I’m not a fan of 2K Sports and haven’t enjoyed any of their games since ESPN NFL 2K5 on the PS2 – ESPN MLB 2K4 (PS2) was the last baseball game I enjoyed by them – but I was pleasantly surprised when I put MLB 2K8 into my Xbox 360.
Let me get the major issue out of the way first – the frame rate. The frame rate while fielding is absolutely terrible. Fortunately, it can be fixed by signing out of your Xbox Live profile once you start your game. Unfortunately, none of your stats will be recorded to your VIP profile for the games you play. 2K Sports is aware of the problem and has a patch in the works to resolve the problem. Let’s hope the patch arrives soon and actually works.
There’s been a lot of discussion about the graphics of MLB 2K8. Many people think last year’s game looked better and while I can’t argue with that – I don’t own MLB 2K7 – I do think that the graphics and animations in MLB 2K8 are much better than people give it credit for. To be fair, I did download and play the MLB 2K7 demo and didn’t think there was much of a difference in how both games looked.
Another positive feature in this year’s game in the inclusion of different camera angles with adjustable zoom levels. While 2K Sports used to provide more camera angles than needed in their older games, it’s something they’ve moved away from recently and it’s nice to see it return in MLB 2K8.
Finally, we get to the gameplay. I’ve always felt that 2K’s gameplay was very gimmicky with many of their past titles and had concerns with the new fielding, pitching and batting schemes introduced in MLB 2K8. Surprisingly, I enjoy all three new additions. What’s funny is that I never liked the analog pitching, batting and fielding in EA’s NCAA Baseball series, but absolutely love it in MLB 2K8, and you can revert back to the older schemes if you don’t enjoy the new ones.
The pitching has undergone the biggest change and after getting comfortable with it, it would be hard for me to go back to the button-pressing schemes of the past. Be aware that it will take a little while to get comfortable with the new mechanics and I suggest the pitching tutorial to help you along. Now that I’ve gotten better I find myself almost never throwing “Meatballs” but still having problems with accuracy (that’s a good thing).
The “Swing Stick 2.0” has been simplified this year. There are no longer contact and power swings (even though the manual says there are). You simply pull the right-stick back when the pitcher releases the ball and push it forward to swing. You can also push up and in or up and out to pull the ball or go to the opposite field. It’s good feeling to pull an inside fastball down the line.
The fielding is probably my favorite change in the game. The analog throwing meter is done much better than in EA’s NCAA Baseball titles – you now have more control over the power and direction of the throw. A complaint I heard about last year’s game was a detached feeling to your fielders. That’s not the case here as the fielders feel responsive to your controls.
The baserunning has also been changed for the better. I’ve always been a big fan of the baserunning model used in EA’s MVP and NCAA Baseball titles, but found myself very comfortable with MLB 2K8’s control scheme. You can now use the left-analog stick to point to the baserunner you want to control (it defaults to the lead baserunner) and choose a face button to send them to the base of your choice (Y = 2nd base, X = 3rd base and A = Home). LT and RT are also available to move all the runners. It’s a very elegant solution that makes baserunning much easier than in the past.
While there are still many things that need to be improved (the frame rate being the most noticeable), there is a solid base for a good baseball game here. I’m hopeful that the patch will help elevate this game to a higher status and am actually looking forward to MLB 2K9 – something I never thought I’d say.