EA Sports NCAA 07 MVP Baseball has taken the field for a second season, this time exclusive to the PS2. After what was seen as a successful first offering with MVP 06, does the follow-up exceed expectations as well?
MVP 07 offers a very similar experience to MVP 06 in terms of gameplay. There aren't going to be any significant differences, as plenty of fine tuning was completed but nothing completely overhauled. Those who owned last year's version may not feel the game was enhanced enough, but at the same time there wasn't the need to change things that were generally well done already.
'Rock and Fire' pitching is the main addition this year. It took a few minutes to get the system down, but after that it was easy to understand and execute. Its a timing based system using a new type of meter, and you push down and then up on the right analog to release the pitch. There is a good feeling of suspense to every pitch because of this. While the sense of timing needed was learned quickly, I found myself missing on the timing enough that I couldn't just speed through the process and throw. Some people may claim that the system is too easy to master, but from my experience what it forces you to do is concentrate heavily on every pitch. If you don't give full concentration you'll either make a mistake or not be prepared to react to the ball off the bat. I felt it made me more methodical in how I approached pitching and changed my strategy towards attacking the batters a bit, and that made for a more fun experience. In that sense it does increase the difficulty of pitching which is a welcome change. I also felt the new over-the-shoulder camera angles were a nice addition that offered another sense of being right in the thick of the action and it complimented 'Rock and Fire' well.
Most of the issues I had with the gameplay could be tweaked with the use of sliders, and they are just personal preference for me. The outfielders felt a little slow and didn't seem to cover enough ground, especially since it was tougher to get a good jump on balls because of the focus on releasing the pitch and using both analog sticks at one time. Pitcher fatigue seemed on the heavy side, likely because the majority of people who play the game swing early in counts or pitch a higher percentage of strikes.
I am really not a fan of using the right analog stick to hit, I switched back to classic (button) hitting almost immediately. While I like the new style of pitching, I just don't enjoy using the stick to hit. I also favor the more traditional style of throwing to a base with the buttons rather than using the stick to do so.
I felt there was a good variety of type of hits as well as foul balls. The CPU will pitch you smart and even give up a walk now and then, which is always something nice to see. One thing that did bother me was when an infielder would get caught in this animation where he takes his time to throw to the base. I'm not sure if that had to do with hitting the right analog stick improperly or if it was just an issue with the fielding. Thats one reason why I don't care so much for using the right analog to throw to the bases, I don't feel as if I have the same level of control over the velocity of my tosses and I may slip off the stick if I need to make a quick play.
Possibly the biggest issue with MVP 07 pertains to the rosters. The rosters used have essentially no representation to the real-life rosters of the teams. In fact, the teams use the identical rosters of those in 06 (which were already one year old) only the squads have been swapped to different teams. For example, the #1 Oregon State Beavers have the identical roster given to the #1 Texas Longhorns from MVP 06. So in MVP 07, each team has a 2 year old roster of some other NCAA team. This may not matter or even be noticed by some, but the hardcore fans of the sport will surely be bothered this.
The addition of the minigames presents a unique and effective way to practice your pitching and hitting skills. Thats what they really come down to is using them for practice. They aren't wildly fun to where you'll be playing them for weeks on end just to play them, but they are a creative way to improve on and get the timing down for both areas. I would like to see some fielding minigames in the future, since that seems to be the one significant area of the sport that gets ignored consistently in baseball games.
Graphics wise its about what you would expect at the end cycle of the Playstation 2. It matches up comparably with other sports titles on the system. Its unlikely to impress or disappoint anyone.
Online play offers the staples that EA Sports is known for, which generally means I'm disappointed in this area. It was unlikely that much would be added this year, but at least they improved some of the known issues experienced online from 06. ESPN integration continues in the EA titles, nothing thrilling here with the sports ticker that everyone has grown to tolerate.
For fans of the MVP series, there has to be concern about where the franchise is headed. The decision to stay with the PS2 disappointed many people. Its not due to quality of the games since the MVPs of the past several years have offered a great on-the-field experience, but the consumer base that is interested in college baseball is simply too small. From that angle it made sense to stay with the heavily populated base of PS2 players. But how else will a following be built on the next-gen consoles unless the jump is made? Whether it be now or in the future, the same issues will need to be faced. Its a difficult choice from a business standpoint, but it goes to show that the future of MVP NCAA may be in doubt.
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball falls into a difficult place. The hardcore fans of college baseball will enjoy the representation of the sport, however the roster issue could really dampen the enjoyment they get out of it. The more casual fans (who may not know or care about the rosters) are unlikely to have any interest in an NCAA game. The gameplay is well done but for those who owned 06 they may not feel enough was enhanced or added to warrant the purchase.
For $29.99, MVP 07 is a solid value and its hard to be disappointed with the actual gameplay experience. If you are a fan of college baseball its a good option to consider. If you are simply itching for a baseball game to play, you'll probably want to wait for one of the upcoming MLB offerings instead.
Final Score:
7.3/10
