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01 March 2010
I was fortunate enough to get an advanced copy of MLB 2K10 for 360 last Friday, and I wanted to post some quick impressions. One of my goals this past weekend was to really dive into the actual in-baseball gameplay and report a bit on it. I have played about 3-4 hours worth of the game, all my games were played as quick-matchups, so I haven't yet had a chance to dive into "Season", "Online", or "My Player" mode yet.
Instead, this preview is about the meat of the game..the actual baseball gameplay. Unfortunately in past MLB 2K games, this is where we saw too many issues, so I figured any good short preview would focus on that area, just to see what's been done and if things are up to scratch. I know I have been very critical of the series in the past, particularly as it related to fielding problems, technical problems, and way too many homeruns per game (even on higher difficulty settings). So I went into this year being somewhat skeptical of the product, particularly after last years out-of-the-box hiccups. (example: first basemen who would not have their foot on the bag while receiving accurate, "easy-out" throws from the infield)
After about 3 solid hours of playing the product, I have to say that I'm quite impressed by what I've seen so far of MLB 2K10.
But first off- a word of caution. If you've ever played any other baseball game, and are somewhat competent in previous MLB 2K games, or even Sony's MLB The Show, do yourself a favor IMMEDIATELY when booting up the game. Go to difficulty, and bump it up from Pro to All Star. Pro is a homerun fest. Trust me on this. All Star is probably where most of us should be. This isn't surprising, since the default difficulty on most sports games is set as such. However, for fans such as me who have found past versions of MLB 2K to be veritable arcade games with laughable amounts of HRs, it probably wasn't such a good idea for 2K Sports to release the MLB 2K10 demo as set to a default of Pro difficulty, with no way of changing that. Unfortunately, that might scare people who felt burnt on MLB 2K's previously "too casual" difficulty levels (even All Star was a home-run fest in previous games.)
I'm happy to report that once you go to All Star difficulty in MLB 2K10, you get way more realistic numbers this year. However, if you want to take the Yankees and rip 3-4 homers per game with both Rodriquez and Textiera, then by all means, play on Pro.
Now..with that advisory out of the way...
Once you jump into the game, the first thing you'll notice about MLB 2K10 is the attention that was paid to the pitcher/batter battle and its feel. The pitching controls are streamlined a bit more than last year. You still have the same sort of two-gesture pitching method as before. I have to admit, when this was first introduced two years ago in MLB 2K8, I flat-out hated gesture pitching. Yes, it was optional (and still is, as far as I've seen). I just felt it added a layer of complexity that kept me from often coming back to the MLB 2K diamond. Starting in 2K9, I did start to embrace the idea a bit. Now in 2K10, I'm finding that I enjoy the "gesture pitching", and its improvements over the past two years, much more than the pitching interface in the critically acclaimed MLB The Show series. 2K has won me over in terms of the pitching interface, and now they have tightened the controls more in MLB 2K10.
And, that's good, because batters have been given a couple more tools as well. Now there's high-contact chance defensive swings in the mix. (Sure, they will usually end up being fouls, but its a great tool to try to stay alive in a given at-bat.) This only adds to the "battle" between pitcher and hitter, which 2K has clearly put alot of attention into. To add to this, pitcher fatigue and composure plays a much bigger role on All Star difficulty than it has in previous iterations of the series. This is indeed welcomed. You now have to use your mound visits judiciously and keep a good eye on your pitcher througout a game, particularly when you are using a low-in-the-rotation guy. (Edit: or..any of the Pittsburgh Pirate's pitching staff..). I'm also happy to report there are more varied hits than before. This used to be a complaint of the series, but one that 2K Sports has seemed to address well this year.
As for batting, starting on All-Star difficulty level, you'll probably have bigger decisions to make when thinking about batting for contact versus batting for power. This year, as stated before, it is more difficult to hit home-runs on All Star difficulty. This is further augmented by the fact that your "home-run swing" is a different, faster animation than the contact swing. This does a fine job of throwing you off until you adjust. I still find myself swinging too early using the swing stick's power swing (right-stick back, then up quickly). This is a good thing in my view. However, now you have to think when's the best time for contact, and when's the best time to risk-it with a power-swing. This level of strategy was missing before, and I'm glad it has come into play now. (Lets face it, it used to be you'd swing for the fences with any decent power hitter on every count of every at-bat and usually win with such a strategy in previous versions of this game. That is changing, and good for 2K Sports to finally address that.)
One thing that might be a bit controversial is the new "Batter's Eye". It works in conjunction with the under-the-hood Inside Edge reports on every player which drives much of the statistical probabilities for a given player. Well, this year, depending on the batter's skill and pitcher's competence, a batter might be able to read a pitch coming out of the pitcher's hand.
Hey, that happens in real life..
..however, I mean, quite literally, "read" a pitch. Sometimes on a given throw, with a good hitter, the game will have a small text popup telling you what the incoming pitch is. You end up occasionally seeing "fastball" display on the screen after the release...or "breaking ball", etc. So you actually get a "read" on a pitch. Now, this feature is optional, so if you don't like it, you can turn it off. So far, I don't really have a feeling on it. (I have it on default where - when it pops up/if it pops up- it only shows me the type of incoming pitch, not the location.) Judging by my several losses with the Yanks, I can't say as it has helped overcome my rookie-ness with the new game, but I'm sure this feature might be controversial to some of the hardcores.
Now, onto fielding. The first thing I noticed is that 2K Sports has taken a page out of the MVP 05 baseball fielding book. Say hello to our old-friend "Pre-loaded throws". Yes, now you can power up a hard throw to a given plate while the ball is still headed from the bat to your fielder's glove. This simulates the pre-throw fielder stance and strength of a hurried throw. Also, like in MVP, you have an throw/overthrow meter. So yes, there's a risk/reward of those kind of powered up throws, like there is with super-urgent, hurried throws in real-life baseball. I'm also elated to report that fielding seems cleaner in this version of the game and many of the fielding gaffes caused by animations simply no kicking-in for catches as well as first basement with a foot off the bag (ahem..2K9 pre-patch) have not reared their ugly heads so far in my 3 hours or so with the game.
In short, the baseball just "feels more right" than in any MLB 2K release prior to MLB 2K10.
As for graphics and sound, as usual, 2K Sports puts forth a very glossy, very attractive baseball game. The audio and presentation is first rate. MLB 2K series has always put out a good-looking game, and this is no different. However, I must mention that this game has maintained what appears to be a very solid frame-rate throughout my play sessions, which is indeed encouraging. (MLB 2K9 had some problems with that.) I also find the audio commentary up to the same 2K high-standards as most of their games. On the presentation front, I do find myself really enjoying some of the "in-game slow motion" where plays happening at various plates are automatically slowed down for ultra slow-motion close-ups. I'm sure this is probably optional too, but I found myself liking it. Jeter had an incredible home-base throwout of Nick Markakis that was slowed down by the camera to show Posada's body and glove in relation to where Markakis' lead hand was when trying to slide in head first. Got him out..and it looked and felt beautiful. (Lost the game, but got the out..)
Now if I could only use some discipline in deciding to push tired pitchers...I might win a few..
So far I have really enjoyed the game. It's very early yet, and again, this preview was based solely on 4 hours of play stretched over one weekend, but I think there's a way more solid baseball foundation in MLB 2K10 than we've seen in previous iterations of the product. More to come as I dive into other modes.
Scott Hemphill
ConsoleSports.net
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