"Out of the Park 2007" Review (PC)

The Bottom Line: Want a baseball management game? "Out of the Park 2007" won't let you down. Having both the ease of learning to play and complex gameplay makes it a must have for veterans and beginners to the series.

• A baseball management game where you can manage historical or fictional teams.
• New gamers to the series will find the combination of video tutorials, 500+ page manual, and in-game help menu to guide them through their first season.
• Be responsible for the finance successful of the team.
• Scout, release, and trade players.
• Manage the lineup for right handed pitchers, left handed pitchers, and the depth chart for substitutions and injuries.
• Set players as untouchable or shoppable for trades.
• Create or join an online league.
• Inclusion of minor leagues.
• Email system to help keep you updated.
• Edit ballpark and fan interest.
• Compatible with Lahman Database, so you can import any baseball season in the MLB.
• Read the team's page to keep track of your players and standings.

Upon starting "Out of the Park 2007," you are given options to start setting up a league, choosing a quick start game, importing 2006 game files, or starting a previous game. Never played before? Your best bet is to play a quick game. Setting up a league can be cumbersome if you have no idea what the game is like. A quick game will let you jump and check out the features. It's good for getting a handle on where to find things, move around the screens, and really digging in to see just what a manager can control.

A game like "Out the Park 2007" is hard to jump into. The good news for new players is that the game comes with a 500+ page manual, video tutorials, and the help menu is always close by. There's a lot to digest. Players need to be resigned, injuries take place, money needs to keep flowing in, and strategies in place are all part of a day's work. "OOTP" has an active community if the manual doesn't solve your problem.

Watch out for information overload! The player's profile comes with stats on their health, personality, ability ratings, player news, and previous years' stats. The ratings are color coded, great for telling at a glance if a player is worth holding onto. You can even edit a player's ratings or change their position if you so desire.

Micromanagers will enjoy just how much you can micromanage. Lineups, subs, rotation, trades, pitching strategy, defensive strategy, and much more need to be looked after. You can get away with not managing every aspect all the time. That's what a good depth chart is for. Or you auto-play a weeks or a month of time if you want to get through the season faster.

You determine how fast you want the seasons to go. You decide if you want to start in the minor leagues and work your way to the majors. The approach you want to take is all up too you. The bottomline is that you cannot go wrong with "Out of the Park 2007." It has the resources to guide you through learning the game and the complexity to keep you interested.