There is such a thing as over confidence. This is not a problem if your claim of superiority is fact, but when its unproven, it can be a problem. 3DO is claiming their High Heat Baseball 2000 game for the Sony Playstation is the best baseball title you've ever played. Is it the best? No, but it sure is a good effort.
3DO's High Heat Baseball is not a new series, but it is new for the Playstation. So in this field their still rookies. This is a rookie who swings like a pro. These graphics look sharp. The players are little generic as in they are not individuals, but the polygons are good and strong. The Backgrounds are less than perfect but do carry some nice detail. High Heat does suffer from test pattern audiences, but once again something that can be overlooked.
The sound is not great, but the announcer has fun and tries really hard. The control is High Heat's biggest down fall. From the fielding perspective, its great. The artificial intelligence of the CPU helps you not only in the outfield but base running too. Its when your on the batters mound that it hurts. The whole batting system, though more realistic, is so difficult to perform its virtually impossible to become Sammy or Big Mac.
High Heat 2000 also lacks speed. the game just seems so slow. When a player runs, pitches. bats, anything is done in slow motion....or so it seems. 3DO is a veteran on the PC with High Heat Baseball so it truly a gift that Playstation users can now experience it. High Heat Baseball 2000 offers so much, but at the same time lacks even more. This is such a great first try I can't wait to see what's in store next year. they just need to fix the control. The way it is now makes High Heat 2000 almost unplayable.
PUBLISHER: 3DO
GRAPHICS: 7.5 SOUND & MUSIC: 6 CONTROL: 4
SECRETS: N/A ORIGINALITY: 5 FUN & REPLAY: 4.5
OVERALL: 6.5
(thanks to ign for the screen shots)
