R.B.I. Baseball 14 Hands-On Preview (Polygon, Sports on Earth)

[Steve_OS]

With the official release dates and pricing revealed earlier today, there are a couple of R.B.I. Baseball 14 hands-on previews on the web. We'll try to add more, as we find them.

Below are write-ups from Polygon (Samit Sarkar) and Sports on Earth (Will Leitch).

Polygon

Quote:

Unlike most sports titles from the past two decades, R.B.I. 14 doesn't provide any ratings for players or teams. Until they jump into a game, a casual baseball fan would have no way of knowing whether the Detroit Tigers are better than the Houston Astros (they are), or whether Aroldis Chapman's fastball is faster than C.C. Sabathia's (it is). There's no bullpen management in R.B.I. 14 — you just bring in a new pitcher, no warm-up needed. Once players get into a game of R.B.I. 14, they'll find a simplified experience that still leaves room for experienced players to put their skills to good use. All hurlers have three types of pitches at their disposal: normal, fast and off-speed, with the latter having the potential to dive into the dirt for certain pitchers. As in the original R.B.I. Baseball titles, you'll be able to curve the ball from side to side after it's out of the pitcher's hand; better pitchers will have more control here, and slow pitches are more movable than fastballs.

Sports on Earth

Quote:

Same three body types: Skinny, normal and fat. The fat guys look a little less fat than on the original, partly because of improved graphics and mostly, I suspect, because of player vanity. There are five different facial hair styles, but they're purposefully imprecise. The best way to put it: David Ortiz sort of looks like Common. No stats. This is not a simulation: You won't be keeping season stats, which is good, because I'm pretty sure Miguel Cabrera would end up with 194 home runs. You can play full seasons though -- 162 games, 81, or 52 -- as well as the postseason.

[Blzer]

I liked reading about them saying how they want people to "learn by discovery." This is exactly why I want OVR (overall) ratings to be ditched in sports games, or at least put to the wayside. It becomes a big distraction.

I want to play this for sure, but a franchise mode or online play would have been nice. Maybe next year?

[thaSLAB]

I suppose these could be considered previews?

R.B.I. Baseball 14 a hit with Orioles' Jones

MLB.com staffers reflect on original R.B.I. Baseball

[Will I Am]

Oh man curve the ball from side to side after release, I wonder what you call that type of pitch.

[braves_94]

Quote: Originally Posted by Will I Am

Oh man curve the ball from side to side after release, I wonder what you call that type of pitch.

Any Red Sox fan could tell you that... gyroball.

[Moose Factory]

I wonder if there will be commentary?

[ravens52bears54]

No season stats. No online. $20.

So much for being excited about this.

[aguero90]

Quote: Originally Posted by Moose Factory

I wonder if there will be commentary?

That's what I wondered as well.