Amazingly, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has remained the ASB cover athlete for seven straight seasons. Like Derek, ASB has been a model of consistency. Year in and year out, Acclaim puts together a fairly solid baseball game. However, while other developers continue to try to improve their baseball games, Acclaim decided somewhere along the line it would be fine for them to just stand pat.

Admittedly, the above statement is a little harsh because Acclaim has made some improvements, but on the whole the differences aren't as sweeping as you might find in other titles. Generally, though, with the exception of their new "Fieldercam," if you've played ASB 2004, you've played ASB 2005. And since I've just raised it, let's talk about this highly touted "Fieldercam."

I do have to give Acclaim credit for trying, and in theory "Fieldercam" is brilliant, but in practice this new camera is anything but fun. The biggest problem with this new system is you're given a great view of your player but not of the ball itself. So, on most plays, you have to follow arrows and on-screen indicators while controlling the camera with the right analog at the same time. After several games, you will adjust but even after you do, you'll still fail to execute some routine plays and you won't feel compelled to use that view very often when playing. It simply fails to create that sense of immersion that we'd hoped for. To make matters worse, this camera angle is the default choice for Xbox Live play and TWIB challenges and it cannot be switched. This is a terrible oversight by Acclaim, and for many gamers it essentially ruins the online experience.

One of the slight improvements this year is that you now have your choice of four different batting interfaces. The "old-school" 2D cursor is available and if you want some more control over your swing direction, the classic 3D cursor works just as well as it always has. Tilt it up to hit fly balls, down for grounders, and in or out to pull or slice the ball. A power swing can also be toggled on or off in this mode. For players who are sick of cursors, there's also a zone batting option, which means you simply need to push the left analog towards the zone the ball is being thrown to. This option was available last year, but it does feel somewhat more refined in ASB 2005. Truly inept gamers will appreciate the timing based swing, as it only requires that you time your press of the "A" button to hit. Finally, in all these interfaces Acclaim gives you the option of pulling back and then pushing forward on the right analog to swing, rather than pressing the "A" button. It's nice to have the option, but most probably won't bother to use it. Overall, I've found that hitting in ASB is too easy, and homers are far too frequent even on higher difficulty settings; in fact, while playing on "HOF" in my last game I hit 6 home runs in a game and had 24 hits.

Pitching in ASB 2005 is pretty much what you would expect. You simply select a pitch and then move the cursor in the zone to aim. The pitch location can be tweaked right up until the pitcher releases the ball, so just because the cursor has disappeared doesn't mean you can't still alter trajectory. It's also nice to see that, for most pitchers, ASB 2005 does include a better repertoire or pitch selection than last year's version. Some gamers may prefer the simplicity of ASB's pitching interface, but it doesn't offer that feeling of directly affecting each pitch as EA's MVP does with its golf-like meter.

Acclaim also made slight improvements to the fielding mechanics in ASB 2005. Whether playing with "Fieldercam" or not, the circular indicator on the field that represents where the ball will land now contains three stacked rings. As the ball gets closer to the ground, each ring disappears. This serves to give you a better idea of the rate at which the ball is dropping, and consequently how much time you have to catch up to the ball. Diving for balls this year is also much more responsive, whereas in ASB 2004 (and previous versions) diving was rendered practically useless.

One feature in ASB 2005 that is very much appreciated is cooperative play. Why haven't other baseball titles included this? Up to four players can play together on the same team and can be assigned to control any positions they wish. When playing with a friend or sibling, for example, it can be a lot of fun to have one person play infield and pitch while you play outfield or vice versa.

Like last year, the franchise mode in ASB 2005 is fairly deep. You can choose any team you want or you can create your own expansion team from scratch. If you pick the latter, you can decide on a stadium location, team mascot, and uniforms, and then participate in the draft. Obviously, all the usual options of setting lineups, making trades, dealing with contracts, etc. are present, but the difference maker is that Acclaim has implemented a point system for player development. This means that you can have a greater role in determining their progression. If a player performs well, he'll earn points that can be used to beef up attributes such as power, contact, arm strength, or in the case of a pitcher you can even learn a new pitch type. This unique addition to the franchise mode is a welcome one and it almost gives the mode an RPG-like feel.

The ASB series has always been lauded for being feature-rich. ASB 2005 continues this tradition, as it includes many neat extras. In addition to Quickplay, Home Run Derby, and Franchise modes, you can also play a game of baseball trivia, take stadium tours, which actually present some interesting history particular to each venue, participate in "This Week in Baseball" (TWIB) challenges, which is the name for this year's scenario mode, and unlock player cards, cheats, and video clips. The TWIB challenge offers 21 new scenarios, picked right from some of the most tension-filled moments in the 2003 baseball season. For example, can you make the catch on the infamous foul ball caught by Cubs fan Steve Bartman during the 2003 NLCS? The TWIB challenge really could have benefited from a "retry" option, though, so that you don't have to go through all the loading screens every time you fail a scenario.

Visually, not much has changed in ASB 2005 from last year's edition. What this means, is that you have a decent looking game with exquisite stadiums. Yes, the stadiums in ASB 2005 are easily the best virtual representations found in any baseball title. Practically every detail of each park is present, and the sense of scale and depth to each tier is outstanding. While the stadiums stand out, the rest of the game's graphical presentation is merely adequate. Some player models are accurate and some aren't, and the player faces just seem too grainy; some are even bad enough that they almost look like burn victims with plastic surgery. Additionally, animations aren't varied enough and at times they can seem quite stiff or awkward; it's especially annoying that players always return to the now typical All-Star crouch position after every play (it's become ASB's hallmark). Other presentation faux pas include clipping problems between players on the bases, an enlarged beach ball-like effect that makes the baseball seem very "floaty" on certain angles, and the "vacuum" animation of balls magically being snatched up after seemingly already having passed a fielder.

Unfortunately, the game's audio, while still good, doesn't appear to be quite as satisfying as last year's version. The licensed music from the likes of LL Cool J and House of Pain has been replaced with other tracks that aren't as well known; luckily you can use the Xbox's custom soundtrack feature to remedy this. The play-by-play and color commentary from Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons feels a little duller this year, except for when Lyons goes off on one of his tangents (like discussing Sosa's corked bat). In fact, sometimes the English commentary bores me so much that I get more enjoyment from the upbeat Spanish track provided by Arizona Diamondbacks' Oscar Soria, despite the fact that I don't know a lick of Spanish. The crowd this year seems a little livelier, but the fans are still lacking player specific cheers and jeers. The rest of the audio, such as the crack of the bat and the pop of the glove are standard fare.

In the end, there's no denying that ASB 2005 is a good game; it's just not a great baseball title. Perhaps if Acclaim can focus more on improving the gameplay and less on extras, next year ASB just might live up to its All-Star moniker.