Puresim Baseball 4 Review (PC)

PureSim Baseball 4 is the latest and greatest installment in one of the finest baseball sims you can find on the market. PureSim is a game built on being statistically deep and having a simulation engine that is so solid that anyone who has ever wanted to dabble in the deep history of baseball can find a way to do so with this series.

Gameplay

You can choose to play the current MLB season or previous ones, with several options to customize your experience. You can matchup historical teams, current teams, future teams, you name it via simulations to see what team is the best.

If the already deep statistical database is not quite enough for you, there is extensive support for mods within the game as well.

The Association mode is pretty deep, but you can find deeper overall financial systems in other games. However, you can't fault PureSim for that because I don't think that's the point of the game. What is here is good and better than anything you'll find in The Show, for example.

The AI is good, albeit it's a bit obvious it's artificial (pun definitely intended). There needs to be a bit more randomness thrown in from players, and a bit more personality would be welcome as well. The game handles things well, but for a deep simulation of the intricacies of managing a team through 162 games, you might find yourself a tad disappointed with everything that surrounds the hardball itself.

The trade logic is vastly improved from the prior PureSim, and the Tru-Emotion is a good addition. While it doesn't feel as alive as I'd like -- you can definitely tell where the logical progression of events from a team being willing to trade a player to not being willing occurs -- it does work to keep you in check.

Where PureSim shines is -- here comes the shocker -- with its simulation engine. When you start matching up teams and managing games, you'll see how deep and engrossing PureSim's experience is.

If you are interested in the extensive improvements featured in PureSim 4, check out this list on the Wolverine Studios site!

Everything Else

The menus are laid out well, and the in-game interface is also well done. For a text-sim, PureSim is put together pretty well.

The Tru-Life transactions are impressive. You can play any season from 1920-2010 with the Tru-Life transactions on, and you will see the exact moves made in your game that were made in real life.

Yes, Mets fans, you still trade Nolan Ryan away to California in 1971.

The biggest gripe I have with the game is that it does feel somewhat artificial, and the game world is not really created to my liking. Still, that's a minor complaint because I don't really feel that PureSim is going after that really.

Final Thoughts

If you are a baseball fan who likes text-sims, drop what you are doing and go get PureSim right now. I'm serious -- don't stop, run. If you ever wanted to fiddle with statistics and see if you could do better than your favorite team across different eras, then this is an amazing game in which you can play out those fantasies.

For the common man, this is not a text-sim that will change your mind about the genre. In fact, you'll probably find it's more of the same. But regardless, PureSim Baseball 4 is one of the finest text-sim efforts you'll see this year.

Menus: Well thought out, well designed -- you won't get lost in the game's interface which is a must for text-sims.

Sim Engine: The results are rarely unbelievable, you could even say the game takes the safe route with sim results at times -- but that's ok. You will enjoy the results the game gives out.

Learning Curve: A couple hours if you are a text-sim vet, a couple of weeks if you are new to text sims. This game is deep!

Historical Accuracy: Impeccable, painstakingly accurate, incredibly deep. You want a history of the game of baseball? PureSim contains everything you need to know!

Entertainment Value: This game is good for people who are huge baseball fans and enjoy the history of the sport -- and also those who enjoy a good text sim.

Score: 8.0 (Great)