New 'MLB Slugfest' loads up for Net play

By TOM HAM
WASHINGTON POST
The sequel "MLB Slugfest: Loaded" finally brings Midway's cartoonish take on baseball online; PlayStation 2 and Xbox owners can now compete on the Internet, with voice chat available on each console. Game play was relatively stutter-free (although our tests took place before the game's release this week); in case you forget there's a real season going on, current stats from baseball's MLB.com site scroll across the screen.
Offline, "Loaded" brings a deep, engrossing Baseball Mogul mode with the usual franchise-scenario features (build a team, compete through a season, repeat) and a few extras, such as the chance to read news headlines about your team's exploits. Another dose of baseball-sim realism comes in the revised pitching system of "Loaded": In addition to the old icon-based interface, a new pitch-meter mechanism allows finer control and last-second changes to your release to fake out batters.
The crazy antics of the "Slugfest" series continue here: Players' feet appear to catch fire when they're sprinting down the base lines, fielders climb walls to catch fly balls, and the scoreboard now even explodes when hit with a ball. But now, if you don't feel in the mood for that hyperactive animation, you can turn those features off and play a regular game of baseball.
X"MLB Slugfest: Loaded" is for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.