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Triple Play Baseball (PSX) ReviewBackground Info
And what would Spring be without a fresh new crop of baseball titles? EA steps
up to the plate with their latest in the Triple Play series. This year they
drop the year from the title, choosing to call it simply Triple Play Baseball.
By dropping the year plus one routine, consumers can hope for something new.
Keep hoping.
Triple Play Baseball for the PlayStation offers more of the same play from
years past. Sure the rosters are updated (as of the beginning of the new year)
and every team and stadium is there, but little else has changed. Expect a
season mode and home run derbies with arcade style gameplay to be the emphasis
yet again.
Graphics : 75
In the closer views you appreciate the nice swing and pitching animations.
On the basepaths, runners slide convincingly and players scoop the ball off the
dirt. For the most part, animations have a decent number of frames to smoothly
make transitions. Where the animations tend to break down is with dives.
Diving for a ball proved a choppy affair.
Every MLB stadium is included in the game as well as a few fantasy stadiums.
If a ball is hit out of the park or into the stands on a foul ball you get a
chance to view more of the park. The parks represent the true counterparts in
various degrees. Enron Field in Houston has the shape of the retractable roof
modeled, but it's missing one key component - the flag pole on the short hill
in center field. Likewise, the Citgo sign that peeks over the Green Monster
is conspicuously absent.
Pretty pictures aside, my only significant complaint about the graphics is the
slow transition from the batting to fielding view. When your team is in the
field, grounders and line drives are difficult to snag due to the lack of
speed. Many times the ball will be at the edge of the dirt before you can even
get a view of your infield players. However, in the outfield there's plenty
of time to judge and make a break on the ball. Still, the infield problems are
enough to significantly affect gameplay and have to be taken into account for
the graphical score.
Audio : 85
The sounds on the field seem like they've been developed by the same gang that
did the audio for the Tiger Woods series. A well hit ball to the outfield
has the same style of sound as a big drive off the tee in Tiger's game, a big
whooosh. This belittles the audio somewhat, as the sound of the bat making
contact is actually quite good. After a few games I noticed the audio less and
less.
Interface/Options : 90
One glaring omission from the season mode is the lack of injuries. To make up
for it, a generous general manager mode is included where you can create
players, sign free agents, make trades, initiate a pre-season draft, and
shuffle your lineup. The fantasy draft can be played with or without a salary
cap. Here Triple Play takes a departure from realism. Every team in the
league has the same number of points with which to select players. Fans of the
small-market Brewers can rejoice that they have the same buying power as teams
with substantial television money like the Yankees, Braves, and Cubs (not that
the Cubs know how to spend wisely). Through the draft I was able to put
together a powerful lineup with the likes of Craig Biggio, Derek Jeter,
Vladimir Guerrero, Andruw Jones, Jeff Bagwell, Chipper Jones, Curt Schilling,
Kerry Wood, John Smoltz, and Tony Gwynn. If that weren't all, I traded a few
scrubs for Alex Rodriquez. If you have any points left over after the draft,
they can be used to make uneven trades to no end.
The statistical system appears up to snuff for the various teams in the league.
During my games strikeouts and walks were nearly non-existent, but for the
rest of the league those categories and all other stats were realistic. I
simmed an entire 162-game season with interesting results. Jason Giambi of the
A's was the AL MVP, leading the league in homers (66 for Jason, 10 others with
50 or more) and RBI's (145, 23 with more than 100). Jeff Bagwell took home
honors in the NL with a healthy .344 average, 47 homers, and 113 RBI's. One
suspect stat is his steal total, a staggering 43 for the year (4 behind league
leader Shannon Stewart of the Blue Jays). Dave Burba took home the AL Cy
Young award with a 20-4 record, 2.34 ERA, and 238 K's. I was shocked when
another Astro, Shane Reynolds, took the NL Cy Young award with a 22-5 record.
For the league, Kevin Brown came up first with strikeouts (312), bad boy John
Rocker got his stuff back with 49 saves, and Pedro continues his mastery with
17 complete games. And if Triple Play is a harbinger of the future, put your
money down on the Jays to win it all.
Gameplay : 60
In the field, the control is hampered by both the slow transition from the
batting view and what I feel are inferior controls for a baseball game.
Before scooping up the ball, you can dive or jump at it. In the outfield you
can also climb the wall. The problem is that all moves use the same button,
the square button. To dive you press the square and push the D-pad towards
the ball. To jump you simply press the square button. In practice this
means that if you want to run and jump at the ball you have to run, completely
stop, and press the button. When fielding the ball you only have two other
button options available (X to speed the player and the triangle to switch to
the closest player). That leaves 5 other buttons that could be used to
diversify the control scheme. Once you gain possession of the ball it's no
better. I prefer using the O, X, square, and triangle buttons to throw to
each base. The buttons are in the shape of a diamond, you know. In Triple
Play Baseball, you throw the ball using the X button and pointing the D-pad in
the direction of the base. If you want a harder throw to a base, press the
square button and the digital pad. If you want to run the ball yourself you
use the O button. Still, this leaves five free buttons. Surely baseball fans
can handle a little more complexity. It beats the frustration of throwing to
home plate in the middle of a heated play due to the clumsy button mechanics.
You can forget about using the analog control. I committed more wrong throws
with it than I could count.
Even if the game had a better control scheme, it still would have trouble in
other areas. You can play the game with manual control of your players,
assistance from the CPU, and fully automatic players. Playing with manual
players was annoying. The slow transition made fielding the ball a bear. Even
with the CPU assist I found too many occasions where the closest player was
not breaking on the ball. This happens mostly on grounders and seems to occur
most frequently with shortstops and second basemen. I gave up on the game
once I realized that nothing I do would improve some of the infield play. When
a ball is only a few feet from my second baseman yet the CPU decides that the
shortstop who's 15 feet away should get the ball it's time to quit.
The game is not without its merits. There are some things I really liked
about the game. The AI made great baseball decisions, albeit not a part of
today's game. Baseball players these days are too concerned about personal
stats and not about team play, so things like bunts and sacrifice flies are
about as commonplace in the majors as perfect games. Yet Triple Play Baseball
hearkens back to the golden age of baseball. It's not uncommon for the CPU to
bunt three or more times in a game just to advance players into scoring
position. Likewise, the AI knew proper times to hit deep into the outfield
to put a man across the plate. The AI was attentive to throws to cutoff men
and the like. With the solid opponent AI it's too bad that the rest of the
game limits the overall enjoyment.
The other mode in Triple Play Baseball is the Big League Challenge. Basically
this is just a home run contest. You can play in tournament, one-on-one, or
extreme mode. The extreme mode places targets above the outfield fence. The
goal is to both hit home runs and strike targets. This mode quickly loses
steam once you realize it's nothing more than a game of chance.
Replay Value : 60
Fans of arcade style baseball and the Triple Play series may be able to look
past the lack of realism and fielding problems and enjoy the title. If so,
there is built in replay value. Completing a 162-game season will keep you
busy for months.
Overall : 65
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