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Upon booting up the not-yet-judged, perfect 10 Inside Pitch 2003 and clicking through the subsequent title menus, I noticed my first major caveat--the lack of a franchise mode. Here we are in the year 2003 and a sports game has neglected to include the backbone of almost every game about every sport made in the last 3 years. Refusing to include a mode where one can create a team and watch that team grow in experience and ability while fighting salary raises, old age, injuries, and ticket sales is one of the most enjoyable features of any modern sports game, and the lack of it is sorely missed. -1. Oh well. After running through a brief, but helpful tutorial mode to acquaint myself with the game's intricacies, I started up a season as the official 2003 New York Yankees with full roster. Starting up a season was easy and their is no lack of options for choosing a season length, difficulty, innings played, adoption of the DH rule, use of errors or injuries, etc. The game even allows for a draft that clears all rosters and allows the player to restock their team of choice. Still these aren't unlike options offered in almost all of Inside Pitch's competitors. But the bread and butter of baseball isn't modes or options--it's hitting and pitching. To fulfill these oh-so-necessary tasks, Inside Pitch 2003 adopts the standard 9 square grid. Choose one of up to four pitches (depending on pitcher) by pressing the coordinating face button, choose if the pitch should be a strike, ball, or pitch out, and choose where in the grid to place the ball and it goes. A good, if not generic, system that allows for easy control--too easy. Now granted, I play as the Yankees--but whether Roger Clemens is on the mound or if my newly created pitching atrocity "Pitch Pitchington" (lowest ranked pitcher in the MLB--my own creation) is hurling, the pitches never seem to stray from their projected paths. It's almost as if each players stats don't do much of anything. Sure, once the stamina dips down too far, some strikes turn to balls and vice-versa, but otherwise there's just not much difference. -.5. Hitting is very similar. The Y buttons handles bunts, the A button handles swings, and the black (!!!) button handles the power swing. I can't begin to explain my frustration when reaching to the nether regions of my gorilla-sized Xbox controller to thrust at the black button when I'm swinging for the fences. I just don't understand why power swing can't be one of the unused face buttons. -1. Additionally, there seems to be no difference between the power I get when I swing with the power swing versus the normal swing. Each type of swing is adjustable on three different heights depending on the pitch, but as long as the pitch is in the strike zone and the swing is correctly timed, a base hit is all but insured. In short, the game quickly becomes very easy and hitting almost feels flawed it's so simple. -1. The base running AI is spotty at best. By default, base runners won't be aggressive runners--all hit and runs, bunts, and sacrifice flies must be initiated and controlled by the user. On several occasions my runner was even tagged out as they returned for a tag-up because the defending baseman was in the running path, inhibiting my runner from returning to the base--stellar. -1. The other modes flesh the game out nicely--single game exhibitions, playoffs, home run derby, tutorials, create/train player, championship challenges, and network play. While the first 4 modes are standard fare, Inside Pitch 2003 really stands out in its create/train player mode. Using points won from playing games or special modes, players can create and train their own players. As an ability is raised closer and closer to perfect, more and more points are spent--a well-thought out system. But as good as this feature is, what fun is creating and training a player WITHOUT A FRANCHISE MODE?!?! The championship challenges are fun--break the tie of the 2002 All-Star Game, help Derek Lowe achieve his no-hitter, or tie Shawn Green's 19 total bases. Sure, they are a bit obscure and anemic, but they help to spice up the game. Online play is done via Microsoft's Xbox Live service and performs admirably. Playing versus other human opponents helps to level the playing field (pun very much intended), as everyone must deal with the rather unremarkable controls and AI. Overall, my few games were very heated and fun matches--easily, the best part of Inside Pitch 2003. +1. Then there are the various
bugs and anomalies--games freezing (6 times in about 25 hours of play), the fact
that ground balls DIE upon hitting the turf, and no way of comparing stats side-by-side
in the trade screen. Ugh. -.5.
Graphics: 7/10 But that's about it. Character models are
bland. Yankees' slugger Jason Giambi looks 25 lbs. lighter than his real-life
counterpart, yet his face has somehow transformed into some sort of dough substance.
Batting and pitching stances vary, but they all have a very generic appearance.
Ken Griffey Jr.'s unique swing of beauty is reduced to banality. Randy Johnson's
sprawled delivery is represented well, but the snap of his arm is just bleh. Only
Nomar Garciaparra (the game's cover boy) is fluid and life-like. The cameras don't
fare much better. Striving for some neat effects, the camera will pan and zoom
around the ball as it travels from fielder to basemen. And although some of the
effects are downright cool, they bug up too occasionally to like them overall.
Ever watch a player hit a homerun and just know the ball is gone as soon as they
hit it? Well I hope you don't like watching the ball travel over the fence, because
Inside Pitch 2003 shows the player beginning his jog down the baseline
in lieu of watching the ball sail over the fence...ugh, way to ruin the fun of
hitting homeruns. -1. Sound:
6/10 Control: 5/10 Overall:
6/10 [ top ] | |||
