[Review] Major League Baseball 2K10

Posted by Caleb Newby at 2:36 PM Mar 09, 2010

And the umpire hangs his head in disappointment...

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It's that time of year when snow begins to melt, temperatures rise, days get longer, hope springs eternal, and America's pastime winds up once again. With the baseball season on the horizon comes 2K Sports' yearly entry, Major League Baseball 2K10 ready to do battle once again with Sony's MLB 10 The Show. Can the this year's entry from 2K dethrone the critically acclaimed Sony franchise? Quite frankly the answer is no, it cannot, but it's closer than ever and finally making a game out of it.

Major League Baseball 2K10

Publisher: 2k Sports / Developer: Visual Concepts / ESRB: Everyone / $59.99

The MLB 2K series hasn't exactly been one without its share of problems. The series has built a reputation of being mediocre at the best of times to downright awful at the worst. Compounding the problem for 2K is Sony's masterful MLB The Show which somehow continues to improve year in and year out, something that would be downright disastrous for team 2K were The Show not a PS3 exclusive. Fortunately for Xbox 360 owners, 2K's series is starting to show improvement of its own.

Visually MLB 2K10 is surprisingly subpar considering the age of the franchise and how long the current generation of consoles have been around. Nothing is so egregious that it affects the game's playability, but there are plenty of flaws and quirks. Most notable are player faces, particular created players. In My Player mode, I couldn't get anything resembling a normal, average looking guy; instead everyone had a bad case of Harland Williams chin. Unlike recent top-tier sports titles, 2K10 reminds more of previous generation games than the current crop edging ever closer to photo-realism. Clipping is an issue every time two players decide to congratulate each other with a man hug or high five. Another oddity comes when players run off the field after ending an inning or flying out. Unnatural route running has players go one direction then abruptly change heading when they realize their dugout is the other way. Pathfinding can be a problem in other genres, but in a baseball game? It's not something that should enter the conversation.

Pitching and hitting mechanics are the best in series history

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While graphically underwhelming, fans will be glad to hear that gameplay is more addictive than ever, although not without a fairly steep learning curve. Pitching again uses the unique analog movement method of semicircle inputs to deliver the perfect pitch. Expect to throw a lot of wild pitches at first if you're unfamiliar with the series. Once you have the system down you can appreciate the beauty of such a system. Perfect motion is more difficult than a simple button press, especially when the controller is vibrating in a high pressure situation. Any time a game is able to suck you inside and experience what your character is going through it's an achievement, and one that 2K10 does remarkably well.

Batting is simpler than many games have made it. Just time the incoming pitch to an upward movement of the right analog and it's a hit. Okay, it's a bit more difficult than that, but not having to aim the swing to different quadrants for a high or low, inside or outside pitch is liberating. It's harder than it may sound and the game has pulled back from the home run derby 2K9 was. The success of your swing is made up of a mix on the timing of the swing, location of the pitch, and the hitter's statistical ratings.

Included are the regular single game and franchise modes as expected, but the real show stealer is the addictive My Player mode, a takeoff of The Show's extremely similar Road to the Show. My Player puts you in the role of a rookie starting his career in AA ball with dreams of making it to the majors and an eye on the Hall of Fame. The minor leagues are a platform to get used to controls while building stats before getting called up to the big leagues. Everything that happens in a game that doesn't affect your player is simulated through, making aspirations of playing an entire season a realistic goal. In fact, games go by at a brisk enough pace that I found myself sucked in late into the night on several occasions in a "just one more game" mentality oddly similar to the "one more turn" mantra made famous by the Civilization series. Goals in My Player give plenty to shoot for - a brilliant design decision by the developers. There are long term career goals to work to, season goals, series goals, game goals, and situation specific goals, all which keep things interesting and each with its own point reward of points which go into upgrading your player's skills.

In My Player mode each at bat presents a specific goal

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The music selection is lackluster and seems to repeat more frequently than the 16 unique tracks would deem possible. It's a disappointment considering how stellar 2K's hockey soundtrack was last year. Audio on the other hand is fantastic with Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips, and John Kruk. As with all sports games you'll get repeated sound bites but 2K10 keeps them at a minimum while providing interesting and insightful commentary that seamlessly blends what's happening on the field with recent team history into the broadcast booth.

MLB 2K10 is a strong step forward for an otherwise middling franchise. For the last few years Xbox 360 owners have been a jealous lot; envious of the amazing yearly baseball experience delivered exclusively to the PlayStation 3. While 2K10 won't make anyone forget MLB The Show, gamers without Sony's system finally have a fun, addicting and respectable game to call their own. It certainly has areas that need further work, but in the end it's the most refined version of the series yet. If you've been staying away from the series in recent years this is the time to step back to the plate and take another swing. You're likely to be pleasantly surprised.

The Official Verdict: 3.5 out of 5

This review is based on a copy of the game provided by the publisher.