I've read several bad reviews of this game so let me give you my perspective in thier conplaints. First the play by play is awful, I turn the sound down and listen to a cd. However no one ever bought a game because it had good play by play. Second, the fielding/batting/pitching engines are difficult because they are difficult in real baseball. I think it mirrors real baseball beacause it's hard to pitch and hit and field. To paraphrase the great Ted Williams, "The hardest thing in the world to do is hit a baseball." So get over it and practice the game....It gets easier with practice. as for this so-called frame rate slowdown, no one seemed to notice it only slows down for close plays. To conclude, this game is very realistic and very enjoyable once you get used to its quirks. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because that style and realism first appeared in NFL2K. So it isn't revolutionary anymore. If you love videogame baseball, buy this game.....go Reds!