Reviews / previews
Blame it on TV, I guess. Computer baseball games seem to be moving toward a common denominator. While smaller companies like Strat-O-Matic and WizardWorks continue to publish distinctive stat and business-oriented takes on the National Pastime, the big boys of summer--EA, Interplay, Microsoft--have adopted a flashy, action-oriented format.
3DO's High Heat 2000 alone holds the middle ground once occupied by the Front Page Sports and Tony LaRussa lines. It tries to be all things to all people--action to suit the hands-on and stats to suit the calculator-on--and does a more than creditable job at each.
The importance of stats is implicit in the decision to include a drafting mode in this followup to Team .366's 1998 rookie season. That made me like this game right away. Devotees know that the charm of computer baseball comes not from simply replaying a season with a fixed squad against fixed squads in fixed stadiums, but building your own team in a draft and with trades, and watching how its members perform in context. (Could Mark McGwire have clubbed a hundred homers playing in Denver's thin air?) High Heat has such a draft, and it has computer teams that trade with each other and with human players. The teams are distinctive, and each knows what it has.
Right off the bat, that's a level of involvement that you just don't see in most baseball games.
It's also the only baseball game I've seen that offers multi-tiered minor leagues operating in parallel with the majors. You can automatically manage them if this sounds like too much work. I suggest you control them yourself. It gives the game a sense of hope and spirit. If your team's prospects seem dim, and you can't trade your way up the standings, you may be able to develop a savior in the minors. And if not this season, then next season. (High Heat includes a career mode, and not simply end-of-season awards, but a Hall of Fame for players who retire. That's right: retire.) The player editor turns out to be a fairly comprehensive encyclopedia of past performances.
On the other hand, High Heat doesn't draft All-Star teams--the kind of complement to one's skills that every manager would enjoy--and barely allows you to fine-tune the computer manager. You can set the lineups and the rotation and a closer, but that's that. No set-up men. No injury subs.
On the action side, the full game is stylish and speedy, enjoyably easy to play, and even includes striking features like--get this!--variable strike zones to account for the styles of different umpires. The AI's got a distinct edge--clearly thinking about throws, runners, situations. (Outfielders do have an odd tendency to go to first base.) The pitching isn't dictated by the interface, and the batting less so than in other games.
On the other hand, in terms of presentation, High Heat isn't quite as bold and brassy as some of the competition. The 38 ballparks don't quite capture the hyper-reality of baseball; in fact, some look a little fuzzy. The faces repeat too often for the players to stand out as individuals. The color commentary could use more variety, and the default camera distance comes off slightly cold and impersonal. And the game's not without oddities. A record of special events noted Cal Ripken Jr. nailing his 3,000th hit, and then doing it again two days later.
But, in context, these are minor flaws. High Heat Baseball 2000's heart is in the right place and it is headed in the right direction: a double up the middle and rolling to the wall. Next year, look for it to go the distance.-- Peter Olafson / GamePro
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