User Reviews (11 - 21 of 46)

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Gonna Buy it without reading a thing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 15
Date: February 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought High Heat Baseball 2002 and I was blown away with how great it was. The graphics, and the realism of the game play are way beyond any baseball game on the market. I haven't seen much on High Heat 2003, but that sure (...) doesn't matter. I'm gonna order this game before I read any reviews, see any screen shots, or talk to any of my friends. If it's even CLOSE to as good as 2002 is, I gotta have it. This is a game that your not taking a chance on, it's a guaranteed winner.

Real game for Real fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 23, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I recently purchased high heat 2003 and compared to other games it is no doubt the best game on the market for pc and other systems. Triple Play has improved none, and Microsoft Baseball just doesn't have the right gameplay, but this game however, has everything you want and the best feature is by far the Franchise or Career mode. For everyone who is wondering if they should buy this game or not your mind should be made up, it's High Heat by Homerun!

Don't be fooled

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought the High Heat 2002 game and was reasonably satisfied. I played it on Win 98 and had a few problems, but nothing that took away from the experience of the game.

This year's 2003 offering is even WORSE than last year's! I'm using XP and 3DO must have not put any effort into testing or troubleshooting the game with XP. There are several major bugs that cause stuttering audio, random (and excessive) program crashes, and game play problems. Try to draft a team? Good luck, you'll wind with some people you didn't select, replacing guys you did and have no idea where they went.

Expect a patch? Good luck! 3DO issued 1 patch for HH2002 and it looked like they were aggressively persuing further patches to upgrade the product. Instead, they gave up and let the customers suffer with the program. This year, they look like they're not even bothering with 1 patch! The company puts a sub-standard product in stores, dares people to purchase it and doesn't stand behind it at all.

Don't waste your money, you'll be disappointed.

Bryan M.
Bowie, MD

New Fav Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Recently I've been looking for a baseball game for my PC. I stumbled upon this game at a local store for 6.99. I decided to give it a try after reading the other reviews. After installing this game I instantly became hooked. The home-run derby is entertaining, I have Bonds winning nearly every derby. The gameplay is wonderful, the controls aren't complicated. The graphics are pretty good, they look like some of the "older" game consoles, maybe the playstation? I would recommend getting this game.

High Heat Baseball 2003

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: July 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Bottom line -- if you have High Heat MLB 2002, you can skip this year's edition, unless you're willing to drop $30+ for some tweaks and a roster update -- and even then, you're getting outdated rosters anyway. But if on the other hand if you're sick of the arcade-style console games masquerading as PC sports games, are looking for a richer, deeper, more satisfying baseball experience, and have yet to give High Heat a try, then 2003 is a good way to go.
I feel a little dirty giving a good score to what is basically last year's game, but the fact is there's little to no competition for High Heat on the PC. It's this, or statistical sim-management games like Season Ticket or Baseball Mogul, which are fine games, but since there's no on-the-field action, that's a different genre entirely.

Everybody else is dead. Stormfront, Accolade, and Sierra Sports have all hung up their cleats. Even EA Sports is sitting out this season, with last year's Triple Play Baseball still sitting in stores with Jason Giambi in his old A's uniform.

Congratulations, High Heat. You're the champion.

By default.

Almost a classic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is easily the best depiction of major league baseball that I've encountered in a video game. The game does an excellent job of capturing the tension between batter and pitcher confrontations and allows the player to customize a lot of the gameplay. While HHB2003 does have its problems, it is overall a very solid game.

Gameplay: More than anything, the gameplay mechanics are just right. Everything from batting and pitching to fielding and base-running all just seem perfectly done and intuitive. The larger strategy game of putting together a team, managing AAA players, arranging schedules, and so forth is also well done and allows a lot of customization of gameplay. You can get deeply involved in trading, statistics, and standings, or ignore them altogehter. There are several modes that you can play, including exhibition, homerun derby, playoffs, or an entire 162-game season! There is also a career mode.

The computer-controlled teams play intelligently and never seem to cheat (at least not on the pro or all-star difficulty levels). However, teams that you have been beating all season do get noticeably bettter in the postseason. The game is very immersive and intense, and you do get a great sense that you are in the midst of a real baseball game. There are a few things that slightly ruin the atmosphere (see below), but overall the game almost perfectly imitates the big leagues.

Visuals: This is a mixed bag. Player animations are pretty good, but the stadiums are completely static. The fans are literally colored blots on a flat surface. There is no movement in the dugout. The fields look okay, but the stadiums overall appear nondynamic. This is where the game fails to maintain the immersive atmosphere. It's not fatal to the experience, but, noticeable. On the positive side, the game does instant replays and the highlights of the game are saved for viewing once a game ends.

Sounds: Generally great. The announcers are fantastic, and there is commentary for nearly every possible situation. I've been playing the game for weeks, and I'm still occasionally hearing new quotes. The crowd cheers and boos at appropriate times, and the rock music that plays when various menu screens are opened is fine. The audio for this game would be perfect except for occasional studders. It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does it's awfully annoying, since the audio is generally excellent. It's too bad that the developer did not patch this, assuming that it could be easily fixed.

Technical/Replayability: This game has been perfectly stable on my computer. The instruction manual that comes with the game is good. Of course, there is a lot of replay value, since every game is different and there are 30 different teams and several gameplay modes. You can even create new teams and players. If you are a baseball fan, this game is definitely worth picking up.

Rating: 4.25/5 stars

More of the same, but still the best sim

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

To put it blankly, if you want the best game that for the most part is an actual representation of the game of baseball today, High Heat is your best bet.

Pros:

*Stats, stats, stats! Just about every stat you could hope for is here. Every Major league player has complete stats for every year plus ranking based on his strenghts, weaknesses and age, etc.
*Batter/Pitcher interface. For pitchers you select your pitch aim it where you want to go, and when that pitch leaves the pitchers hand, you have no control over it, just like in real life. The Batter interface is the best two, pretty simple for the most part, you aim the control pad where you think the ball will be and press the button to swing. Hopefully you'll hit the ball. You'll find it easier to hit off pitchers that aren't that great, and pitchers like Randy Johnson will be a tougher challenge for you.
* Mod community. There are mods for just about every aspect of this game. You can find uniforms, player photos/faces, stadiums, up to date rosters (including many minor league players and prospects) on a bunch of sites. baseballsimcentral.com is a good place to start. (or finish!)

Cons:
*Bugs. There are a decent amount of bugs with this version, but if you aren't daunted, you can fix most if not all of them youself. Sadly 3do hasn't released a patch, and it looks unlikely they ever will, so you'll be on your own.
*Grafix. This game doesn't look all that great. Even with a ton of community made game changes, the player models, and stadiums pale in comparision to other games out there. But that ok, because if you want an accurate stats driven game, this is the best bet.

Overall: **** stars. If 3do had released a patch, nah the game still looks awful, so **** is all it gets from me. If you can look past the horrible look of the game and work out the bugs (you'll find plenty of help at the aforementioned site by the way) you'll enjoy this game.

Dated Graphics, Stuttering Sound, and Incorrect Stadiums :-(

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: April 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game leaves much to be desired. What the positive reviews are from people who love to play baseball sims. If you look at the Whole Baseball PC offerings this year (HHeat, Triple Play 2003?) and the others are all Manager type Sims not graphics games. You quickly see that the level of graphics is not on par with any of the other Hockey or Football PC Games. Look at NHL 2002 Hockey and the Rinks are great.. look at FIFA 2002 and the areana are sharp and the extras add to the environment. No such thing here ... the stadiums are pixelated and the crowd a big blurry blob texture...

The sound stutters on the most popular sound card (SB Live Series) ... or worse cuts out and then a loud instant on crowd noise sample is played .. really odd transitions like that.

Three River Stadium is still there (hey Pittsburgh has a new Stadium now)... maybe I am spoiled playing Quake III graphics games and NHL 2002 to see what you can do. No extras in the graphics no separate Dugouts in the stadiums. No intro video.

I got the feeling I got a Value Game Edition (like they give you free with Video Cards - the Light Edition) ... This should have been released as HH 2002 Gold. They put all the development money (my guess) toward the console versions (XBox/PS2) versions and just released a patched version of HH2002 in a new box.

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: May 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is horrific. It simply does not work out of the box. First of all, it does not recognize the game pad buttons if you have a USB hook up. Secondly, the Home Run Derby mode crashes in the middle of playing and sends you back to your desktop. Finally, the game itself plays terribly. Of course, I could not use all the buttons but this was a waste of money. I am extremely disappointed. I finally upgraded to a computer that could play this and now I am stuck playing my old Triple PLay 99, which by the way, is also 99 times better!! I wish I could get my money back. Under no circumstances should you buy this game.

Maybe if I could play it...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

My system too surpasses the requirements, yet the game won't run. How long until EA Sports releases TP 2003? Maybe that one will run.

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