MVP Baseball 2004 is a huge improvement over the 2003 version. While it took a backseat to World Series Baseball 2K3 and All-Star Baseball 2004 last year, the EA Sports title is ready to take over the baseball crown. While lacking several key features of its counterparts, like online play and extra modes, MVP Baseball 2004 more than makes up for it with its amazing gameplay, tight graphics, and overall fun factor.
Beginning with the graphics, MVP Baseball 2004 boasts plenty of excellent animations and transitions. The player models are top-notch, and the facial mapping is unmatched by the other baseball games. Most of the prominent batting stances (Bagwell, Garciaparra, etc.) are here, and most of the pitchers have distinct throwing motions. A few complaints in this area, though: The player models switch to a generic model when far away, and the switch back to the unique models is noticeable at times. Also, the stadiums, while not inaccurate, do not sport as much detail as those in ASB '05 and the newly-christened ESPN Baseball.
The gameplay of MVP Baseball 2004 is what sets it apart from its competitors. With the much-lauded pitching meter, pitching actually requires quite a bit of skill. Also, it is now much more apparent when pitching with a Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens, as opposed to a Derek Lowe or Kevin Millwood. You can literally feel the power of your pitcher when using the great ones. The batting is timing-based, but the direction that you aim your swing has a great effect on whether you make contact or not. While still simple, the batting has been greatly improved over MVP 2003. The fielding and baserunning are executed quite well also, although there are occasional fielding gaffes when the ball rolls all the way to the wall.
It does not take very long to adapt to the game. I played World Series Baseball last year and immediately felt at home with this title. Once you do get settled, there are plenty of things to keep you occupied, beginning with the vast amount of unlockables, from old players to old teams, uniforms, and stadiums. The franchise mode is incredibly deep as well, even featuring minor league teams that you can take control of! It is without question the deepest franchise mode in the history of console baseball games. The Batter and Pitcher showdown modes are also quite neat, even if they are a bit tough to conquer. The only downside in this aspect of the game is that, as an EA Sports title, it does not feature online play. This, in my opinion, would be the only conceivable reason to purchase ESPN Baseball or All-Star Baseball 2005.
Lastly, the sound is excellent, if not perfect. It fits in with the norm in sports videogames, which is basically that the announcing is great and lively until you play a few games at which point you have heard everything the commentators have to say.
Overall, this is a great game that I would recommend to any casual or hardcore baseball fan. It is the best baseball game on the Xbox this year, and is sure not to disappoint.
