I played 13 full games and "watched" parts of others. What do I mean by "watched"? Replay has this really cool feature called simulcast games. While you are playing your game, the other games are being played by the computer at the same time. You can click on the out of town scoreboard at any time to watch or even take over as coach in another game. So, after I was done with my Reds game, I would watch whatever game was close late in the game. Awesome feature!
Another great feature is the Daily Recap available after a day's games are completed. It shows the updated standings, has all the days boxscores available for viewing or printing, and shows the player of the day, the play of the day, and the game of the day. What a great way to see if you missed anything. Here's a sample of that screen.
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So, how were the results? The results felt authentic. When I played as my Reds, I was excited when Joey Votto came up. I expected lots of strikeouts when Drew Stubbs batted and, of course, he complied. I expected good defense and that's what I got. I was confident if I gave a lead to my bullpen, we'd win and we usually did.
Unfortunately, the demo doesn't allow for full season replays. That's my preferred way to determine how accurate the engine is. Because of how the cards are constructed it looks like the game will produce very good results. For instance, pitchers who walk very few batters will perform better with regards to walks than games that support a straight 50/50 batter/pitcher result model. The same with strikeouts, homers allowed, etc. Here's one of many available stat reports for my replay.
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As you can see, Joey Votto was absolutely on fire and would certainly be the MVP if the voting were done at that point. Before Votto got hurt last year, he was a very strong MVP candidate so that start is not surprising. I was using the "as played" schedule so starting pitchers and starting lineups were exactly as they were played last year. That's really a must have feature for replayers. I enjoy that feature, but I'd also like to see how good the injury system for the game is as well.
So, what did I not like about the game? Primarily one thing - the computer manager was not as robust as I'd like. The computer manager makes some downright funky decisions from time to time and doesn't seem to take the lineup due up into consideration when making decisions.
In the 4th inning with men on first and second and 1 out, the computer manager had the 8th place hitter sacrifice with a pitcher with a sub .100 batting average on deck. That's almost guaranteed to kill your rally. What a waste! I mean I don't sacrifice with 1 out unless the pitcher is the batter or in a squeeze situation. I surely don't set up the pitcher with two men in scoring position and expect him to drive in the runners.
Twice I saw Jason Motte brought into tie games early. Once in the 7th and once in the 8th. That's a 1970's use of relievers and I'm not saying it's not the best way to manage, but replayers want realistic results and bringing in your closer that early means he's not going to get saves. Now, I didn't try to tinker with the computer manager, but my thought is that the manager should be pre-programmed to manage like the real life team was used.
I also saw two occasions in which the AI let a relief pitcher bat in crucial situations. Once with men on first and third with 2 outs in the twelfth inning, the reliever batted. Now I was "watching" this game so I don't know if there were no pinch hitters left, but even if they were all used, I'd imagine there was a starting pitcher with a better shot at getting a hit. To make matters worse, the reliever was immediately relieved to start the 13th inning. Ouch.
The second time occurred with the home team batting in the bottom of the ninth down a run with runners on first and third and two outs. The AI left he reliever in with 0 AB and presumably very little chance of driving in the run. Surely there had to be a better option especially in a do or die situation.
Finally, I saw a pitcher relieved with 0 outs in the 7th who was throwing a 1 hitter and had just allowed his second walk of the game to the leadoff hitter of the inning. The pitcher wasn't tired yet and I just don't picture a manager going out and asking for the baseball in that situation. Less aggregious than the other situations, however.
In summary, I very much enjoyed Replay Baseball PC and recommend a download of the demo. The game is very visually appealing and there are even downloads that allow you to get pictures for the players to further improve the graphical quality of the game. The game looks quite realistic with the stats it will generate. My only complaint is a common one - the computer manager is not anywhere near a human level of intelligence. If that computer manager problem gets resolved, Replay will be a Grand Slam!
