ESPN Baseball 2K5 Impressions

GridIronGhost · Post by **GridIronGhost** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:01 pm

I attended the winter CES here in Las Vegas and had a chance to play the demo version of ESPN Baseball 2K5. The demo should be out soon so you will get to experience the excitement I had playing this game. March 21 is the release date for the game from what I was told.

Graphics: Remember when EA first released MVP after dumping The Triple Play Series? remember how fresh the game seemed? ESPN has that same feel, they have redone the graphics engine.

First thing you notice while at the plate is that the bad swing animation is gone and replaced with several beautiful looking swings. I have seen several body sizes and no more players that look like Hercules with massive chests...lol! Player faces look very good and not zombie like.

Animations are very smooth and really adds to the game play experience. Player stance look about the same, but then again I did not get to play with every player.

On the mound I notice that the pitches have more movement and you can really tell what pitch is coming at you. One of the things that I hated before was the way the pitch looked coming off the pitchers hand. Looked like it would travel from left to right on the screen. I was surprised when I saw a slider, looked very good and not over done ala HH. My pitcher got rattled when he was hit by a ball, I gave up a homer to the next batter and walked the next, until I replaced him.

Looks like they have taken several things from MVP, such as the pitching meter, base runners windows, right stick control for fielding. I like the new pitch meter, it does have that MVP feel to it and gives you control of pitching. I really like this style of pitching for video baseball games and both ESPN and MVP have it down good enough IMO. Base running windows is a welcome sight in this game for me, it will take some time to get used to it because the window seems to move with the player...kind of awkward.

I really like the new field cam, it lets you see more of what is going on the field and more ball park. Fielding using the right joy stick is much better then the one in MVP. I made some diving catches that left my jaw on the floor. The animations are truly great and flows with your input on the controller. I did have problems picking off a base runner due to a VERY late pick off animation. Hopefully they will fix it.

Fans in the stand look better and react to the game via cut scene just like the rest of the ESPN series. It really adds to the atmosphere. I liked the coach yelling at the ump kicking up dirt cut scene. Lots of player reactions from the dug out. Lots of ESPN TV type of stuff added this year.

Sound New play by play script has been redone. The play by play does not sound like the same stuff said back when Ted Robinson was doing the play by play. Crowd sound more alive, I was not able to hear it very well due to noise around me. The music has been changed and with the ability to add custom music to the game, I will not have to hear those stupid guitar riffs. The crack of the bat sounds good and I even saw a bat or two broken. I did hear a cannon sounding homerun hit ala Triple Play...no biggie.

These are some of my impressions of what I saw in the game for what it's worth. I did not mention gameplay because I always thought the game played good, it was the cosmetics that kept me away. I did not see any gameplay flaws in the short time I played the game (2 hours). I just want to emphasize that this is a whole new game and I feel that between this game and MVP, we should have something to make all of us baseball nuts happy.

Jason · Post by **Jason** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:05 pm

March 21st can't get here soon enough!!!

Did they change the zone batting at all?

Jayhawker · Post by **Jayhawker** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:10 pm

Sounds cool. I am anxious to see how the online play is. I felt like there is still just a tad too much lag in the batter/pitcher part of the game. Not sure if that can be fixed.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:14 pm

Dammit! I want this game!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:34 pm

Is this game $19.99 or $49.99? I saw it listed as $49.99 at ebgames.com, but I thought all ESPN games were $19.99?

Thanks,
PK

GridIronGhost · Post by **GridIronGhost** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:58 pm

Jason wrote:March 21st can't get here soon enough!!!

Did they change the zone batting at all?

I did not play last years game much, not sure about the zone hitting. The homerun I gave up was a pitch low and outside to a right hand hitter...if that helps. Also the I did not know it was a homer until I saw it clear the fence...I thought that was cool to keep me in suspence.

GridIronGhost · Post by **GridIronGhost** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:00 pm

Jayhawker wrote:Sounds cool. I am anxious to see how the online play is. I felt like there is still just a tad too much lag in the batter/pitcher part of the game. Not sure if that can be fixed.

Should be ok, because the pitcher\batter interface is new. I asked two different people about online leagues and was told it was the same as all the other 2K5 games. These were ESPN employees for what it's worth. I could lose myself in a GOOD online league, could make forget about my favorite sports game FOOTBALL!

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:02 pm

pk500 wrote:Is this game $19.99 or $49.99? I saw it listed as $49.99 at ebgames.com, but I thought all ESPN games were $19.99?

Thanks,
PK

Pk,

I believe all ESPN games are back to $49.99 for the 2k6 series of games.

Todd

GridIronGhost · Post by **GridIronGhost** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:02 pm

pk500 wrote:Is this game $19.99 or $49.99? I saw it listed as $49.99 at ebgames.com, but I thought all ESPN games were $19.99?

Thanks,
PK

Don't know about the price, but if they sell the game at $19.99 and really do a good job promoting the game...it could be a hot seller.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:03 pm

Ah, that hurts. No way I'm paying $50 for any baseball game. I'll have to wait for sales or eBay.

Thanks,
PK

GridIronGhost · Post by **GridIronGhost** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:06 pm

pk500 wrote:Ah, that hurts. No way I'm paying $50 for any baseball game. I'll have to wait for sales or eBay.

Thanks,
PK

If I could still feel the way I felt about this game in the 2 hours I played two weeks later, then I would pay much more then $50.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:07 pm

ESPN Baseball was $39 when it realesed last year...wasnt it?

Jason · Post by **Jason** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:23 pm

XXXIV wrote:ESPN Baseball was $39 when it realesed last year...wasnt it?

Yeah, it was. I can deal with a $39 price for ESPN Baseball 2K5 if it's as good as I think it will be. I think that $39 is a good price point for all new games (like the PS1 days) and ESPN would still come in $10 less than EA's game.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:42 pm

Thanks for the impressions, GIG. Can you comment any more on the new fielding CAM? This is something that bugs me in most baseball games, and I'm really curious to hear some more about the change(s) here.

kicko · Post by **kicko** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 5:22 pm

what i heard was 2k5 is $19.99, and when the next generation games come out the prices will be back up, so we can guess 2k6 will also be $19.99(i hope)

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:22 pm

Looks like $49.99
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/244409.asp

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:09 am

The game is sounding good so far, I'll be checking this out for sure. Still have last year's.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:48 am

Today is "Big League Tuesday" so there will be an update at the 2K5 website. I'm hoping we get some good video of gameplay or some info about online leagues, tournaments, etc. Stay tuned until later today....

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:22 am

I really hope one of the games nails online play this year. It's pretty sad, but Inside Pitch has given me the best online baseball experience so far! MLB and ESPN had a lot of lag for me. I had MVP for Xbox so I'm not sure how online play was. I didn't even take ASB online because the fielder cam makes me hurl.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:39 am

Leebo33 wrote:I really hope one of the games nails online play this year. It's pretty sad, but Inside Pitch has given me the best online baseball experience so far! MLB and ESPN had a lot of lag for me. I had MVP for Xbox so I'm not sure how online play was. I didn't even take ASB online because the fielder cam makes me hurl.

True Leeb.

Can't wait to take some swings with the Mets(specially Beltran) online.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:20 am

i like the MVP game last year. it had many flaws, but the potential was there. espn was a let down for me. i really hope espn is able to outdo MVP.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:19 pm

Sudz wrote:i like the MVP game last year. it had many flaws, but the potential was there. espn was a let down for me. i really hope espn is able to outdo MVP.

I'm actually still playing ESPN. MLB held my interest and its great, but its a game dying for check swings.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:26 pm

jLp vAkEr0 wrote:Can't wait to take some swings with the Mets(specially Beltran) online.

He only hit .267 last year so he shouldn't be jacked up too much. Unless of course they use his playoff stats to populate his attributes. If the Mets get Delgado too (it looks like they will), you can bet the Mets will be one of the 4 or 5 teams that EVERYONE uses, even though they were terrible last year.

Kazuya · Post by **Kazuya** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:50 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
jLp vAkEr0 wrote:Can't wait to take some swings with the Mets(specially Beltran) online.
He only hit .267 last year so he shouldn't be jacked up too much. Unless of course they use his playoff stats to populate his attributes. If the Mets get Delgado too (it looks like they will), you can bet the Mets will be one of the 4 or 5 teams that EVERYONE uses, even though they were terrible last year.

I'm sure they will give him all 99's, since most of these games seem to pull ratings out of their ass. Hey he signed a big contract... he must be the best player in the league! I wonder if he'll have higher ratings than LF #25 and Vlad?

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:03 pm

All "2k5" versions are to have the 19.99 price point right? It started with NFL then went onto NHL, NBA, NCAA, and now its MLB's turn. I hope it is, I don't think I could afford to pay 50 bones with all the PC FPS games coming out around the same time and with a baby due to arrive.