A million dollars to justify the legitimacy of your baseball title is nothing short of gutsy. For 2K Sports, it is more than just making their series legitimate, it is making it relevant. Trounced by the competition, Major League Baseball 2K10 is revamped and re-worked, creating the tension of a batter/pitcher duel, and this time with far fewer glitches.
To be clear, MLB 2K10 has glitches, but those experienced during the review process were far fewer than previous years, and mostly visual. Watching the pitcher standing at the mound, minus the ball which has suddenly disappeared, is hardly the game breaker that prior years fielding mix-ups were.
It is another knock on the presentation, an area where 2K used to dominate, and is now playing catch-up. Transition animations can be staggeringly poor, and there is a general robotic-ness to the motions in general. Uninteresting camera angles (including a difficult to use default batting cam) and the non-responsive crowd don’t help either.
Strides for this franchise have been made where they should have been made. Pitching requires specific motions of the right analog stick, more refined and accurate that previous years. Compared to the game’s Xbox 360 counterpart, the analog sticks on the PlayStation 3 perform better for whatever reason. Mistakes do happen and the game will incorrectly register a movement even though you stopped at the proper release point, but that is the nature of baseball as much as it is a design flaw.
Batting also uses the stick, a simple flick up for contact swing, down and up for a power shot, and left or right for an at-bat salvaging defensive swing. That last one works… too well. It is far too easy to stay on the plate, hacking at pitches to stay alive. Sending numerous foul balls into the stands is not only boring, but a cheap way to keep the opposing pitcher throwing, wearing him down faster. Using the stick itself is enormously gratifying once the timing is mastered.
Article comments
1 - Mario
I don't know, I was initially pro XBo but now I own a PS3 and I can tell you that the MLB the show for me is a much better gaming experience over the 2k series. After playing mlb2k10 enough to try to win the million dollars, I finally played my mlb the show and I can truly say that the show is MUCH BETTER. I'm sorry for saying this but the gameplay in 2k is lame, the home runs suck, the hitting is way too tough. I like how the shortstop sometimes gets the camera view on his throws but other than that, I rate this game a 2 out of 10 and the show a 9 out of 10. PSN Gamertag = Hater--Aide