MVP Baseball 2005 Critic Reviews

The added mini games are used to spice up pitching and batting drills, making them as addictive as Bejeweled and Mine Sweep. Plus, the greatness of Xbox Live for online leagues, EA Sports Ticker and constant roster updates just makes things even sweeter for Xbox players.

With great modes, gorgeous graphics and near perfect controls this one will no doubt be the franchise we turn to when we want a baseball game true to the sport itself.

An incredibly well-put together baseball game. Its presentation is top-notch, it includes a number of modes that you can spend countless hours playing, and the sense of control is unmatched.

The new additions of the Owner Mode and Hitter's Eye are substantial enough to warrant a purchase of MVP Baseball 2005.

Dynasty Mode was already massive. With the addition of Owner mode, you may be playing this game until EA gets its third party license back.

The graphics and audio capture the look and sound of baseball down to every last blade of grass out on the field and the faintest boo from that fan in the nosebleed section.

The game is so loaded with modes and options the replay value is really unlimited.

A pretty game that plays well. It has loads of features. Even though I don't like EA and I actually root for Sega, I can't deny the quality of this game.

I must say that I am very impressed with how smooth the game runs, and how smooth the gameplay is.

With an outrageous plethora of fantasy league-style features, nobody comes close to capturing the authenticity of fantasy leaguing better than EA.

The closest digital equivalent to real baseball.

Together with a near flawless play-by-play announcer, excellent sound, music and solid online play, EA Sports has done it again with MVP.

With an extremely realistic presentation, augmented control system, and additional attention paid to the overall gameplay, MVP 2005 could be one of those games baseball fans keep returning to in the upcoming years of exclusive sports games.

What it boils down to is that they fixed the major flaws from last year's game: lefty power, and minor league development. Everything else is merely icing on the cake, but what a cake it is.

We're fond of the new Hitter's Eye feature, which means that the ball changes color as it leaves the pitcher's hand, letting the batter know what kind of pitch is on the way to the plate. Red means breaking ball; white means fastball; green means changeup; and brown means that Randy Johnson has been into the Skoal tin again.

The bottom line is that if you're looking for a realistic and feature-rich baseball video game, you can't go wrong with MVP Baseball 2005.

Still has a gameplay engine that rivals anything out there and gives the best overall experience of actually playing in a big league game.

While none of the changes on their own amounted to much, overall, they all made for a much smoother and more authentic baseball title.

The hardcore MVP player will dig getting a read on the ball as it leaves the pitcher's hand. Maybe 2K Games can steal this feature next season - EA surely won't need it.

Feature for feature, there is no better pure baseball simulation to buy this season than MVP Baseball 2005.