PC Game Review: Baseball Mogul 2008

Someone get on the horn to Joe Torre, the Yanks are good to go. I know, it’s awfully early to make that prediction, but I’m going to step out on a limb and say it. How can I be so sure? It’s because I sat down recently and booted up Baseball Mogul 2008, and had it simulate the entire 2007 season without me touching a thing (just to see the system run). I’m happy to say that the Yankees handily won their division, putting up a record of 110-52 and winning the division by 21 games over the Blue Jays. Not only do I think that means that my Yankees and Joe Torre need not worry this year, it tells me that the programming folks at Sports Mogul have done a fantastic job with this year’s edition of Baseball Mogul.

All joking aside, Baseball Mogul 2008 is a strong product. It’s intuitive and really easy to use on a surface level. If someone is only interested in simulating games and managing a team on a very superficial level, that’s possible. If someone wants to go through every pitch of every game, but not deal with larger team issues in depth, that’s possible. And, making all stat-heads incredibly happy, if someone wants to get into the nitty-gritty, day-to-day managing of a team, that’s possible too. What’s more though, is that the game provides enjoyment at all of these levels, and every conceivable level in between.

Stat-heads, the group that the game seems primarily intended for, will revel in their ability to find out the most miniscule bits of information; the one thing that may be missing is hat size. Players are sortable by every imaginable statistic. I won’t say that it gets to be too much, but there’s a ton of stuff there.

Playing actual games can be incredibly fun as well. While playing in-game you do not actually swing at the ball, you simply click a button before the pitch is thrown, you can play pitch-by-pitch, having your batter guess at what the upcoming pitch will be (and, if you’re on the mound, you can call the different available pitches as well). There is a graphic of a stadium put up in the middle of the in-game screen, and the ball is seen to fly to various parts of the field that correspond to where it was hit.    

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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