My High Heat 2004 (Xbox) first impressions

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Mar 16, 2003 2:56 pm

Well, I finally found a place I could rent HH 2004 for the Xbox tonight, and I´m glad I did.
 
 No, this post isn´t what you think -- my love affair with High Heat appears to be over.
 
 HH has been my baseball game of choice for quite awhile, as its gameplay is unmatched. It always has lacked in atmosphere and graphics, but the gameplay saved it.
 
 But I just get the gnawing suspicion after playing HH 2004 that this game is quite good but not worth $50. I guess the bar has been raised in my mind in sports gaming, and I expect a bit more from team sports games than what HH is giving me for half a Benjamin.
 
 Let´s start with the gameplay: It´s classic HH. Very solid. Very fundamental. Looping curves by pitchers. Accurate ball and hitting physics as far as bounces and pulling and sitting on pitches. Smart baserunning, etc., etc. Really, there´s little different from past years except for the Guess Pitch (is that new? -- I think it is) feature.
 
 But this game is dryer than a popcorn fart as far as atmosphere. There is none, zero, nada, zilch. It´s like playing in a mausoleum. The announcers are comatose, and the crowd noise is almost absent except for some ill-timed heckles.
 
 Finally, I´m no graphics´ whore by any means, but HH is trapped in the PS1 era. These graphics are hideous by 2003 standards. Flat backgrounds, zero textures, horrid face models -- and I´m playing on the Xbox. At least the animations are decent, but man, this is one ugly game.
 
 I´ve read some comparisons between HH and Inside Drive 2003, and I think those are only half-correct. Yes, both play a fine simulation of their chosen sport. Both are somewhat limited in gameplay modes. But ID 2003 has fine graphics, funny, smart commentary, great graphical overlays and plenty of atmosphere. HH has none of that.
 
 I´m not nearly as demanding with my baseball games as I am racing, football, soccer or hockey. I don´t mind sacrificing a smidge of realism for some atmosphere as long as there are no mega flaws and the gameplay still is believable in my mind.
 
 HH delivers in gameplay in spades. But it´s so dry that it´s almost clinical. I didn´t find myself wanting to play more than two or three games tonight, so I shut off my Xbox.
 
 Two years ago -- hell, even last year -- the quality gameplay of HH might have been enough.
 
 But the other baseball games are approaching the gameplay of HH, and they all offer so much more atmosphere, better graphics, gameplay modes, etc., that I think they´re more worth $50 than HH.
 
 HH just doesn´t offer enough of a complete package, especially considering its gap in gameplay superiority is shrinking.
 
 It´s a solid but stale gaming franchise. I just don´t think that cuts it anymore in a gaming market as fluid and filled with quality, fun titles that push the hardware and offer depth as is the case in March 2003.
 
 I´ll come back to HH tonight, but I think I´m leaning toward WSB or MVP this year.
 
 Take care,
 PK
 
 Xbox Live Gamertag: pk500
 "So it was just basically s*** happens." -- Juan Pablo Montoya [ This message was edited by: pk500 on 16-03-2003 10:57 ]

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Sun Mar 16, 2003 3:57 pm

Glad to hear you got A BB game PK. I agree with your assessment of HH2004. Recently I had the chance of trying HH2004, MVP2003, WSB2K3 for the BOX.
 
 All are solid games but I´ve come to one conclusion. I don´t want anymore batting cursor or BB games that require you to fiddle with slider settings. This is what took the fun out of NHL2K3 for me. I´ve been on some of the forums and the discussion is basically centered around hey man I think I got the best sliders for the game. Here´s my problem with this. WSB2K3 out of the box should play as tight as HH2004. Sadly it doesn´t, everyone pretty much finds a weakness in the game i.e. it´s too easy to hit, CPU doesn´t steal enough etc. so they immediately go for the slider settings.
 
 HH2004 like you said minus the graphics still plays a very solid game of BB. None of the other titles will immediately recognize the threat of Bonds at the plate. Nor are they quick to pitch around or walk a batter late in the game with a runner on second and first base open so as to setup a DP. I find myself overlooking the graphics when I get great gameplay and solid BB strategy.
 
 MVP 2003 is fantastic but makes you swear at EA for not fixing the game before they released it. I bought and played the game and said Wow! Then you find obvious flaws in the game which affect gameplay. And the animation is the cause of the problem. The pitching meter is a great idea. MVP although a bit on the arcade side looks beautiful on the BOX with PC like graphics and NO jaggies. It´s not Triple Play and the AI is not ´FIFA Stupid´. I finally read the reviews at IGN and they nailed the problems. Hopefully next this game should be awesome.
 
 WSB2K3 while also a beautiful game I totally gave up on cursor batting and finding the holy grail of slider settings. Because I quickly realized that it´s no fun to play with someones sliders when they start using All-Star settings.
 
 The bottom line to me is HH2004 while looking dated by todays BB offerings plays more realistic and offers a just a good challenge than MVP or WSB2K3. I´ve decided to keep HH this year. BB games are a bit of personal taste, but I can say that comparing 3 games this year I decided to keep the game with the average graphics. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 12:09 pm

Hey PK:
 
 I don´t mean to stalk you guys and/or bother anyone over here, but what happened to SR ??? <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_confused.gif">
 
 -Spooky

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 12:24 pm

Hi Stalker Spooky!
 
 The SR chat Clique were having a fun night last night, posts were being put up and rapidly deleted...the skull and games society was having a field day.
 
 Things tend to be saner here. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">
 
 At any rate, the forums are still there, and I think will remain so.:
 
 http://www.ianstorm.com/forums/periscope/default.asp
 
 Hopefully the community will stay together somewhere. I do not really have a problem with Matt directing the folks to this site or Calvert´s for front page content, as SR doesn´t do that any more! Matt´s heart is not in it, and many of the writers he took aboard either lost interest or became too busy. (Myself included!) [ This message was edited by: webdanzer on 17-03-2003 08:24 ]

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:44 pm

Spooky:
 
 No idea. Ask Matt: <a href="mailto:matt@sportsreviewers.com" target="_new">matt@sportsreviewers.com</a>.
 
 Take care,
 PK

JasonC · Post by **JasonC** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:56 pm

Paul --
 
 I think you have it boiled down to the fundamental issue. What is most important to each of us as a gamer? For me, I have spent hours of playing Diamond Mind Baseball. I look at High Heat 2004 as its graphical equivalent. To me, the most important thing is an accurate simulation of the game on the field.
 
 Yes, it is still flat. The players do not look like anyone in particular. Were you not at all impressed with the revamped animations? If the ballpark were more dynamic would you enjoy the game more?
 
 Personally, I enjoy it just fine the way it is. But I can certainly see the argument for more atmosphere. This is why we have both vanilla and chocolate in the world, I guess.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 2:33 pm

Jason:
 
 The animations were fine. I might enjoy the game if the ballparks were better, too.
 
 But I´m also really tiring of HH´s loopy pitching mechanics. After playing MVP, I now can how baseball pitching SHOULD be handled in a game. Overhand curve balls should not look like the Apollo capsule re-entering the Earth´s atmosphere, which they do in HH, for example.
 
 As I said, HH offers nothing new for me this year on the field. That was fine in past years because it had such a huge superiority gap in gameplay over other titles. Now that gameplay gap is narrowing considerably, so I need better value for my $50 than HH offers.
 
 Take care,
 PK