Out of the Park Baseball is routinely mentioned as one of the best baseball simulation games on the market, and for good reason. There are so many ways to play
the game. You could choose to micro-manage every single game Tony LaRussa-style, controlling every pitch -- do you intentionally walk Ryan Howard with first
base open, or do you choose to pitch around him and hope he gets himself out? You could choose to set your lineup and watch the results unfold from your comfy
General Manager office. Or you could just choose to just let the AI handle everything and sim years at a time while watching your team re-write history.
It's all up to the user, which is both amazing and intimidating. New users may load up OOTP 10 and be overwhelmed by all the bells and whistles. Experienced players will be able to jump right in and enjoy the game, since not much has changed from OOTP 9. Luckily for both groups, however, there is good news.
For the inexperienced gamer, OOTP 10 is highly customizable -- virtually every feature in the game can be turned off or on. Want to keep a full farm system with multiple rookie league teams, a short-season A ball team, and other low-A clubs, but you don't want to deal with setting lineups and replacing injured players? Let your minor league managers take care of the day-to-day tasks, while keeping the ability to promote or demote players at will. Want to play with the Brewers or the Tampa Bay Rays, but don't want to worry about how you're going to afford all that young talent in a few years? You can turn off team budgets, or add in a salary cap to level the playing field.
The high level of customization has always been there, however, so it's nothing new to seasoned OOTP players. Veterans will be thrilled to see that there are some major improvements over last year's game, though -- most notably with salary arbitration and free agent compensation, as well as noticeable upgrades in the pitching system.
SALARY ARBITRATION
One of the biggest -- and most exciting -- changes in OOTP 10 is the addition of a more realistic arbitration system. In past versions of the game, you were seemingly at the mercy of an unseen formula when it came to your arbitration-eligible players, especially when it came to a player's first year of arby eligibility. Those worries are put to bed with the new salary arbitration screen, which becomes available after the conclusion of the playoffs. On this screen you'll see a list of arbitration-eligible players, along with their age, service time, current salary, and relevant stats from the past season. Also included are text boxes for each player, where you enter the dollar amount for your team's offer, as well as buttons to "submit" and "withdraw" your offers. Withdrawing your offer effectively non-tenders a player -- a message pops up telling you that if no offer is made, the player becomes a free agent. I had no qualms about testing this feature on Chris Duffy.
The offer text box comes with a salary figure already listed, and the game explains that these values reflect the figures the player will be submitting. You are free (encouraged by the instructions, even) to offer lower amounts if you think the figures are too high. In my game, for example, Carlos Villanueva seemed to think that 85 innings of 5.08 ERA ball out of the bullpen was worth $3.6 million. Of course, that's probably partially due to Villanueva's high greed and low loyalty personality ratings. If the addition of a realistic arbitration process wasn't enough, the game even determines Super 2 eligibility -- if you have a player who is Super 2-eligible, their name will appear on the list with an asterisk.
After submitting your offers and simming to the day of the arbitration hearings, you will get alerts in your in-game message box breaking the results to you. While Doug Melvin has never gone into an arbitration hearing as GM of the real-life Brewers, I wasn't so fortunate. With Prince Fielder's extension not entered into the game in my review copy, Scott Boras took me for $12 million at the hearing, and Rickie Weeks also cashed in big after hitting 25 HR in a rare injury-free season.
FREE AGENT COMPENSATION
Past versions of OOTP tried to mimic the real-life compensation system, but it was so flawed that I often found myself playing without it. Not only is the system re-worked and more accurate in OOTP 10, but you are also provided a list of free agency-eligible players on the Salary Arbitration screen. There, you can see their type classification and choose to offer them arbitration. This is an improvement over the previous system, where there was no possibility of having a free agent return by choosing arbitration or a team not wanting to offer a top-name free agent a deal for fear of not being able to afford him.
When someone signs one of your free agents that was offered arby, you receive a message in your inbox informing you of the signing and the compensation received. In past versions of the game, losing a Type A meant gaining a first round pick and losing a Type B meant gaining a second round pick -- it was a good faith effort, but not really how the system works. In OOTP 10, you receive sandwich picks for the loss of Type B players, and the customary first rounder and sandwich pick for the loss of a Type A player.
The only problem I witnessed with the new compensation system is that some players are still given unwarranted designations. For example, after reaching the end of the 2009 season, Jason Tyner was listed as one of my pending free agents. Despite compiling just 12 AB in the Major Leagues during the season, Tyner earned Type B classification. Mike Rivera, hitting .182 with 5 HR as my back-up catcher, also earned Type B status. I gladly offered them arbitration in hopes of gaining a pair of cheap sandwich picks. While no one took the bait for those two, I was able to get a cheap draft pick when Arizona signed Jorge Julio (also a Type B) during Spring Training in 2010 following a slew of bullpen injuries. The compensation system has come a long way and is greatly improved, but some more work could be done to make the system more consistent.
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
While the changes to the arbitration and compensation processes are two huge improvements, OOTP 10 includes a slew of other tweaks and improvements that only enforce the game's reputation as the most in-depth sim on the market.
The game comes with 2009 Major League rosters, and the improved AI does a great job producing realistic results with the roster sets -- when I used the 2009 quick start, the Brewers' starting lineup was nearly identical to the "real" Milwaukee lineup (the only difference was the AI favoring Mike Rivera's offense over Jason Kendall's defense). The Trade AI is also strong -- I had no luck sending Jeff Suppan to Tampa Bay for Evan Longoria, and when I shopped Bill Hall on the trade market, no one wanted to take on his contract.
In the past, pitcher ratings and attributes were fairly vague -- you had the stuff, movement, and control ratings, but not much else contributed to a pitchers' success. That has been changed for OOTP 10 -- not only is a pitchers' repertoire no longer purely aesthetic, but every pitcher has individual ratings for every pitch they can throw. Clicking on Cole Hamels' player profile, you can actually see how much better his change-up is compared to his fastball. The individual pitch rating system can also be beneficial in scouting. When you're looking through the draft pool, do you take the guy whose pitch ratings are nearly fully developed but just average, or the guy who has the potential to develop a dominating fastball/change-up combo through years of development? Will your old ace be able to maintain his spot at the top of the rotation once he loses a few miles on his fastball?
If you're the type that likes to play out every game, there are some new additions for you as well. In addition to the traditional broadcast and webcast game views, a third tab has been added -- a "widgets" view that not only allows you to control nearly every piece of information available to you, but where that information is displayed on the screen. Do you like the in-depth stat breakdowns available in the "web" view but like seeing the ball-in-play animations in the "broadcast" view? You can now have both with just a few clicks of the mouse. It may be a small change, but the ability to customize the actual layout of the graphics and statistics is just another feather in the cap of the highly-customizable OOTP series.
OVERVIEW
It didn't seem possible, but OOTP 10 is even more customizable and in-depth than any OOTP game has been before. If you've been away from the OOTP series for a few years but have been waiting to jump back in, OOTP 10 is definitely the game to get. Even if you've kept up with every version of the game, the new features definitely make OOTP 10 worth the $39.99 price tag. With so many different ways to play, the game has an extremely high re-play value that makes every penny worth it.
It's all up to the user, which is both amazing and intimidating. New users may load up OOTP 10 and be overwhelmed by all the bells and whistles. Experienced players will be able to jump right in and enjoy the game, since not much has changed from OOTP 9. Luckily for both groups, however, there is good news.
For the inexperienced gamer, OOTP 10 is highly customizable -- virtually every feature in the game can be turned off or on. Want to keep a full farm system with multiple rookie league teams, a short-season A ball team, and other low-A clubs, but you don't want to deal with setting lineups and replacing injured players? Let your minor league managers take care of the day-to-day tasks, while keeping the ability to promote or demote players at will. Want to play with the Brewers or the Tampa Bay Rays, but don't want to worry about how you're going to afford all that young talent in a few years? You can turn off team budgets, or add in a salary cap to level the playing field.
The high level of customization has always been there, however, so it's nothing new to seasoned OOTP players. Veterans will be thrilled to see that there are some major improvements over last year's game, though -- most notably with salary arbitration and free agent compensation, as well as noticeable upgrades in the pitching system.
SALARY ARBITRATION
One of the biggest -- and most exciting -- changes in OOTP 10 is the addition of a more realistic arbitration system. In past versions of the game, you were seemingly at the mercy of an unseen formula when it came to your arbitration-eligible players, especially when it came to a player's first year of arby eligibility. Those worries are put to bed with the new salary arbitration screen, which becomes available after the conclusion of the playoffs. On this screen you'll see a list of arbitration-eligible players, along with their age, service time, current salary, and relevant stats from the past season. Also included are text boxes for each player, where you enter the dollar amount for your team's offer, as well as buttons to "submit" and "withdraw" your offers. Withdrawing your offer effectively non-tenders a player -- a message pops up telling you that if no offer is made, the player becomes a free agent. I had no qualms about testing this feature on Chris Duffy.
The offer text box comes with a salary figure already listed, and the game explains that these values reflect the figures the player will be submitting. You are free (encouraged by the instructions, even) to offer lower amounts if you think the figures are too high. In my game, for example, Carlos Villanueva seemed to think that 85 innings of 5.08 ERA ball out of the bullpen was worth $3.6 million. Of course, that's probably partially due to Villanueva's high greed and low loyalty personality ratings. If the addition of a realistic arbitration process wasn't enough, the game even determines Super 2 eligibility -- if you have a player who is Super 2-eligible, their name will appear on the list with an asterisk.
After submitting your offers and simming to the day of the arbitration hearings, you will get alerts in your in-game message box breaking the results to you. While Doug Melvin has never gone into an arbitration hearing as GM of the real-life Brewers, I wasn't so fortunate. With Prince Fielder's extension not entered into the game in my review copy, Scott Boras took me for $12 million at the hearing, and Rickie Weeks also cashed in big after hitting 25 HR in a rare injury-free season.
FREE AGENT COMPENSATION
Past versions of OOTP tried to mimic the real-life compensation system, but it was so flawed that I often found myself playing without it. Not only is the system re-worked and more accurate in OOTP 10, but you are also provided a list of free agency-eligible players on the Salary Arbitration screen. There, you can see their type classification and choose to offer them arbitration. This is an improvement over the previous system, where there was no possibility of having a free agent return by choosing arbitration or a team not wanting to offer a top-name free agent a deal for fear of not being able to afford him.
When someone signs one of your free agents that was offered arby, you receive a message in your inbox informing you of the signing and the compensation received. In past versions of the game, losing a Type A meant gaining a first round pick and losing a Type B meant gaining a second round pick -- it was a good faith effort, but not really how the system works. In OOTP 10, you receive sandwich picks for the loss of Type B players, and the customary first rounder and sandwich pick for the loss of a Type A player.
The only problem I witnessed with the new compensation system is that some players are still given unwarranted designations. For example, after reaching the end of the 2009 season, Jason Tyner was listed as one of my pending free agents. Despite compiling just 12 AB in the Major Leagues during the season, Tyner earned Type B classification. Mike Rivera, hitting .182 with 5 HR as my back-up catcher, also earned Type B status. I gladly offered them arbitration in hopes of gaining a pair of cheap sandwich picks. While no one took the bait for those two, I was able to get a cheap draft pick when Arizona signed Jorge Julio (also a Type B) during Spring Training in 2010 following a slew of bullpen injuries. The compensation system has come a long way and is greatly improved, but some more work could be done to make the system more consistent.
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
While the changes to the arbitration and compensation processes are two huge improvements, OOTP 10 includes a slew of other tweaks and improvements that only enforce the game's reputation as the most in-depth sim on the market.
The game comes with 2009 Major League rosters, and the improved AI does a great job producing realistic results with the roster sets -- when I used the 2009 quick start, the Brewers' starting lineup was nearly identical to the "real" Milwaukee lineup (the only difference was the AI favoring Mike Rivera's offense over Jason Kendall's defense). The Trade AI is also strong -- I had no luck sending Jeff Suppan to Tampa Bay for Evan Longoria, and when I shopped Bill Hall on the trade market, no one wanted to take on his contract.
In the past, pitcher ratings and attributes were fairly vague -- you had the stuff, movement, and control ratings, but not much else contributed to a pitchers' success. That has been changed for OOTP 10 -- not only is a pitchers' repertoire no longer purely aesthetic, but every pitcher has individual ratings for every pitch they can throw. Clicking on Cole Hamels' player profile, you can actually see how much better his change-up is compared to his fastball. The individual pitch rating system can also be beneficial in scouting. When you're looking through the draft pool, do you take the guy whose pitch ratings are nearly fully developed but just average, or the guy who has the potential to develop a dominating fastball/change-up combo through years of development? Will your old ace be able to maintain his spot at the top of the rotation once he loses a few miles on his fastball?
If you're the type that likes to play out every game, there are some new additions for you as well. In addition to the traditional broadcast and webcast game views, a third tab has been added -- a "widgets" view that not only allows you to control nearly every piece of information available to you, but where that information is displayed on the screen. Do you like the in-depth stat breakdowns available in the "web" view but like seeing the ball-in-play animations in the "broadcast" view? You can now have both with just a few clicks of the mouse. It may be a small change, but the ability to customize the actual layout of the graphics and statistics is just another feather in the cap of the highly-customizable OOTP series.
OVERVIEW
It didn't seem possible, but OOTP 10 is even more customizable and in-depth than any OOTP game has been before. If you've been away from the OOTP series for a few years but have been waiting to jump back in, OOTP 10 is definitely the game to get. Even if you've kept up with every version of the game, the new features definitely make OOTP 10 worth the $39.99 price tag. With so many different ways to play, the game has an extremely high re-play value that makes every penny worth it.
