You can make the argument that MVP Baseball has evolved into one of EA Sports' best franchises. In a short period of time, after replacing the incredibly terrible Triple Play series, MVP has moved into the forefront as one of the better baseball franchises on the market. Of course with the new Take-Two deal with the MLB and MLBPA, this could very well be the last year we see an MVP Baseball from EA Sports ?and that would be a shame because despite some rough edges that have yet to be smoothed from previous editions, the 2005 version clearly moves the franchise in the right direction.

Diamond Notes



MVP 2005 has all the trappings that you'll see in most sports titles ?a Dynasty mode, Owner's mode, online play, several mini-games, etc. But the meat of the game and where it excels is on the field; the gameplay is what makes MVP 2005 tick. The extra stuff is either underdeveloped or buried inside a very annoying game interface?ut on the field this is a pretty solid game.

The most important part of any baseball game is the pitcher/batter interface. If the game fails to portray the strategy and excitement of this duel then the game itself cannot succeed. MVP's pitching meter remains fun to use if a bit too much on the arcade side; EA Sports has tweaked things a bit, allowing a few more walks (although not nearly enough) and it's a tad easier to strikeout the CPU hitters than in last year's game. Hitting is a bit more difficult. The game uses a unique system in that if you press up on the analog stick the hitter tries to hit the ball into the air; press down and he hits a grounder, etc. The problem with this is that it's hard to get used to ?if you see a pitch up around the letters the common response is to press up on the stick to reach the ball when in fact that has nothing to do with it. It just takes some time to reprogram how to approach hitting.

The game comes with a slew of gameplay sliders that allow you to tweak several aspects of the gameplay but it's hard to find that perfect balance. There definitely needs to be a level of difficulty between Pro and All-Star because the game plays radically different on those two settings. Pro is a tad easy and All-Star is extremely challenging; hitting is very, very tough on this level.



The physics engine is easily one of the game's better features; once the ball is put into play, it's amazing to see the huge variety of outcomes that are possible. Bloop hits, line drives, rockets off infielder's gloves, caroms off the wall ?etc, etc. This cannot be understated just how important this is a to a baseball game. The hit and out variety in MVP 2005 is exceptional, and really is the glue that holds the game together.

All in all, MVP plays a good, yet still slightly flawed game of baseball. There needs to be a way to induce more walks as it's still way too easy to throw a strike when you need to, and the hitting model simply takes time to get used to, but the overall feel and the tremendous variety make it a winner on the field.



Front Office From Hell



So on the field MVP 2005 is a success. Off the field the game is a lot tougher to swallow. The game's Dynasty Mode is functional yet it lacks a lot of key elements and while sports gamers have become accustom to maneuvering through sub par interfaces, MVP's GUI is a muddled mess.

The game comes with every MLB team and also AAA, AA, and A level minor league teams (just like last year.) Managing all of these teams throughout the course of a season is a real pain because of the interface. You are forced to shuffle between several different screens to do very mundane tasks. Even looking at a player's career stats takes several clicks and pull on the left trigger. It's just way too busy to be functional. After a while you'll get used to it and it doesn't ruin the game by any stretch but it's very unwieldy and if you're the type of baseball gamer that loves to tweak and check your rosters often you're going to get annoyed by how it's designed. It's especially annoying that you cannot see an opposing team's lineup unless you are playing them. You should be able to look at each and every team with the click of a button ?but you can't. It's like you are playing inside your own little world. This is especially true after a new season starts. You can't even browse around the league to see how each team fared in the FA market.

The AI of the CPU teams in the off season is pretty good but you'll still see strange happenings from time to time. Players will tell you if they are unhappy but those same players will almost always sign contract extensions without any fuss. It's also extremely easy to sign free agents during the signing period. The Reds walked in and signed Mark Loretta and Dontrelle Willis without batting an eye or having to up a bid. This is just like in MVP 2004 and it should have been fixed.



Despite the fact that Dynasty mode has its flaws and isn't as deep as it should be, it is functional and it keeps the rosters dynamic, which is better than nothing.

Ballplayers on Parade



The graphics are fair, but not exceptional. (Take-Two's MLB 2K5 looks much, much better). Player faces vaguely look like their real life counterparts but some players look a bit?off." Not that this is a crucial element of the game but for an EA Sports game, MVP 2005 just looks fair. The sound is equally average. The play by play gets repetitive after only a few games and very little insight is given during the game. Overall the presentation values for an EA game are surprisingly Spartan.



Taking the game online is just like taking any EA Sports game online. You get tourneys and ladders and all that but it lacks full league support. EA Sports really needs to boost its online feature set because league play is something everyone wants but the company for some reason refuses to give it. On the plus side, the game plays smoothly over XBL and if you can find the right people to play with it provides a lot of fun.

Riding Off Into the Sunset?



It's unclear whether or not this is EA Sports' last baseball game. The licensing deal that Take-Two signed with Major League Baseball would appear to hamstring EA. Hopefully the company finds a way around this and releases some kind of game in 2006 because despite its roughness in spots., MVP 2005 is a very, very fun game and deservers another year of fine tuning. Whether or not it'll get that remains to be seen.