Could have been something special
Written: Dec 30 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: More pitch types, same great gameplay, improved graphics, in-game tuning, financial system
Cons: Horrible mouse-less interface, financial system and trade quirks, can't save games in-progress
The Bottom Line: High Heat is still the best baseball game for the PC, but it falls short of expectations. Most glaring among it’s shortcomings is a ridiculous mouse-less interface. 3 1/2 stars
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| excremento's Full Review: High Heat Baseball 2004 For Windows |
I first discovered the High Heat baseball series in 1999 (High Heat 2000). I was writing game reviews in a school newspaper I was publishing, so I was getting free games all the time. I thought it was much too hard. And, the graphics were pathetic compared to EA Sports Triple Play series. I didn’t spend much time with it.
I got High Heat 2001 in 2000 (by the way, why do game companies insist on using the following year in the title of their games? It’s ridiculous!). Once again, I found it very difficult. I almost gave up on it…until I discovered the tune.txt file. This simple file allows the gamer to make all kinds of adjustments to make the game easier or harder. For example, one can set how fast the pitcher throws pitches, how fast the ball rolls on grass or turf, how fast a fielder runs, and more. A simple file, but with profound and amazing effects on the game.
Once I had made changes to the tune file, I had found the baseball game of my dreams. Needless to say, I was hooked on the High Heat series. During the summers of 2000, 2001, and 2002, I was playing High Heat almost all the time. I was getting up at 6 a.m. to play a game before work! I was pathetic!
I don’t know why I didn’t review High Heat 2004 in March when I got it, but here are my thoughts.
The Good
A new feature of High Heat 2004 is the addition of 18 new pitches (I think it’s 18). For the most part, these are variations on basic pitches—the tailing fastball, for example. A tailing fastball thrown by a right-handed pitcher to the outside corner (right-handed batter) is one that comes back a bit over the plate. It’s a very effective pitch. You also have a power curve, a slow hook, and El Dropo to keep batters off balance. The sweep slider is nasty, and the circle change-up usually has me whiffing. The fosh, palmball and slurve will keep you guessing. The new pitches are a great addition to High Heat.
The game’s graphics engine has been improved as well. I wouldn’t say “drastically” improved, but stadiums and players look better. Still, High Heat is not yet in the same league as EA Sports’ MVP (the successor to Triple Play). We still need functioning scoreboards, more realistic animations (see below) and Minute Maid Park’s quirky hill in center field, among other things.
One very welcome addition to High Heat is in-game tuning. The powerful tune file is still included, and the in-game settings let the gamer “fine tune” settings using a series of sliders. For example, if your baserunners are a tad slow, just move the slider to the right a notch or two. With the in-game tuning options, one could completely by-pass the tune file and attain the game play one wants.
Speaking of game-play, High Heat 2004 continues the series’ unmatched superiority in this area. High Heat lets you experience everything that can happen on a baseball field…except collisions (see below). In November, I finally reached the playoffs with my 2003 season. Playing as the Cardinals, I made it to the World Series. I eventually won in Game 7, a 5-4 thriller. I was down 4-3 going into the top of the 9th inning. But, I pulled it out. I played 16 games in the post-season and 14 or 15 of them were sheer ecstasy. I’m talking nail biters here. It’s been a long time since a computer game had my complete attention. High Heat 2004is not perfect, but the gameplay is pretty close.
High Heat 2004 also includes a couple new game modes: 2-on-2 challenge and Franchise mode. 2-on-2 is a fun way to blow a few minutes. You choose a pitcher and a hitter (they don’t have to be on the same team), and choose another pitcher and hitter to go against. Each “team” bats once (I’ve never experienced a tie, so I’m not sure how one would be resolved). On offense, you score points based on hits and balls. On defense, you score points on outs and strikes. It’s a good addition to the game.
Franchise mode is simply career play with a newly added financial system. Now, as you build your dynasty, you’ll have to keep an eye on the bottom line. Every player on your major league roster counts against your budget to one degree or another. When starting a new season, you can set budgets for every team, or leave it “market size.” At the end of my first season, I discovered how fun it can be to play GM. For players whose contracts are up, you have a chance to re-sign them. This is where things get fun.
Say your left fielder, whose contract is up, was merely adequate last season. He wants a $2 million raise. By not offering him a contract, you make him a free agent and free up money to go after a top tier player. In my first off-season, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Vladimir Guerrero, and Brian Giles were all free agents. I decided to make an offer to Guerrero. He was asking for $10 million a season. I offered a two-year contract at $10 million a season. He accepted my offer! What an unexpected addition to my team!
In addition to signing free agents, you still have the option of trading for players. After signing Vlad as a free agent, I sent three players to the Yankees for Andy Pettitte. After my second season, Pettitte’s contract was up. I was able to re-sign him to a five-year contract worth $8.4 million a year. Not bad at all!
The financial system does a great job of rounding out the baseball experience, but it does have drawbacks; some are mentioned below. I will say here that $10 million is the highest any player can be paid, which seems pretty strange. Why there’s a salary cap is not explained anywhere in the game.
The Bad
While we’re on the subject of the Franchise mode, the financial system, and trading players, here’s where the system falls short. I mentioned above my first off-season when several marquee players were free agents. I signed Vlad, the Mets signed Bonds, and Sosa and Giles remained free agents. That’s ludicrous. Both wanted $10 million a season. All I can guess is that the CPU teams didn’t want to pick up pricey players. CPU general managers must not be aggressive. After my second season, Sosa and Giles vanished completely; I couldn’t have signed them if I had wanted to. In the off-season, as one continues onto the next season, the game lets you know when a player retires. You’ll see “Brian Giles retired” or “Sammy Sosa retired and entered the Hall of Fame!” Nope. These two have vanished without a trace, and the same is true of others. Indefensible.
A similar issue is that the CPU seams hesitant to trade for pricey players. I’m in the middle of my third season (I simulate most games) and I think it’s time to trade Jim Edmonds. He’s getting paid $7.5 million now and is in the last year of his contract. He’s also having a very good year. The problem is, no one wants him! I can only assume that the CPU teams don’t have the money. In fact, a review of each team’s budget shows that all but one or two are over budget, some grossly over budget.
I don’t know if this is a quirk in the game or if the financial side of the game was poorly programmed. Bottom line, there is no excuse for poor execution. Can we have the option of negotiating with a player for a contract extension during the season? What about incentives and bonuses? Furthermore, it would be a great addition to let the player get deeper into the financial realm by setting prices for tickets, concessions, parking, broadcast rights, etc. Madden 2004 has this option and got rave reviews. After all, making more money means getting better players, which brings in more fans…which leads to more money. I realize this was the first attempt at a financial system, so I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. But I’ll be expecting more next time.
The old game mode of the Homerun Derby is not worth the effort. It’s hard to NOT hit a homer in this game mode, so the winner of any competition will end up being the one who hit homers the farthest. Inexplicably, each batter gets 10 or 20 pitches instead of 10 outs, as is done in the major league Homerun Derby held the day before the All Star Game. Either drop this game mode altogether or make it more of a challenge.
The audio of High Heat 2004 is mediocre at best. Don’t look for anything new. Many comments from color man Chuck Valenches get cut off (at least that’s what I’ve experienced). Dave O'Brien’s play-by-play is basically the same it’s been the last two years. It’s annoying at the beginning of an inning to hear him say “All the runners go!” when he should of said it before the last out was made! Too often the play-by-play doesn’t match what is actually happening on the field.
The flip-side of all those great new pitches I mentioned is that too many pitchers have too many pitches in their arsenal. Most major league pitchers get buy with three or four pitches. A rare few have mastered five pitches. Somehow, in High Heat 2004, it seems the majority of pitchers, even (or especially) relievers, have six! This is dead wrong. When a reliever comes into the game, he should have two or three pitches to work with. Maybe once in a great while, one could have four. It seems to me that the programmers had a little too much fun when creating players.
High Heat 2004 has no on-line play. I don’t play games on-line, so this doesn’t bother me, but I know many gamers will be put-off by this fact. If you want to play head-to-head with a friend, you better get a second controller and another chair.
I felt the documentation that accompanied the game was poor. For example, I want to know what the relation is between the tune file and the in-game tune settings. The booklet says nothing.
Finally, a few miscellaneous issues. There are no player collisions (except for an occasional collision at the plate). It’s silly to have the second baseman run right through the center fielder. Also, some player animations are pathetic. Baserunners don’t round the corner at third, they make a sharp left turn and head for home. You also don’t see baserunners take a wide turn at first and then retreat to the bag. A few additions like these will increase the realism factor of the game.
The Ugly
High Heat 2004 does not support a mouse. Therefore, the interface is horrible. It used to be that managing your major league, AAA, AA, and Rookie A rosters was simplicity itself. Now, you have to use the keyboard or controller to navigate. Making line-ups, trades, checking stats, and simply starting the next game is an unwanted chore. And don’t expect to find the info you need easily. On the roster screen, you can now only see two sets of stats, and these have to be side-by-side. With High Heat 2004, you don’t get anywhere easily.
I’m not at all happy with the way individual and team stats are presented. There are two major shortcomings in this area: you can no longer view all stats of similarly grouped players (for example, all center fielders). And, you can no longer view stats for minor league players. The latter is especially painful because I used to look at minor league stats all the time to decide which prospects to trade for. After all, one of the best ways to cut payroll is to trade a pricey veteran for cheap prospects out of the minor leagues. Now, I’m making little more than a guess as to which AAA player might be the next rookie of the year in the majors. It’s pathetic.
Equally painful is the fact that one cannot save games while in progress; you can only save a season/franchise from the main screen. I haven’t been getting up at 6 a.m. to play a game before work anymore because I’m worried the game will go too long; I’d have to play until I finish it or exit and lose it entirely. One fellow High Heat gamer theorized that one could use the “Hibernate” mode of Windows XP to save a game while in progress, but I don’t have XP and therefore don’t know if it works.
One irritating aspect of the game is that even with a high resolution, the game will display batter and pitcher names in a jumbo text. It’s unbelievable! Thankfully, overlays have been created which alleviate this problem. Find them at www.highheat2004.net and http://files.simcentral.net/index/High_Heat/High_Heat_2004/.
What’s to come?
3DO, the publisher of the High Heat series, went bankrupt in 2003. Microsoft has purchased the rights to the High Heat series. If Microsoft releases a new High Heat for the PC in 2004 (and unfortunately that may be a big if), there is a lot of room for improvement. I’ve already mentioned what could be done with the financial system. Could we hope for improved graphics? Surely Microsoft would re-introduce the mouse interface!
We know the gameplay is solid and needs no further tweaking. If Microsoft can address a few glaring issues, the next iteration of High Heat for the PC should be monumental.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
excremento
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Member: Jason Russell
Location: It's all a state of mind
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 4 members
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