Out of the Ball Park 10 Review

Out of the Ball Park 10 puts you in the role of a baseball general manager taking your team through the energy and excitement of the season to win the league championship. You're in charge of every asepct of the team's progress. You need to take into account each player's years of service, their option years, their numbers and even their family life. You can start managing a team in the developmental leagues of Canada and the United States, or begin the game in charge of a major league team. You need to concentrate on all parts of your club's development, the minor system, and the players contracts, and keep your eye on the big picture at the same time as well. This baseball-junky video game is simply the best baseball simulation video game I have ever played.

Out of the Ball Park 10 isn't for gamers who don't have an understanding of the basics of baseball and the day to day operations of managing a baseball team. This isn't a video game you can just pick up and play, as you'll have to take your time and work your way through the menus and screens. The statistical detail in this video game is amazing. Thousands of stats need to be analyzed and taken into account as you manage your team through the years. The great wall of statistics you need to ascend to play this baseball management simulation is daunting for even a baseball junky. There's no tutorial to help you understand how to play this video game, which is a problem for such a deep and challenging video game.

Out of the Ball Park 10 has a surprisingly robust visual appeal once you get used to the chaotic look of the menus and screens. The walls of statistics you have to analyze have bright colors that appeal to the eyes, but constantly looking at the pages of statistics can tire the eyes quickly. The screens are all wonderfully constructed so they are easy to use, and you can quickly move between them to find what you want as long as you know what you're looking for.

The sound quality of Out of the Ball Park 10 is good and the sound track keeps your energy high as you progress through this video game. The energetic tunes included are good for this kind of management simulation. They keep your mind active as you are working your way through the statistics and making your daily decisions.

Out of the Ball Park 10 is an improved experience from the previous title in this baseball franchise and makes a few tweaks to significant areas of the gameplay to improve the realism of the experience. This year you'll be able to submit an arbitration offer for each of your players that are eligible. You have to offer arbitration to your free agents to get properly compensated through free agency. Do you risk getting stuck with a salary that takes away your flexibility? Is the risk worth the draft picks you will gain? Subtle pitching changes have been made to the pitchers ratings that allow you to get an idea of the pitchers effectiveness with each pitch in his arsenal. This year, players that are on the disabled list can suffer set-backs in their recovery that pushes back their return date. The injury reports this year add a layer of entertainment with entertaining and often hilarious injury reports. Your clean-up hitter could be put on the disabled list because his wife hit him with a frying pan. During the off season your players can get arrested and run from the police.

Out of the Ball Park 10 is a video game suitable for baseball fanatics who love to spend hours going over statistics to find the best solution for their ball club. Casual gamers aren't going to have much fun when they first pick up this baseball management simulation. The learning curve is too steep for most of them to be able to get into the game play and with no tutorial they aren't likely to take the time they need to learn how to properly play the game.