MVP NCAA Baseball 07 Xbox 360: A Diamond in the Rough?
Slightly less popular than professional bull riding, college baseball has thrilled viewers for years. Since losing the Major League Baseball license, EA was forced to go back to school with its baseball games. While its upcoming MVP 07 NCAA Baseball lacks the pageantry of MLB, it just might have the best baseball gameplay you'll find this year. MVP 07 NCAA Baseball is based on the baseball season of that year. It is a good game to add to the baseball series. Considering the game only cost $30, the graphics look great and the game is worth every penny.
Gameplay: Rock and Fire
Returning from last year's game are tight features like Load and Fire Batting and Precision Throwing. The biggest addition and change to the game is Rock and Fire Pitching. This mechanic has you selecting a pitch using the face buttons and controlling the actual pitching with the analog sticks. The new pitching mechanic breathes some new life into the aging but still very good MVP Baseball franchise.
You'll use the left stick to spot location, while the right stick is cranked back for power and launched forward for accuracy. A cone-shaped meter helps you gauge each pitch; the bottom of the cone helps you find the sweet spot for each pitch's power, while the top measures the release point for accuracy.
Hitting with the right analog stick worked so well last year that EA added a similar control scheme for pitching this year called "rock and fire." After you select a pitch type, you pick a location with the left analog stick and begin your delivery by pulling down on the right stick. This causes the pitching meter to fill, and when it's in the green area, you push the analog stick forward, moving the stick slightly to the left or right based on the pitch location. The rock-and-fire pitching mechanic is sublime. It's easy to learn, it feels great, and it's so intuitive that it's mind-boggling it hasn't been in baseball games for years. Once you've used the right analog stick to throw nine innings, you'll be hard pressed to ever go back to the old method of pitching.
Fielding is also performed almost exclusively with the analog sticks. You move your player with the left analog stick and throw the ball by moving the right stick in the direction of the base you want to throw to. This works reasonably well, though players will sometimes throw to the wrong base, which is a killer in close games. Because college players' skills aren't as refined as big leaguers' skills, you'll sometimes see them struggle to scoop up routine grounders and make basic throws. Errant throws to first base are particularly common in MVP 07. You'll generally still throw the runner out, but it's frustrating to watch your first baseman lunge toward right field every time he has to catch a throw. It's relatively easy to move your infielders around to scoop up grounders and catch pop-ups, but it's a whole other story in the outfield. Routine fly balls that are hit in the immediate vicinity of an outfielder aren't much of a problem, but anything that is hit in the gaps is trouble because it's hard to switch from one player to the other.
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As the pitcher gets ready to deliver the ball, it flashes a color that corresponds with a pitch type. This is supposed to replicate a hitter's ability to tell what kind of pitch is coming by the pitcher's release point and the spin on the ball. You've got enough to worry about when it comes to hitting the ball, but some people may find this tool handy. Base running isn't as intuitive as the rest of the game's controls, and the paltry manual does little to explain things. But you can have the CPU run the bases for you.
Modes: A Full Roster
There is a variety of modes to choose from: exhibition, dynasty mode, mini-games, tournament, online play, coach mode, and a scenario editor. MVP 07 features a standard number of gameplay modes: exhibition, dynasty mode, minigames, tournament, online play, coach mode, and a scenario editor. Like every other college sports game, MVP 07 puts you in the driver's seat of the school of your choice, and it's your job to play the games, manage your roster, and recruit new players. The recruiting system is bland, but it is interesting that you'll occasionally compete with professional teams for the attention of blue-chip players. The scenario editor lets you set up different game situations so that you can practice certain strategies or, if you're really hardcore, relive great college baseball games of yore.
Like all the other MVP baseball games, MVP 07 NCAA Baseball has many game modes as well. The game modes include Exhibition, Dynasty Mode, Tournament, Coach Mode, Online Mode, and Mini-Games. The Mini-Games are made up of batting and pitching scenarios. Batting consists of classical batting and home run showdown. Rocket and Socket and Classical are what come up when you choose the pitching mini-game. The Rocket and Socket mini-game is where you play as a pitcher. As the pitcher, you must decide which pitch to use and the destination of that pitch. The Dynasty Mode is similar to Season Mode where you pick your favorite team to play as. The teams are categorized by their conferences. They did a great job by putting in 152 college teams out of 16 conferences.
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball has online gameplay which allows you to play with or against people around the globe. The online play keeps your stats updated. It's a chore getting online with any EA PlayStation 2 game, but once you're online and adjust to the slight bit of lag, the game plays well. The minigames aren't anything revolutionary, but they are entertaining; particularly the hitting game. The minigames are fun, and like the game's in-depth training videos, they're a great tool for getting to know MVP's unique controls. You can use more traditional timing- and button-based controls if you so desire, but MVP's default controls make heavy use of the analog sticks.
Visuals and Audio: Showing Its Age
There isn't a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 version of the game to make the PS2 version look dated, but MVP's visuals still look old on their own. The player models aren't bad, but there's very little difference from one player to the next. You'll see some nice animations, particularly on running catches or hard-to-reach balls, but as soon as you notice something good, something always reminds you of how poorly the MVP engine is aging. Just when you're admiring how a batter lunged for a pitch, you'll notice that you can see the third baseman's shadow right through the hitter's chest. The grass in the outfield looks nice, but most of the stadiums look terrible, with crowds and surroundings reminiscent of a first-generation PS2 sports game.
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The graphics in the game are eye-popping. From the detail of the 33 college stadiums to the look of the players and their unique stances, the graphics are sure to satisfy. The motion of the players is outstanding. I enjoy watching the players in the field diving and scrambling after the loose ball. You can see how far the players are able to stretch to obtain the ball. The stadiums are up-to-date with the real college stadiums.
Audio that seems better suited for a golf game doesn't do much to add any excitement to MVP 07. The crowds sound as if they're politely applauding a par putt by a no-name golfer--not cheering on their school against a hated rival. But the subdued atmosphere does allow you to hear player chatter during the game. Players will encourage one another and even give tips based on the situation. Mike Patrick does the bare minimum when it comes to calling the action. He does a nice job of getting excited when there's a big play, but he doesn't muster up much energy for the rest of his play-by-play. Kyle Peterson allegedly joins Patrick in the booth, but outside of his "Ask Kyle" advice, which is just as likely to yield a long ball than it is a strikeout, he's MIA.
Sounds of the game are pretty fair, but realistic. You can hear all the sounds on the field such as the ping off the aluminum bat, the catching of the ball in the gloves, and the music played from the stadium. You can also hear sounds off the field like the chanting from the crowd.
NCAA License: Missed Opportunities
The NCAA baseball license won't appeal to everyone, but even people who are excited by college baseball don't have as much to look forward to as they should. For starters, the list of teams that aren't included is lengthy, and it's tough to figure out why. Like in all college games, the players don't have their real names, and though there are more real stadiums this year, there still aren't that many, and most teams play in generic stadiums. How long could it possibly take to add a team when you don't have to worry about having the real players, mascots, and stadiums? There's a team and stadium editor with a fair number of options, but it would have been nice for there to have been more teams and stadiums from the outset.
Difficulty and Controls: Pick Your Poison
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball comes with difficulties ranging from freshman to senior. It takes time to figure out which setting is for you. I recommend starting off at the default skill level. If you need any assistance, you could activate the Auto Fielding and/or Auto Base Running. MVP 07 NCAA Baseball has great new types of controls, where you use the analog sticks. You can choose whether you want to use contact or power hitting options. Contact allows you to get a better hit on the ball, but doesn't travel as far. The power option gives more power for distance, but it reduces your chance to get a good hit. If you don't like or are unable to get used to the analog stick, you could switch to the classic controls. With all the new technology used in this game comes a new pitching and batting style. To pitch or bat, one must no longer use the (X) button; instead, you use the right analog stick. By simply pulling back on the stick and pushing forward, you are able to control how you pitch the ball or swing the bat. When you are pitching the ball, you must first choose the type of pitch you would like to throw. Once you have chosen your pitch, you use the left analog stick to control the destination of the pitch. Finally, you will pull back until the bar reaches the green area. Then, you push it back up with the right analog stick. With this tiny motion of the thumb, you are able to throw an 80-90 mph ball. Batting has the same basics as pitching. All you have to do is wait for the pitcher to release the ball.
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