Spring brings flowers, sunshine, and warm weather but spring also brings one of America’s favorite past times, baseball. With the MLB starting, OOTP Developments studios bring us Out of The Park Baseball 26! Out of The Park Baseball 26 is the full management simulation baseball game that fans are playing worldwide. OOTP Baseball 26 is the 26th edition of the franchise.
This game gives an updated experience for fans of the sport and management sims. With its thorough and up to the minute real time player data, OOTP continues to be one of the most detailed and immersive baseball management sims out there. As a first timer with the OOTP Baseball franchise I am excited to share my experience and thoughts in this review.
Gameplay and features
OOTP Baseball 26 focuses on the complexities of managing a baseball team. As the player, you can take over manager duties for any team, you can even create a new team if you like. As a first timer, I was happy to see that they offered links to videos to help guide you on your first playthrough. The game also provides tutorials as you go through the many interfaces offered in the game. One of the first things I noticed, the realism and attention to the details were like no other game I have seen.
OOTP 26 simulates all the aspects of being a baseball manager, from scouting and drafting to controlling the players on the field. That’s not all, you are able to control and make decisions on the pitching rotations, batting order, signing of free agents, hiring and firing of staff and coaches and more. There is a lot of meat on the bone with this game, you can spend hours and hours just scouting and reviewing players in the draft; or trying to find the right coach to push your team to the playoffs.
With the highly sophisticated player progression system, you can track your players more closely. You get middle of the season reports to help you see how your players are tracking. This allows you to decide if you want to continue developing that player or cut him loose. You also keep track of your minor league teams and the players there as well. I enjoyed seeing scouting reports about up-and-coming players from around the world. Negotiating contracts with free agents and current players.
Another thing I really liked is you able to pick what you want to manage as the team’s general manager in franchise mode. You can be fully hands on, or you can delegate tasks like, setting development focus or signing minor league players to yourself or assistant GM. You also have the ability to play in commissioner mode. Commissioner mode allows you to control other teams, change league rules and even edit players. I knew with options like commissioner mode and having the “Cannot be Fired†option, gives me some relief. Even if I mess things up, I am able to correct them in some form or fashion.
OOTP 26 features a full controlled 3d or 2d viewable simulation module of your games. Fully controlled and in-depth with live play by play options. You can choose to go inning by inning or skip ahead. Details of players and their batting averages, lineups, players in the outfield and more. I was impressed watching a full game play out and you even have crowd movement and noise.
OOTP Baseball 26 features modes such as franchise, drive for the pennant, perfect team and more. You can play historical games and utilize players and teams from previous eras in your game. If you want to see how you stand up against other players, they offer the ability to join online leagues also. A feature I know returning players love is you can import a game from Out of The Park 25. Also for the first time in game, the world baseball classic is a feature in single player mode.
The updated and sophisticated AI adds so much to a number of systems in the game. From how the simulation engine calculates player performance and outcome, to how the game adapts to your strategy. We see it in the player evaluations for the draft, trades and negotiations with teams and players. The AI really challenges you to think in a strategic matter when making decisions.
Performance and Presentation
While not an “On field†simulation, OOTP shines as an immersive baseball management sim. While full of interfaces and information to interact with, you have full control of your favorite baseball team at your fingertips. I enjoyed the 3D module simulation that OOTP offers. The stadium visuals, player profiles and player animations were better than expected. The game runs smoothly and the developers did a wonderful job at optimizing. Didn’t experience any lag and no crashes during my time, even with other programs running at the same time.
My Final Thoughts
Out of The Park Baseball 26 was my first time in this world and it’s safe to say it won’t be my last. Being a sports gamer I am completely shocked that I have not found this franchise sooner. Not a perfect game, it can be overwhelming for inexperienced players, some of the tutorial information is not as in-depth or detailed as needed and you have to go to another platform to view those additional help videos.
Huge kudos for posting those detailed, in-depth videos on the studio’s YouTube page. As I stated previously though, this game is packed to the brim with content. If you are a baseball fan, this game will have you in front of your PC instead of the TV.
A code was provided to Gamer Social Club for this review, thanks to OOTP Developments Studios. This game was played on PC.
