User Reviews (11 - 21 of 46)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Good, but not Great

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am the type of person that is loyal to his game brand. For instance, I only by EA Sports games for all of my sporting needs on Playstation 2, and only Sega Sports games during my Dreamcast days (like there was really anything else). So, after playing Triple Play last year, I figured it was time for something new. I pitty anybody that got that game.

I must say that my fist venture out of the EA titles has been a little disappointing as well. The game play is good, but a little boring...and my is it long!! The franchise mode is ok. Two on two challenge isn't all it's cracked up to be.

An upside to the game is the realism. Your pitcher isn't going to hit for the cycle, Pokey Reese isn't going to hit 50 homers, and Elmer Dessens won't throw a perfect game. Fielding is pretty smooth, double plays look real nice, but they are hard to pull off. Don't try to steal a base, you'll either get picked off or gunned down.

All in all, this is a good game for actual game play. If you are into the franchise system, it is just ok. When will the baseball and basketball games take the hint from the football games and make a nice in depth franchise mode??!!!

great game with fatal problems

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The gameplay is excellent. An excellent simulation and lots of fun. However, having played it for a few days, i've noticed some very bad flaws. These have all cropped up while trying to play a season/career (isn't that the point of this game?). Basically, everything is going along fine and you're in to your season/career, and then some bug will occur, and the whole thing will freeze up. This has happened to me a few times while exiting out of a game (so you have to revert to what was saved before the game) and worse, towards the end of a season the thing would just freeze up and not let me continue with my season (that i had spent hours on). Yes, the game is great and lots of fun. But after all the effort the put into making the career mode so deep, you'd think they could iron out the bugs, but they haven't. To me, nothing ruins a game faster than technical bugs like this. I'm throwing mine away and trying a different game that won't dissapoint in this way. Beware!

Decent

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

...

For starters, the graphics in HH04 are so bad that it's almost painful to watch. You literally cannot tell one player from another. Even the stadiums were done poorly, and the crowd is even worse. Player animations in the field are horrible. Jumps and dives arent real-looking. Often times the ball will just magically appear to be caught by someone, despite the fact that it looked like it was 10 feet away. Nothing in this game is smooth, everything is jerky.

The in-game play is frustrating. If you're pitching and the count is 3-2, just walk the guy, because if you give them any pitch to hit it will be crushed. And the computer will ALWAYS rally in the 9th, no lead is ever safe. The AI is annoying. The CPU catcher is ALWAYS throwing to first to check the runner, and so is the pitcher, regardless of what base a runner is on (3rd?!?!). The game just has a clumsy feel to it, the whole thing seems slapped together, even the menus' look and feel is bad. There is nothing fancy about HH04, there isn't a single bell or whistle.

The only good things are the vast amount of sliders and the ridiculously micromanagerial franchise mode. I wish all sports games' sliders were this thorough, it lets you construct your own game down to every last detail. And is anyone really that obcessed with baseball that they want to manage a team that much? Well, if so, then this is your game. ...

A Step Back

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This year's HHB is a step backward for the franchise. I rented this game and I'm glad. Twice my PS2 froze during a season and I had to reboot. That hasn't happened to me since my Genesis days!! Also the crowd is totally out of the game and the players look like some kind of zombies! Try MVP or WSB because they look and play a lot better.

Still the best baseball game out, from a guy who knows games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is hard when it's on Hall of Fame level, which is what it suppose to be. With some games you put it on hard and the game is so easy to play. The only reason this game is not a five star is because the graphics are not that good. Another thing is for some reason I don't hit many homers. I played with the A's for about 25 games and have 16 homers as a team. Actually that ain't that bad and sounds fairly realistic. I woulds definitely buy this game if you like a challenge and are into realistic gameplan. You'll have 3-1, 7-0 , 10-5, games which make the game playable for the long run cause not every game is the same.

Loyal to the High Heat franchise

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I had to buy this game without knowing much about it, so I want others to know what I didn't.

The graphics are definitely better than HH 2003, which wasn't bad anyway. Much more realistic graphics, a plus.

The game play is slightly different. The fielders hop around more before throwing--it's more realistic, but harder to get used to. Just like HH 2003, it isn't that difficult to hit the ball (a big advantage over the All Star Baseball games), and there's still a handy tuning menu where you can adjust the game play to make it easier or harder for you. Game play gets thumbs up.

Audio: the case says "new announcer commentary"--well if that's true, I have yet to hear it. The same annoying phrases I got tired of in the old game are still here, and I haven't heard a single new one--and I played the old one enough to know all the announcers' lines. I think I'll listen to music while playing the game. Thumbs down on the audio "changes."

When I finished playing my first game, something happened that never happened to me before--it froze my PS2, so I couldn't save the game. That's a problem, but I haven't tried it again yet to see if that's going to keep happening, so I'll assume it was a one-time thing.

The case also promises "full Minor Leagues systems." All-Star 2003 had real minor league players, but only a handful per team, and the game play was next to impossible so I never really touched it after picking up HH 2003. So I bought this game--and found that it doesn't use real minor leaguers. I was pretty disappointed, so I actually changed most of my own team's minor league system to reflect the real thing--a big hassle, but I figure I'll enjoy the career mode much more like that. If you don't care, then you'll be fine with it as it is. I like realism.

The computer seems to be better at the game than in HH 2003. I had Tom Glavine on the mound, and he gave up 13 runs in 6 innings--with 2 homers by Chris Stynes. Come on, people, this is Tom Glavine. At least I had 15 runs in those 6 innings. I had to cheat with the tuning menu to win a game where I scored 15 legitimate runs. That's a little annoying, and knocks the game's rating down by a star for me. Still, it has good, realistic graphics, and it's a really fun game to play, which is probably what really counts.

pitching and hitting are exactly right!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

A few years ago I read Tim McCarver's book Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans. McCarver having been a catcher, that book contains a treasure trove of knowledge concerning what goes on in the showdown between the batter vs. the pitcher and catcher at every single pitch (and that showdown accounts for 90% of the action in any given baseball game). I have never watched a baseball game the same way since then; thanks to McCarver I understand the game and love watching it more than I ever have.

This is the only baseball video game on the market, to my knowledge, that accurately simulates that showdown. It simulates all the pitches that the real-life pitchers actually throw, so that you have to understand how the pitches move and how to choose sequences of pitches to keep the hitters guessing if you want to win. And unlike so many of even the good sports simulation games out there, as you play this one you'll find that the stats you accumulate will be a very close approximation of the numbers real-life pro ballplayers produce: batting averages, homeruns per season, pitcher ERA's, etc. Furthermore, even as the game's default settings are the most accurate video game simulation of baseball there is, the settings for every aspect of the game are also fully adjustable so that you can fully tailor the game exactly to your liking.

As noted in the other reviews here, the game has some definite weaknesses in other departments. But the pitching/hitting simulation is so fantastic that for me it more than makes up for any other shortcomings in the game.

This was the last version of this game released! As I write this review in '06, none of the current baseball games available are anywhere near as good as this one. Buy a used copy and take good care of it, you'll love it!

Very buggy, not much of an upgrade

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: February 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game has really disappointed me. I've been a fan of High Heat for the past 3 years, and couldn't wait for the new version. It was touted as having all new graphics, great gameplay, and improved AI. All I can say is I don't feel it delivered.

Within an hour of getting the game home, it crashed during a season sim. This has happened in other games, so I didn't get too upset. I then decided to play an exhibition game (hopefully a 2003 World Series preview) between the Yankees and the Phillies. In the bottom of the 10th inning, with a runner on 3rd and 2 outs, the computer popped the ball up. I caught it, but to my surprise, the runner on 3rd crossed home plate before the ball hit the mitt and the Yankees won the game! Anyone who knows baseball rules knows that the run would not count.

The graphics are improved, but they still aren't as realistic as the other games on the market. The "improved" animations still pop, which sometimes has a direct effect on the outcome of the gameplay (close plays at bases and popping tag animations where your runner gets called out).

The sim engine is still full of High Heat goodness, but I can't justify keeping the game if I'm not going to do anything with it except sim games.

Horrible Gameplay, Horrible Interface, Just Horrible

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: March 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I saw all the features this game had to offer and thought it had some depth. It does offer a lot as far as features are concerned, unfortunately the interface is designed so clumsily it makes it awkward and just plain boring to do things such as change your minor league roster.

The gameplay is by far one of the worst things I've ever witnessed.

YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER PITCH OR BAT LOCATION!

You choose a pitch, then another option pops up if you want it to be a ball or strike. What is this, 1983? You would think that a game on the PS2 would allow you to control the movement of the pitch.

Batting is boring, the batter can't even move around in the batter's box! Hitting a homerun feels the same as hitting a pop up.

Fielding is awkward and slow.

Bottom line - add all the features you want, the gameplay is just awful.

Great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I read the one review where a guy said you have no control over your pitches. You choose a ball or a strike and you have no control over where you hit the ball. HAHAHA, he must have no idea how to play the game becasue thats the biggest lie I've ever heard in my life. Also, players don't move around in the batter's box, they have their location and they stay there. Mo Vaughn and Carl Everett stand on top of the plate EVERY TIME, they don't move around.

Getting the the review. I find this game to be very enjoyable. The gameplay is very realistic. You actually have to react to where the ball is and not try to line up a little target with the ball. If you don't swing in the right direction or get fooled on a changeup you'll whiff or foul it off. The double plays are great and the AI is incredible. The computer will play smart baseball. Also, you wont be playing homerun derby like ASB 2003 was. You'll have games where you'll jack a few, but then you face Pedro or the Big Unit and it'll look like Rey Ordonez is up every batter. The game is great, if you like realistic baseball get this. If you like arcade like baseball you can still get this and make the game arcadish with sliders, or buy ASB or Slugfest(if ASB is too unrealistic for you).

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 Next 

Actions