In the past, sports games have been limited when it comes to multiplayer options, as most offer just one-on-one or two-on-two matches. But have you ever wondered what it would be like if every position could be filled by a live player? Thanks to Netamin’s Ultimate Baseball Online 2006, you will soon be able to find out first-hand.
When you first launch this massively multiplayer baseball game (yes, a baseball MMO), you have to create your player, but before you get too carried away, you should realize that the options are pretty limited to male, female, height, hair color and a few other options. With character prepped, you choose which of the nine positions you want to play: first base, pitcher, catcher, etc., then move on to a tutorial that instructs you in batting, pitching and fielding. Upon finishing the tutorial, you are awarded progression points that you spend to increase your player’s attributes; for instance, you can increase your batting accuracy or the speed of your pitches. The attributes that are available vary according to what position you have chosen to play. In essence, the mechanics of these initial stages are just like the same early stages in most role-playing games and MMOs.
Once you are ready to get into a real game, you enter the lobby where you hook up with other players. You can choose from a list of player- created games that are available or create your own game. Again, standard MMO fare. In a nice touch, if there are not nine players in the game, computer-controlled players will fill-in the vacant positions. While the AI does a decent job of playing, it’s always more fun to have a full team of real players.
Ultimate Baseball Online 2006 takes some practice getting used to the mouse/keyboard layout. I have always preferred playing sports games with a controller, and hopefully controller support will be added in the future. I also had some problems due to the fact that there is no option to invert the mouse-look, but after 10 minutes or so I had adjusted myself to playing with the default control scheme.
The gameplay itself doesn’t stray far from other baseball titles you may have played in the past, with a few exceptions. When batting, you hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse up or down to enlarge or shrink the hitting zone box. The smaller the zone, the harder the hit, but of course it also makes it harder to hit the ball. The batting is controlled by a cursor system, so you hold down the left mouse button until the ball is pitched. You then aim the cursor at the ball and release the mouse button at just the right time to hit the ball. Again, although it takes some getting used to, it’s not as complicated as it sounds.
Pitching in UBO 2006 has a lot more depth than other baseball games you have played in the past, mostly due to the variety of pitches. Once you pick your pitch from the menu, you click on the area of the strike zone where you would like to throw. Accuracy and power are determined by a method just like a golf game’s swing meter. Click once to start the power meter, click again for accuracy, and your pitcher will throw the ball. The higher your accuracy statistic, the better chance your pitch has of hitting its mark, and the higher your power statistic, the faster your pitch will travel.
Fielding is pretty simple; once the ball is hit it makes an orange cursor on the ground. Move your fielder to the cursor and clicking the left mouse button will make him catch the ball. Then use the number keys to throw to the desired bases (“1” throws to first base, “2” to second base, and so on).
Graphically, Ultimate Baseball Online 2006 isn’t up to par with today’s games, and hopefully they will get an upgrade before the final version is released. It would also be nice to see more stadiums and player customization. Despite these few small gripes, though, UBO 2006 is shaping up to be a baseball fan’s field of dreams.
— Randie Kilgore
