2k Sports is rounding out it’s 10th Anniversary release celebrations with the recent launch of MLB 2k10. After a rather lackluster 2009 season the development team took a long hard look at what worked and didn’t work and are hoping to hit a home run. While there are some nice changes and some great tweaks there is still quite a few downfalls with MLB 2k10.
The biggest new addition is the My Player Mode. Gamers can create their own player and play out a career starting on a Double A team working their way up to the majors. My Player offers up a varied experience depending on the position you choose. Fielding positions get the most mix of play, as you’ll be fielding and batting. While pitchers get a more exciting at times type of experience, but lack batting. Catchers are by far the most tedious of positions to play in My Player mode, since you don;t actually call the pitches, and the only real action is pop flys or bunts. As you play games you get skill points for various accomplishments, these points are then spent on increasing your players skills. Skill points are one part of My Player done fairly well. Instead of all points being lumped together and then being able to be spent on any training aspect, you get skill points for Batting, Fielding and Running. However some might get frustrated as you might be good in one area and will find it hard to increase your skills in other spots, this issue is especially apparent with the running section because that requires scoring runs and stolen bases, and you can’t score runs if your team mates stink, and with no speed your not going to rake up many steals. However My Player mode does have occasional drills, which allow you pick drills from each area. If you complete the goal in the drill you get extra skill pints and other skill bonuses, my suggestion is use these drills to work on base running. While I applaud the development team for finally getting this mode into the game, it still needs lots of work. After a few games the mode gets boring and quite repetitive (except for pitchers which is pretty fun), also the mode lacks some realism, for instance you can just jump from team to team by requesting a trade. My Player Mode is a good first step and I’m sure it will improve next season.
Like NHL and NBA 2k10 the “Today” modes (MLB Today, NBA Today, NHL Today) really make this game special and gives fans a quick and easy way to enjoy their favorite teams throughout the real world season. As soon as the game launches you see a list of the days games, and can jump right into any of them. And just like NBA and NHL 2k10, MLB 2k10 features the dynamic announcing and live stats. So as the real world season unfolds you’ll experience the real stats in game and the announcing team will tie your virtual game into the real world.
This years big development focus was on Hitters vs. Pitchers. The pitching and batting AI have been vastly improved and hitting that clutch hit, or getting that important K come with a real feeling of accomplishment. These improvements lead to a game that plays more realistic, if you are a wild batter and swing at every pitch you’ll start getting thrown more pitches outside your range. And many times you’ll run into high pitch counts on good hitters. Also added is real world batter eye stats, now when at the plate you’ll get a hint at what’s coming at you, and the better the batter’s eye rating the better the information is.
Controls have at the core remained the same but there are improvements to the total control pitching and now there is total control batting. Using the right thumbstick you can either attempt Power, Contact or Defensive swings. Again these controls are quite rewarding and make for a more interesting experience since anyone can just press a single button. Learning the pitches and getting down batting gives you a sense of an education. Also new this year is pre-loading of throws, now you have control on how much power you put behind the ball while fielding.
Presentation remains very strong, just like this years NBA and NHL 2k titles. The broadcast style graphics look great, and the pitch analysis and swing analysis are not only visually nice but also help you become a better player. The various onscreen stats and counters look very close to what you’ll see during any real world game on your tv. And the depth of statistical data will blow your mind. During each pitch you’ll see batter stats for the current count. However there is a quick fall off in the graphics department after the presentation. Textures in the game are rather lackluster and seem behind the curve. While the player models are improved over years past and they are the best part graphically, stadiums and especially the crowds are not that attractive. What’s even stranger is the My Player mode texture wise looks worse then any other mode in the game.
MLB 2k10 offers up some great animations, but for all the good animation you witness there’s at least as many or more bad animation issues. MLB 2k10 features many signature animations which at time look real good and transition real well, however the times they don’t transition correctly or our out of place they look real bad. For instance playing as the Yankees, A Rod made a simple ground catch and instead of going to a simple throw to first he jumps and does a crazy in-air twist. This would have looked great if he was moving toward 3rd and throwing back across his body to first, but he wasn’t. Running towards the plate usually triggers nice animations, especially if the catcher has the ball. Players will charge the catcher and theres a chance they drop the ball and you get a run, but the transition to these charges is a bit silly as your player kinda pauses and then looks like a bull readying his charge, it’s just not smooth. Also the extra animations like walking to the plate, or the coach coming to the mound are very stiff and robotic, and at times also witness players spinning in place with out moving a leg. The animations seem to fall into two categories, either real great or bad no real middle ground.
Audio wise MLB 2k10 is top notch. 2K continues it’s great commentary and statistic discussion, just like in their other sports titles this season.
MLB 2k10 improves in many areas over last years outing but still needs some work. My Player mode is a nice addition but it’s execution was off the mark. Hopefully next year My Player mode gets some tender love and care like Hitters and Pitchers did this year. Presentation and MLB Today are home runs. Franchise and Season modes continue to be strong, but they are also the seasoned veterans for game modes. I really enjoyed the control systems, pitching offers a challenge and the new Total Control hitting gives batters options. Texture and player model wise MLB 2k10 is an improvement over seasons past, but compared to other titles it’s below the curve, hopefully next year graphics get a bump. After a few years of miss steps MLB 2k10 seems to be getting the series back on track and I look forward to see how the new features are enhanced next season.
[starreviewmulti id=5 tpl=46]
[starratingmulti id=5 tpl=49]
