Game Review: Out of the Park Baseball 13

[crewcrazy]

Over the past few years, I've been lucky enough to get the opportunity to review the Out of the Park Baseball sim series. A hectic work schedule has prevented me from getting this year's version up sooner, but admittedly I've also lost quite a few hours getting sucked into this year's game.

 

If you've played Out of the Park Baseball before, you know that just about every year there's a new set of features rolled out that makes the new version even more in-depth than the last. You would think that eventually they'd run out of things to introduce, but luckily for us, baseball's new collective bargaining agreement over the winter provided a bevy of new changes that are already included in OOTP13.

 

Houston Astros moving to the AL in 2013 (along with Interleague-every-day schedules)? Yep, that's built in. Two wildcard spots for each league right off the bat? You bet. The new draft bonus slotting system? Yes, you can play with that option on, too. As with just about everything in the game, though, you can choose to turn these settings off and play your own way.

 

OOTP introduced their "storylines" feature in last year's version of the game, where occurances in the game would build on eachother as you progressed further into your game. While it was a nice touch, there was a bit left to be desired. This year, the feature has been refined to be more interactive. Now, when your team hothead spouts off to the media, you'll be presented with the options of suspending him or ignoring the comments. The decision you make will lead to another result -- think of it like the "choose your own ending" books you read as a kid. Decisions can impact everything from clubhouse morale to fan interest in your team to a player's potential. This feature is also optional, but adds a new off-field dimension of strategy to the game that we've never really seen before.

 

My favorite new feature, though, might be the real-time simulation mode. If you turn this on, the games scheduled for the in-game date will be played in the background while you are still able to do things like browse league news and adjust your roster and lineups. You can also jump into any ongoing game and watch events unfold -- if you notice a pitcher has a no-hitter going into the 8th inning, for example, you can jump in and watch him try to get the last six outs.

 

In terms of the sim engine, it's as solid and realistic as ever. You'll still have a few unexpected career years (just as you would in real life), but for the most part the end-of-year numbers line up with what you'd expect. I ran a test sim for the 2012 season with the Brewers, and they went 85-77 -- good for second in the Central, but 4th place in the wildcard race. Given the way the real Brewers have started the season, that doesn't seem like an unreasonable outcome.

 

Individually, player statistics looked to be realistic, too. Zack Greinke finished my 2012 sim with an ERA of 3.33, striking out 247 in 243.1 innings. Yovani Gallardo posted an ERA of 3.76 with 241 strikeouts in 227.1 innings. Ryan Braun hit .285/.380/.525 with 32 home runs and 24 stolen bases. The overall league leaderboard ended up looking pretty realistic, too, with Jose Bautista leading the majors in home runs with 53. Giancarlo Stanton (44), Lance Berkman (39), Miguel Cabrera (39) and Matt Kemp (38) rounded out the top five.

 

In the end, you're not going to find a more comprehensive, strategy-driven baseball game out there. You're not going to get fancy in-game graphics like in your console games, but you will get an unparalleled level of control when it comes to in-game and front office decisions and more stats than you could ever dream of to help aid those decisions.

 

We all like to second-guess managers and general managers across the league. This is the perfect game for people like us.

 

You can learn more about OOTP13 (and buy it if you're interested) on their official website. If you're like me and want the game to be as realistic as possible, OOTP Mods is also must-visit for getting all the real logos and uniforms you need.