Major League Baseball 2K10
Review: Major League Baseball 2K10 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, NDS)
Major improvement (finally).
It's year two of Visual Concepts' stewardship of 2K Sports' baseball title. Last year's game had too many animation issues in the field and a pitcher-batter interface with a host of issues. Before the release of 2K10, promises were made, as they always are. On occasion, even the most jaded of us is pleasantly surprised.
During a pre-release developer conference call, much was said about focusing on the the pitcher-batter interface. It doesn't take much time with 2K10 to realize that it's paid off. The system finally feels right for pitching. It's been overly complicated in the past, with analog stick motions to choose pitches and timing circles to simulate accuracy. It was a good system, but there were simply too many layers. The current system finds the sweet spot between too complicated and just pressing a button to throw a pitch. With a little practice, you'll find a good blend of risk and reward.
From the batter's box, it's also easy to see MLB 2K10 does another thing extremely well: balls and strikes look less alike than in other games. The pitches that find the corners can be tricky, as they should be. But while some games make all pitches look like strikes (which make us want to swing at everything just in case) the pitches in this game don't have to be over your head to be seen as balls.
Both the pitcher and batter controls and views combine to make something delicious: a game that includes walks (WALKS!) by both the computer and human players. We gave up and drew walks at what feels like a very realistic rate. CPU hitters take strikes, too. Everything about this part of the game is more organic and more interesting than ever before.
With Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips and John Kruk doing the announcing, the audio is, at least in Thorne's case, some of the best in broadcasting. You'll hear plenty of repeat comments, as always, but it's balanced out by situational commentary, too. By the second and third at-bats in a game you'll notice references to how the batter made that last out or what pitch they put out into the field.
Once the boys of summer get going, the MLB Today feature will update your roster (lineups, starters, lefty and righty switching) to reflect what's happening outside. We have to see how accurate it works in practice, but it's an excellent idea.
The My Player mode is new, and offers the chance to choose a player to level up from the minors. If you take a pitcher you'll advance very quickly, though not realistically, because you'll reach your goals before having the abilities you'll need to actually play in the majors. If you use a hitter, you might feel like you're stuck in the minors forever just because no one gets as much action as the pitcher. Overall, it's a feature that's definitely worth playing through at least once with a pitcher. It's an interesting take on a career mode and should get more attention as time goes on.
Playing defense has improved due to the fixing of frame rate and stuttering issues from previous years. But some animations still transition awkwardly, particularly at the end of an out. Players don't deliver or catch the ball then relax once the play is over, as they would normally. And infielders often throw overhand when all they have to do is flip the ball ten feet.
But MLB 2K10 does have one more thing right: the size of the field. A double off the wall or down the line should be a stand up double for all but the slowest of the slow. Not since Power Pros on the PS2 has a game figured that out as well as 2K10. Runners also advance on balls hit to the opposite field, which is nice. We have yet to see a second basemen hold a runner on second when he has to go deep into the hole to get a grounder.
There are other, bigger, issues, however. The biggest is online multiplayer. So far, we've had far too many freezes and lost games to recommend it. And achievements are unavailable if any sliders are used, which is, frankly, absurd. Sports games and sliders are forever linked, and turning off a popular feature like achievements for anyone who uses them is a poor decision.
Finally, stealing is simply too much work to be worth the effort. Not every piece of the game should be as simple as tapping one button, but not every piece of the game should be a game in itself, either.
It took a while, but MLB 2K10 has fixed enough, and added enough, to be an excellent way to play a baseball game on your TV. The multiplayer issues need to be fixed as soon as possible, but we're looking forward to the series using this year as a foundation for the future.
