The most significant addition to Baseball 2001 is career play via elements of the popular baseball management sim, Baseball Mogul. Microsoft made a big deal out of this when marketing the product, trumpeting the inclusion of "Baseball Mogul Technology" on the front of the box. I'm not making a big deal out of it in this review because the developers gutted the text-based sim before adapting it. All that remains is a simple financial system that lets you assign point resources to players, scouting, and the minor leagues. There's no TV revenue, no hot dog sales, no groovy newspaper stories. Hell, there aren't even injuries or a basic league news screen to keep you advised on what your rivals are doing. So if Cincinnati gets sick of Junior's whiny act and sends him off to the Mets, you won't find out about it until you roll into Shea for a three-game set. As a big fan of the original Baseball Mogul, I was very disappointed to see that Microsoft had removed most of it during the adaptation process. I just don't understand why they bothered to license the game, only to leave most of it out.
If you've seen Baseball 2000, you've seen Baseball 2001. The graphics engine returns this year, and everything pretty much looks exactly the same as it did last year. Actually, you might want to scratch that "pretty much," as I couldn't find any significant changes and/or improvements. The appearance and feel on the field is identical to what I played in the summer of 1999. This isn't exactly a bad thing, since the series has always boasted the finest graphics in baseball game land. Neither of the rivals in the High Heat and Triple Play camps were able to make much visual headway this time around, so Microsoft retains the beauty contest title even while treading water. Unless you're a repeat customer who wants to see real changes for his $30, you'll probably be satisfied with lovingly drawn ballparks and players who look a lot like their real-life counterparts.
Still, more could have been done. As nice as parks like Shea Stadium, Bank One Ballpark, and newbies Safeco Field and Pac Bell Park look, they're soulless. Unlike High Heat Baseball 2001, which does a lot more with less from a visual point-of-view, there isn't much of a baseball atmosphere. This is hard to explain, but it feels as if you're playing on a really sharp looking photograph, and not in an actual environment. Player animation doesn't help much, either. These faux Major Leaguers still lumber around awkwardly like they just learned how to walk upright. And while the latter may actually be true in the case of lower life forms like Juan Gonzalez and Robbie Alomar, nobody in real baseball moves in this way. If this were a first-year effort, I could forgive such a lapse. Three editions into the franchise and I can't. Swinging also looks unrealistic and provides none of the virtual satisfaction I receive when pounding the ball in either of the current High Heat and Triple Play titles. The ball just seems to come off the bat depending on the timing of my swing and the location and speed of the pitch. Accurate where physics are concerned? Probably. Antiseptic where feelings are concerned? Definitely.
