement of the contest altogether. Rain can be very hazardous to a player's health. Pitchers sent back to the mound after a lengthy delay are more susceptible to injury. So it might not be a good idea to put overweight hurlers such as David "Gout Foot" Wells back in there coming off 90 minutes in the clubhouse. Rain can be dangerous even when it isn't falling hard enough to cause the umpires to throw up their hands. Players are more prone to injury on slick turf, a fact that Sean Casey (gone for 271 days after blowing out his knee on the wet Shea Stadium infield) discovered in our redrafted custom league. Three players limped off the field during one drizzly game, all with various leg injuries sustained while trying to make catches on the suddenly slippery field.
- 3DO
- Baseball Sim
- Release: Mar 14, 2001
- ESRB: Everyone
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