R.B.I. Baseball 18

Hitting is a joke! The strike zone is terrible! I got balls in the other box being called a strike! A joystick!? They throw 102! You have no time to decide where you want to go! And if you don’t use it you ground out! But, how many MLB players move before they hit? Realistic!? Please! This game is a joke! Pitching!? You have 3 pitches! A breaking ball that ends up in the dirt or clobbered 500 ft! A I guess change up? It’s a slower fastball! And a fastball! They have a 4 pitches! One of which starts off as a fastball, then breaks! So you move the stupid joystick, get ready to hit, and then it breaks! It’s ridiculous! Fielding!? Apparently everyone is a gold glove winner! The game glitches and the buttons stop working for a second! An average runner beats out a ground ball to shortstop! I loaded my team up because trading is a joke to! But I just wanted a game where I can put a beating on a team! Just for fun. Kill time! I can’t even do that! I have an all star at every position! Even the rotation and bullpen! But I can’t hit because the hitting controls are a joke! And if you do hit, it’s most likely a single! I have to steal 100 bags a game just to get runs! And base running? If you want to send a runner, you have to send both! Meaning that you basically give up an out to score a run! This game needs to be fixed! It’s ridiculous that people aren’t mad right now!

I was eager to try this game since I’ve heard so much about it, however, the game experience has been a big letdown so far. The biggest thing to this point is that there is no learning curve for new players, you just keep logging on and getting rocked by AI opponents that know how to use the game controls effectively. Presumably this continues until the player learns how to use the controls, which would be fine for a free game, but to have paid $2 to be frustrated every time I play is quite disappointing. Casual gamers (players who don’t have or won’t commit the time to learn this game as effectively as the masterful AI) probably won’t have much fun with this game. As for the gameplay, there is zero feedback or timing meters for the player during batting, which could be problematic since batting is entirely reliant on timing. I don’t expect to hit a home run every at bat, but I do think there should be some sort of feedback to inform the player on their timing so they can make adjustments. For example: I know I’m swinging early, but how early am I swinging so I can adjust appropriately? Pitching controls are just clumsy and moderately useless as the AI just gets the clutch hit every time anyway. Yes, it could be that I’m just not good at this game. But so far I have little motivation to get better.

Bugs: In franchise mode after each game I’ve notice it often computes my team’s ERA incorrectly, and at the end of 10 seasons the recap shows overall team ERA and BA in the wrong spots. Also, it won’t continue an exhibition game if I leave in the middle and come back later (stuck on big MLB logo loading page). Lastly, the pitcher often doesn’t cover first base; not sure what that’s about. Other than those issues, the gameplay is positively fantastic. Sure, it would be nice to actually feel more excitement from the team and fans in high stakes moments (maybe they could jump on each other after winning a game 7), or see more variety of reactions to a home run, but again, extremely enjoyable. Huge plus: no in-app purchases necessary - THANK YOU! Please fix those bugs and keep up the good work!