I’ve been a video game fan my entire life, dating back all the way to when I was first able to pick up a joystick. It would be tough for me to pick a favorite genre, but sports games have always been near the top of my list. And while arcade-style games are fun in their own right, I’ve always favored the pure realism of games. For example, I’d take NBA 2K11 over NBA Jam any day of the week.
Other fans of sports sims will probably agree with me that one of the most fun things to do in a sports game is mess around with the dynasty or franchise mode. Yes, playing on the court, field, or ice is fun, but there’s a different type of fun to be had messing around with text boxes, signing free agents, and looking for trade partners to try and improve your team.
iOOTP Baseball 2011 removes the on-the-field action and focuses on the behind-the-scenes decisions that turn a good team into a great team. Although I am not familiar with the popular desktop application, I was up and running with the iVersion in no time. Simply put: it has hooked me so bad that I will definitely be picking up the new desktop version when it releases in a few months.
The premise? Simple. The execution? Incredibly in-depth and rewarding.
When you start the game, you have three options: control a team from the current season, from a fictional league with made-up player names and teams, or from one of three different historic seasons, such as the 2004 season where the Red Sox finally broke their curse.
The main screen from which you operate is laid out quite well. You can view your messages, manage your team with a variety of options, take a look at how the rest of the league is doing in comparison to your team, play your current game, or sim to the end of the current day or week.
You’ll spend the vast majority of your time managing your team. In this screen, you can take a look at your minor and active rosters and make moves accordingly; set your pitching rotation, bullpen assignments, depth charts, and lineups; adjust your team’s strategy, including how aggressive they go for steals, use hit & runs, etc.; and much more.
Once your team is set to your standards, you’re ready to start the season. If you want, you can actually “play” each game. What play means is that you’ll be able to manage the game batter-by-batter. You can call for a hit & run, give the OK for a steal, take pitchers out when they get rocked early, and much more. There’s a neat play-by-play text-based system that, much to my surprise, keeps you entertained. If you select play and wish to speed things up a bit, you can sim by inning, or even all the way to the end, if you wish.
The play option is cool once in a while, but I spent the majority of my time simming each week. You’ll get notified when players get injured, are unhappy and want to be traded, and more. Managing players is a big, big part of iOOTP 2011. Each player is rated in a number of categories, including what positions they can play besides their set position. They also have certain expectations. So if your LF is struggling early in the year, and you’re thinking about moving him to the bench, make sure he doesn’t expect to be a starter, because his morale may dip if he rides the pine for too long, and your team chemistry could suffer.
It’s astounding to me that there is so much depth and variety in this game. Despite how in-depth it is, It’s very easy to pick up and play. You can play for a few minutes, or you can play for a few hours. Assuming you are a baseball fan and a fan of managing teams, boredom will never set in.
No game is perfect, and iOOTP is no exception. A few things I noticed that I hope will get fixed in future updates: the game crashed a few times; the ability to make a universal lineup change instead of changing it each time for vs. LHP/RHP/DH/no DH, although copy and paste does make it bearable; I’ve received a few trade requests and then opened the message only to find that the offer expired.
Text-based games like this are perfect for iDevices. If you are at all interested in baseball and these types of games, I cannot recommend this app enough. It’s well worth the $4.99 price tag.
iOOTP Baseball 2011 is available now in the App Store for $4.99.
*** OOTP Developments provided a promo code to iSource for the review of iOOTP Baseball 2011. For more information regarding our site ‘s review policies, please see the ‘About ‘ page. ***
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