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High Heat Baseball 2002 for PlayStation 2 Videos >>
Summary I just bought this game, but since i used these reviews to make my decision to buy it, I feel that I should make a review stating my first impressions. Also, I'd like to say that this is the only site i go to to look up information on a game i am thinking about buying. I can't trust online magazines and whatnot. 30 people's opinions are far more useful.That said, on with the review. The High Heat franchise is increasing everyday, i think. This is understandable, what with the only other major baseball game on the market being the awful (though pretty) Triple Play. While High Heat outclasses Triple Play by leaps and bounds, it feels terribly rushed. Someone else on this site said that they rushed the game so that it would be on the shelves at the same time as Triple Play. I believe it. And it's really too bad, because this game had the potential to be the greatest baseball game ever (besides Earl Weaver for the Amiga 1000). There are a couple of major problems and a few minor problems with this game as well. The sad part is that they could have been resolved rather simply with a little more time. Keep in mind, by the way, that I'm talking about the game AFTER i downloaded the latest patch. I didn't even try it before the download. The two major problems are these: First, a lot of carrer stats are just incorrect. I believe that this problem was brought up by one of the other reviewers and it's true. Many players' first few seasons of stats are simply blank. Its as if they did not play at all for these years. These players end up having very inaccurate career totals. So maybe this isn't quite a major problem, but it's so ridiculously stupid that I can't get over it! However, that problem pales in comparison to the other one. The other one is the inconsistency of player ratings between two lists. What I mean by this is that during the drafting stage of a fantasy draft season, the Hittin, Power, Eye, Fielding, Arm, and Running ratings are completely wrong in the player pool list. On the list, a player's Hitting, Power, and Eye might be 84, 74, 84. Then you double click the name to bring up the player profile and check his rating again there, and they might be 76, 78, 76! This is just awful. There is no point in clicking on a rating to list the players in descending order so that you can evaluate the list to make the best pick. The numbers are just all wrong. It's very annoying drafting a guy you think is great and realizing that he's mediocre. So now my drafting takes 10 times as long because i have to bring up the player profile for each individual player just to see his accurate ratings. At least it's not a total loss because the ratings are rarely more than 10 points off the accurate ratings. However, if you aren't a big baseball fan, and the only players you know are McGwire and Sosa, you're in for a rough time. Some of the minor problems I experienced were: a lot of static background noise, a menu glitch, and terrible music. The same 3 songs just repeat over and over again. And the songs themselves are very repetetive. Also, I didn't agree with many of the player ratings (which is common with sports games). For example Tony Gwynn, one of the best hitters of our time, gets a 60 hitting rating. 60 out of 100. J.T. Snow has a 73. Now, I'm a huge Giants fan, but that's just wrong. And also, all of a sudden, Ellis Burks is the 2nd best hitter in the majors. he is only slightly worse than barry bonds! Ellis has a 92 hitting 100 power and 90 eye (or something like that). Anyway, I'm nitpicking now. Now for the simpler part of the review. read the rest of the review and then come back here.-------------------------------------------------------------------- So, I would say buy this game. It's worth it because it is the best baseball game out this year, by far. It has some glitches and inaccuracies, but i suppose they can be tolerated because of the wonderful, unique gameplay. It'll have you coming back for more, I promise..(even though Tony Gwynn's Hitting rating is a 60.. grrr) Sound Sound..well besides the afore-mentioned static, there is really nothing noticeably bad or noticeably good. The commentary at the beginning of the game is nice. Everything else they say is all very standard stuff..so standard, in fact, that its not annoyingly repetitive. I like this commentary way more than Triple Play's because TP has some very unique phrases and when you are constantly hearing a unique phrase like "and this game is sponsored by Jack's Lobster Soda. mmmm I love Jack's Lobster Soda." it gets unbearable. That stuff has you climbing up the walls after a while. Other than that, the bat's collision with the ball sounds nice.Gameplay Gameplay is wonderful. This game is close to impossible to be good at. On the Pro level, I've lost all three games that I've played. The computer has scored 12, 9, and 8 runs on me and i've scored a paltry 4 total. I have good pitchers, I just always seem to select the wrong pitch. I have gotten maybe 3 K's total. I'm a worse batter, though. Everything looks like a strike to me. I've walked once (it was an intentional walk) and I've struck out well over 30 times total. I keep coming back for more, though, so I guess that that is the mark of a game with great gameplay. I'm not going to get into the rudimentary parts of gameplay because i feel that the other reviews supply plenty of information in that area.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary i love the career mode. i havent found a game yet that allows you to manage your minor leagues as well as the bigs.Sound sound is laking. the same things over and over. i recomend turning on the mp3'sGameplay Game play is great if you have the right system. I you havent put the effort into updating your pc then the game sucks. make sure you come prepariedWould you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Rating Reviewed By Dan LennardFrom Chicago IL Review Date 07/23/2001 Overall Rating  5 of 5 Rate this review? Summary If you liked the High Heat 2001 (which any sports game fan that had a functioning brain did), you should have this game by now. 3DO worked hard to make some changes and I would say that they were worked out pretty well. A couple more improvements would be nice (as well as a less-buggy release), but overall it High Heat 2002 is a BETTER version of 2001. Hands-down the best sports series ever made (close behind is NHL series from EA), this game is a MUST have for a fan of baseball, computer games, or those who like a combination of the two.Sound Here is the big problem. Luckily, it doesn't affect the games great points. New commentators, same boring comments. Good heckling, repetitive heckling (same taunt over and over and over!). There are some serious technical issues with the sound because there is skipping and other annoying crap. But don't be too worried. One simple trip to the preferences to turn off the damn heckling will do. And usually I can tolerate the commentating, and when I can't, I turn those bastards off, too. Maybe a future patch will fix this completely, but most of it has to do with certain sound cards regarding EAX problems. They can be fixed.Gameplay Better than ever (and that is NOT easy to say). HH2001 had the best batter-pitcher matchups ever created and HH2002 makes it even more realistic. I can't go into the strategy involved in this game. If you think it is press a button to swing and that is it, then you are horribly wrong. Everything from baserunning to bullpen and injuries to minor leauges are covered. It is really a joy to be able to recruit and place minor-leaugers at levels you think they should be. Injuries now have ACTUAL injuries (only problem is that they always heal when they say they will heal---not to realistic), trades and free agents are also a blast. I have barely even brought up the in-game details. I don't think I can, you just need to play for yourself. Don't settle for the crappy home-run derby of a game (cough, Triple Play, cough), this game actually requires thinking. Lots of nice new touches, like mound visits, and...just read the back of the box. Many complain of it being too hard. Ha! I am in first place in the major leauges with my team batting average at .350 on All-Star level with the Rockies. GAMEPLAY IS THE BEST OF ANY SPORTS GAME AROUND.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary My favorite team is the Twins , so playing in pro mode I quickly learned I needed to make some deals to win . I added Alex Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell, Pedro MArtinez, and Chipper Jones . All is good ..I'm 19-6 and in 1st place . The moral to the story is if the game cheats , you cheat more (lol) .Sound The sound is choppy with the announcers and music . I'm not really crazy about it .Gameplay I really like this game .. It takes a bit to tweak it into a style of play you can live with and win with a challenge. I can't get the damn guy to slide on a steal even though I'm pressing the button (don't know whats up with that ) .Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary After playing HH2k1 for seemingly thousands of hours, HH2k2 was initially very disappointing. Fortunately, the more I play the newest version, the better it becomes. Still, I would recommend 2k2 only if you don't have 2k1, as it feels more like an "in-between" game in setting up HH2k3(?). The patch also fixes a few things but inexplicably eliminates the "mound visit" option. Odd. This is a game that cried out for more playtesting.Sound Pretty good. Can't comment on the announcers since the first thing I do with any sports sim is to turn them and the music off. I mean really, why bother? The real TV announcers are usually bad enough, why duplicate that. Stadium announcer, national anthem, and batter walk-up music is choppy (not sure if it's just my system). The in-game menu has a very annoying sound when moving around (tap tap BOOM) and is tied to the "special effects" sound menu control that also controls the bat, mitts, sliding, and other sounds so you can't really get rid of it. Otherwise it's okay.Gameplay The batter/pitcher interface is still tops in baseball gaming hands down, and enough has already been written about it here. The physics of baseball seem to be tweaked a bit better also, especially runners being able to move two bases on softer singles as opposed to the all too often "station to station" running of HH2k1. The ability to modify the physics even more in the txt files is a great option. There are also still the 50 or so stadiums available to call home (same as HH2k1). Career mode and the season simulations still can't be beat, and the stats between CPU controlled and player controlled games are usually very similar.Major gripes: For some reason, fielders still can't pitch and pitchers still can't pinch-hit or pinch-run. Bench substitues are strictly segregated by pitcher or position players. In the lineups, the pitcher goes into the mandatory "pitcher slot" and can't change position like the other players. While normally not a problem, this can be an annoyance during extra-inning games or during a blowout with a tired bench/bullpen. This is a very strange oversight in an otherwise excellent game. Another pet peeve is the new "mound visit" (which the patch eradicates anyway). It only shows a cutscene of a players standing around the pitcher's mound. It would have been nice to see a coach come out there, and better yet to show the pitcher's fatigue level and the bullpen status here. It seems another example of good ideas that were only half thought out in this version. Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
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3.85 of 5
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