Reviewed: April 16, 2007
Reviewed by: Josh Remsburg
Publisher
Enlight Software
Developer
Sports Mogul
Released: March 20, 2007
Genre: Sports Simulation
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
7
4
1
7
6.5
System Requirements
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Baseball has always been about timing, whether in real life or in a video game simulation, that is until you play Baseball Mogul 2008 which requires no timing at all; just a lot of time. The 10th edition of Baseball Mogul allows you become the General Manager and Manager of your favorite team. In this game there are new and updated rosters to match 2007 current Major League rosters, as well as more than 18,000 players ranging in years from 1901 up to present day. A financial mode has been added to correlate the salaries from the historical players to current day levels. Also included is a pitch-by-pitch mode if you want to have complete control of every pitch in during the game.
Baseball Mogul 2008 Special Features:
- NEW Baseball Mogul Encyclopedia - Outputs over 30,000 interlinked HL pages. Historical leaders tracked in over 70 stats by team and season
- Hitting, pitching, and fielding stats at every level
- Annual financial records
- And more - Pitch-by-Pitch Mode - Fully interactive pitch-by-pitch mode puts you in complete control of the game
- NEW Ticker Tape - Shows updated scores, stats, leaders and headlines, even in the middle of each at-bat
- NEW Lefty-Righty Stats
- NEW Expanded Scouting Report - More stats like OPS, GDP, intentional walks, ground ball percent, and DICE
- NEW User Interface - Improves the visual appeal of each screen while also putting more stats at your fingertips
- NEW 2007 Rosters
- Exclusive licensee of the Sean Lahman Baseball Database, including complete stats and data for over 18,000 players going back to the 19th century
Baseball Mogul 2008 is more of a strategic game than most baseball games out there. You become the General Manager and Manager by using either current rosters or historical rosters dating back to 1901. This game also has fictional players for "create a team" mode. Baseball Mogul also allows you to have the annual Amateur draft event in June, just like the real Major League teams.
Baseball Mogul 2008 also allows you to enjoy the expanded 40-man roster for the last month of the season and playoffs, if you’re lucky enough to get that far. You can also offer trades and deal with contractual issues. After you have settled on your team’s roster and lineup you actually get to play the game. The game play is very easy even I, who has never played a PC game understood how to play right after I put this game in.
When pitching all you have to do is click the pitch button. Baseball Mogul allows you, as the player, a fast simulation mode of one pitch per batter, meaning if the pitch is out of the strike zone it’s a walk or a swing and miss or the pitch is in the strike zone it is a strikeout. You can also play pitch by pitch mode and have total control over what pitch your pitcher throws and the location in which it is thrown, but be careful of the movement of the pitch.
When you start a new season you have four (4) different difficulty levels. You can be the manager, a coach on the team, the owner, or a fan. The only thing that changes from each mode is the budget you are allowed. The idea of baseball videogames has been tried by many companies, but if the 2K Sports series teamed with Baseball Mogul I believe you will have the most complete version of baseball out there, simulation and gameplay. Baseball Mogul allows the Amateur draft along with expanding to the 40 man roster the last month of the season and if you include these features with what the 2K series has done you will have the closest thing to a real Major League season.
I had a good time playing this game. If you like stats, and are a true baseball fan or have ever questioned your team’s manager for decisions that always backfire in real life here is a chance to implement your own style of calling plays and possibly change the outcome of the game for your team or even the entire league.
This game has decent 2 dimensional graphics. While you are playing your computer screen will be completely filled up as the lineup card for both teams will be on the left side and the current pitcher and batter will be on the right hand side of the screen. The middle portion of the screen has two (2) different shots one, the angle on the bottom half of the screen is from a catcher’s point of view and the upper camera angle is a low overhead, basically where the announcers would sit at a game.
Two issues I encountered with this game was 1) any batter for the other team would face away from the plate and as soon as the pitch comes would do a 180 degree turn and hit the ball. At first it was kind of comical, but after a while it became really annoying. 2) As I was playing with the Atlanta Braves the overhead shot that shows the whole stadium was not the Braves home stadium and it never changed when I played other teams both on the road and at home. The only thing that changed in the stadium was the distance to the outfield fence to correspond with each team’s home stadium.
There is not much sound to this game. You can play this with your speakers off and not miss anything. When your team is batting you will either hear the crowd applaud for a hit, or a low displeasure tone if you make an out. In short, that is it for the sound. It’s sad that the developer didn’t work harder on this portion of the game. Is it too much to ask for different sound effects from the crowd or the crack of the bat? A game announcer would have been nice. How about some background music?
I am extremely disappointed in the lack of any kind of general sound effects. Sure, the crowd roars when you hit the ball and moan when you get out, but if that’s all, can you really say this game has any sound? Obviously the developers assumed people who played the game would listen to their MP3’s while playing it.
The two biggest things this game has going for it are the $30 price tag ($25 if you download it) and the fact that you can play this game on just about any computer built in the past ten years. Seriously, the requirements for this game are extremely low. Bottom line – if your PC can run any of the versions of Windows listed in the requirements you can easily play this game.
As for long-lasting gameplay value, your length of enjoyment is limited only by your tolerance for the number crunching and limited presentation value of the sport of baseball. If you prefer to focus your attention to the clubhouse and locker room rather than the diamond, Baseball Mogul 2008 can last you the rest of the baseball season and probably until next spring training.
Before playing Baseball Mogul 2008 I had high expectations. I knew it offered a different type of game play than I was used to and I was excited to give it a go. While it didn’t disappoint, it didn’t impress me either. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the game, but its many downsides might really turn some people off.
If you are someone who concentrates on graphics and sound, then don’t even look at picking up this game. On the other hand, if you are someone like me, who takes baseball really seriously and follows their favorite team closer than anyone else you know, then I would strongly recommend this game.