Customer Reviews

MLB 2K10

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Okay, so before I begin, I am not going to make any comparisons to "The Show" for PS3, because that game is not available for the XBOX so, although everyone seems to think it is better, it's not an option for XBOX owners, so the comparisons are useless.

That being said, I happen to think that MLB 2K10 is an overall above average game. The main thing keeping last years version from being a good game was the pitching controls, it was just terrible. This year it is much better, and actually makes the game more enjoyable. The pitching has been completely redone. Each pitch now has its own particular motion that you must do with the joystick. In a way it is similar to doing a special attack in a fighting game. For example, for one particular pitch, you must first push forward and then do a half circle from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock on the joystick. The success of the pitch is determined by the timing and motion of your movements. They even do a pitch analysis after the pitch so you can see what you did right or did wrong. The new pitching structure is a great feature of the game.

The graphics are decent but they are actually a slight down grade from last year.....however this is a welcome change because the gameplay is alot more fluid than last year. I'll take a slight drop off in graphics if it makes the game run smoother and cleaner. The players really don't look anything like they do in reality but when it comes to playing a sports game, graphics are second in my opinion to smooth gameplay. The stadiums are very accurate and detailed and do a nice job of giving each field its nuances.

The presentation in this game is really good. The announcers (Steve Philips, John Kruk, and Gary Thorne) have more varied and insightful phrases than ever before. It makes you feel that they are really there calling your game. For example, I was playing the game on a Tuesday night, and when the game started, they said "welcome to tuesday night baseball." They also have alot of information to say about every player and team and their performance last year, even vs the particular team you happen to be playing. Another aspect of presentation I like is on stolen bases. When its a close play at second, they slow down the play and zoom in on it so you get a really nice view of the tag. They also do pitch and swing analysis after the pitches and swings. This is really helpful at first when you are trying to learn the game, but can get annoying once you don't want to see it anymore. That's ok though because it can be turned off. I am stats guy and another thing I like about this game is that when a batter comes up, they will show his last years stats vs the particular pitcher he is facing, a nice touch. The batting view in default mode is way too low to the ground in my opinion, but it can be switched in the options menu.

The gameplay itself is alot more fluid on swings and also once the ball is in play, but no real major changes here from last year. One particular bug that bothers me and wasn't fixed from last year is that the players body position and arm motion don't necessarily match up with where he is throwing. For example, I took a cutoff throw to shortstop and then threw to second base, however the player was facing towards third and his arm motion was to third, but the ball came out to second base. Not a huge deal but it is something that should have been fixed.

Overall, MLB 2K10 is a pretty nice game that is really fun to play. I happen to be a gamer who is not overly critical of a game and try and have fun when playing. Any casual to advanced baseball gamer will find this game enjoyable. If you are someone who gets really bothered by bugs and such, you may have your gripes with this game but in my opinion, this game is alot better than 2K9 and worth a play. If you found 2K9 okay, minus the pitching structure, then you will really like this version, but however if your dislike of 2K9 was for other reasons, you may not find something you like here because little else was changed.


3/5/10 Update:

Upon playing this game more I have noticed a bunch of more bugs than when I originally wrote the review. The check swing has either been taking out of the game or is impossible to pull off, this is a big draw back in a baseball game. Also, if you switch to classic batting, the controls are inverted...for example, if you want to hit the ball to the left side you have to push right on the joystick and vice versa. Also, in classic batting theres only one swing, not a power and a contact swing, so I have no idea how it decides if you hit a little bloop or a long drive. Finally, the game is a bit off in its stats record keeping, it charges RBIs and ER to the wrong player sometimes. Hopefully these will be patched. I would have to give the game 3.5 stars if I could.

The gameplay of the game is pretty fun but there are some major problems.

1. Franchise mode is almost unplayable. The teams re-sign every player every year so there are virtually no new free agents. The teams will also go way over budget just to keep their mediocre players. There is also a problem with the pitcher progresion. Every pitcher will get way worse after a couple years.

2. The one major problem with gameplay is that the fatigue meter resets back to 99% after about 7 innings. I think this is just cosmetic, since I still feel fatigued when I pitch, but the AI doesn't realize this. The AI will leave the SP in the game forever because the fatigue resets. I've seen the SP be left in for 13 innings.

3. This also applies to My Player. It is nearly impossible to be a SP for My Player because of this issue. You will pitch a complete game almost every time unless you really get lit up. My Player as a hitter has been very fun though.

Other than these major issues, the game has been very fun and much better than recent years for 2k. If you can look past these things you will have a great time playing this game.

This game is a vast improvement over 2K9. The graphics are very good and the frame rate issues from last year are non existent. The Stadiums are gorgeous and they looked like they added more detail this time around. The pitching can be challenging but is done very well. The pitching A.I. is a lot better, and it forces you to take more pitches to be successful. The batting physics are awesome, anyone who has played baseball can attest to the realism in this game. You can also see the difference in team talent, for example I played one game using the Yankees and beat the Phillies 7 to 3, and then I played using my favorite team the Padres and I struggled to beat the D backs 2-1. Another cool feature is "hurry up baseball", this mode enables you to turn off all of the replays and cut scenes that make a normal game seem like 3 hours, now it's possible to get in a quick game in 30 minutes! This is great especially if the wife is waiting to watch her favorite TV show.

There are some quirks though, all of your outfielders seem to have canon arms, and they can get throws to home with extreme accuracy. The fielders constantly make Derek Jeter type 360 jump throws which are pretty far fetched for some defensively challenged fielders. I know I'm nitpicking here but I wish they could add a little more detail in the backdrops, for example for PETCO PARK in MLB the show you can see planes coming in to land at Lindbergh Field in San Diego. Is it a big deal? No, not really but hopefully next year they can add things like that.

I have yet to play the "my player" mode. I typically stay away from these parts of sports games. The last thing I want to do is turn a baseball game into a role-playing game, but I understand some people like this so my review does not include that aspect of the game.

This is definitely not a perfect game, but it is fun and challenging. Visual Concepts has got this franchise on the right track. When I bought 2K9 I noticed the flaws from my first game on. Playing 2K10 I noticed the improvement over last years mediocre game.

When I first got this game, I loved it, it was like the perfect baseball game, but then all the bugs and glitches unfolded. Now we are going to take this review by sections, so you can learn about everything in this game.

My Player Mode: Your basic, run-of-the mill create a superstar mode. The creating a player part is unimpressive, you can't edit much about your guy's appearance, although you can put on lots of accessories based on your players position. Your player can be any position, even a pitcher. After you create your player, it's time to pick a team and play through the season. Throughout the season you have to complete "Season goals" and "Team goals", which give you skill points that make your player better. Each at bat is also a different goal, for example "Get an extra base hit" or "Drive in the winning run", so there are always ways to stock up on skill points. Base running and fielding also gives you points if you make diving catches or steal bases, even regular catches will still give you some points though. What's disappointing is that there is no realistic feel, you decide when you want to be traded and where you want to be traded, you also can never get injured. Along with these career decisions you can also change your position, number in the batting order, and can even give advice to which free agents your team should pick up( once you prove yourself as a good player). Your main goal throughout this whole game mode, is to get to the Hall of Fame, which will lead to completing even more goals.

Franchise Mode: This is probably the best game mode. Its simple, pick a team and play throughout the season. Before you start the season you decide if you want to manage everything yourself or have help from the game. You also decide if you want the statistics to come from real life, or to build up during franchise You cannot switch teams once you pick yours, but you can always go back and start a new one. It's not very complex when you look at franchise modes in other games that allow you to do so much. The basic things you can do are pick up free agents, make trades, edit rosters, manage your coaches, change lineups, change pitching rotations, etc. There is a more realistic feel to this as you can do things like manage your minor league team and participate in the MLB draft. Every time a season ends, you will have to perform some off season tasks like re-signing players and seeing how your players are improving or declining.

Gameplay and CPU: Now I'm going to explain pitching and batting more in depth later in their own section. Gameplay is usually pretty smooth, you can adjust the difficulty to whatever you prefer, so that's a plus. The computer player can get pretty annoying, they tend to swing at the first pitch, which can lead to a lot of 3 pitch innings which is just plain unrealistic. They pitch normally though, they will usually attack the strike zone first then start to pitch around.

Pitching: The pitching in this game works out really well in my opinion. You pitch using the right stick(on the 360, not sure about Ps3). Each pitch has its own movement that you have to make using the right stick, for example fast ball is just up then down, while splitter is up then to the right. If your movement does not match the pitch you selected it will be a bad pitch, this means it will either not be where you want it and it will be slower. Each pitch has its own "break", or how it moves after you pitch, for example the curve ball will break down so you have to think about where you're throwing it. Its all about timing, you have to fill a yellow circle(by making the movement with RS) to get a "Max Power" pitch. Getting a "Max Power" or perfect pitch will resolve with a faster and more accurate pitch. While you're on the mound the catcher will give suggestions on which pitch and the location. You can also make visits to the mound to calm down your pitcher or reduce his fatigue. **NOTE- The pitching controls CAN BE switched from the stick to just pressing buttons, look in the pause menu- **

Batting: The original batting controls also involve using the stick. You can flick the stick forward for a contact swing, or hold it back then push forward for a power swing. Based on the batter's skill you can determine which swing you should use. I myself switched to the Classic controls, which means you just press A to swing. I use this because I think the timing is off on the other controls, and when you use A there is no contact or power, just one swing that can end up being a contact or power hit.

Base running: Stealing is the only thing wrong with base running. They make it really tricky, what you have to do is hold LT until your controller vibrates(be sure to take a few steps off the base first though), when it vibrates that means your ready. Now once the pitcher makes his move you have to let go of LT and your player will start running. Most of the till you will get thrown out, that's just the way it is in this game. What's strange though is that the computer player will steal often and easily, which can be frustrating.

Fielding: Normal and easy to pick up on. You go under the circle to catch the ball. You throw the ball by pressing either A,B,X, or Y. Each button corresponds with a base. Once you press the button you hold it until a meter comes up, you let go when the bar meets the green section in the meter. Holding on too long will result with the bar ending up in the red area, this will end up with you throwing it harder which can lead to errors. There is only two problems with fielding, tagging base runners and diving. What's stupid about tagging is that your player will tag and miss the runner for some strange reason. Diving is just terribly designed and doesn't work out well at all.

Online Play- Terrible, just plain terrible. They do not allow you to switch your controls to using A so you have to swing using the sticks. This was very poorly designed because do to the online lag your swing will be delayed. So when the pitcher pitches it you will have to determine whether its a ball or a strike then push the stick up to swing but it will always be to late because of the delay. If they let you switch to swinging with A it would be much better, because you can tap A quicker than pushing the stick up. So basically you have to swing at every pitch because you will be too late otherwise. The pitching in online is also flawed because its hard to get a max power pitch due to the laggy servers. Unless both guys are throwing it right down the middle every time, the game will likely end up 1-0 or something like that. There is also an Online Franchise which you think would be fun, but its not unless you play with people that get on every day. If not you will be stuck because most of the time people join the league the just forget about it.

2K Share- This is a cool feature. Haven't done much with it but it allows you to download rosters and view other peoples screen shots or videos they uploaded from the in-game replays. There is a lot more than that but like I said, I haven't used this much.

Other- They added these new things called drills, which you can imagine what they are. Basic drills like hitting balls to certain parts of the field or throwing runners out from SS. These are rather boring and I couldn't see anyone spending more than 10 minutes on them. The sound in this game is is top notch and can be updated to your likings. The graphics are pretty good but when you see them up close they're not as good as you would like. Controls are fine except when playing online, and can be adjusted from the pause menu. You can also create teams and create players. This can be very fun playing with created players, but unfortunately is glitchy.

Glitches/Bugs in Game play- There are lots of them so I probably am going to forget some.
- Tagging runners when they slide into the base, there obviously out but your guy misses the tag
- foul balls will be miscalled and balls will be called strikes
- When you're batting and the pitcher throws the ball in the dirt and the catcher drops it, so your base runners all start to head to the next base but will try to turn back, though they have taken too many steps forward. It will be too late and one of your guys will be thrown out, this is VERY frustrating as it occurs all the time.
-Throwing glitches, sometimes your guy that your fielding with just won't throw plain and simple. This will result in the batter being safe.
-Stupid CPU, lets say your fielding and they hit the ball to SS and you accidentally press B to switch to 2B. Now the CPU is controlling the SS and they will ground the ball but not throw it for some reason.
- Sometimes there is weird random stuff that happens like your base runner sliding way far away from the base and even weirder is one time I went to tag a guy out at home and right when I got the the plate my guy starting sliding away and I couldn't move or throw the ball
- When playing online whenever you bunt there is a glitch where your pitcher runs the wrong way at first, this always ends up with the runner safe at 1B, this is overused online leading to poor game play
- This isn't really a glitch, but just a stupid thing in the game. There are WAY too many line outs, there will be times when it goes over the 2B's head and it looks like its going to drop, but he spins around and does an over the shoulder catch. Line outs to the pitcher also occur to much.
- The CPU pitcher will pick you off way too much, it must be a glitch
- Sometimes when you create a player and play with them in game they won't look like how you made them and the will have the wrong stats. For example if you create a white guy with 92 power and 90 contact, he may come out as a black guy with 70 as every stat.
- If the cpu throws the ball away from the outfield, and it misses and goes past the catcher or 1B, they will make no effort to run and get it and you will get a free inside the park homer
- the CPU NEVER hit homers against you, so this totally takes away some realism from the game. I've had this game for about 6-7 months and they've only hit 2 homers against me, and I'm not a great pitcher.
- There is no in-game injuries (Not a glitch, but its unrealistic)
- After you touch 3B and you want to throw to 2B or 1B, you can't throw, your guy will just stand there.
- Terrible tagging errors and glitches. If when you throw to try to catch someone who's stealing they will catch the ball, lift there glove up, then try to tag. It just really doesn't work out well.



So Overall it has the potential to be a great game, but just doesn't come through. Hardcore baseball game fans will probably not like this as much, casual fans will prefer it more.

MLB 2K10 is a huge immprovment from 2K9. There are not neally as many glitches, if any. When I sit down and want to play a game of baseball, I don't have to worry about the game being cheated by glitches like 2K9.

MLB Baseball 2K10 is the best Baseball game I have played since MVP Baseball 2005.
This game is a must-buy for baseball and sport gamers.

Like another reviewer mentioned, I won't compare this to MLB: The Show since The Show isn't available for Xbox 360.

Gameplay

In my opinion, a video game's most important aspect is gameplay. MLB 2K10's gameplay is pretty good. One of the biggest new features this year is Total Control pitching. At first, I wasn't down with TCP and it frustrated me. However, the more I played, the more it grew on me. For lack of a better description, you control everything. If you have good timing and good precision, you'll get batters out. The only downside is it requires a lot of focus for each pitch. If you're looking for a more laidback, casual experience you can always change the controls back to button-based pitching.

I'm less of a fan of the new hitting system, Total Control Hitting. While I think precision and timing work great for pitching, the batting system requires way too much precision at higher difficulty levels. Get ready for a lot of low scoring games. To get an extra base hit or a home run you literally have to have near perfect aim and timing (this very rarely happens). The good news is you can revert to 2K9's system, which is easier to use. One new hitting feature I am a fan of is Batter's Eye. It makes good vision players like Kevin Youkilis and Nick Swisher more effective by occasionally telling you what kind of pitch is coming.

The game types in MLB 2K10 are standard fare for modern baseball games. The one difference is My Player. It's similar to a regular Franchise mode except you control a player instead of a team. If you like Franchises, you'll probably like My Player. There are also a variety of other modes including Home Run Derby, Drills, Franchise, and more.

Like most other 2K games, the AI is strong. Whether a pitch is hit is based on a variety of factors you'd expect like timing, the pitcher's skill, and the hitter's skill. What's really unique is 2K's Inside Edge scouting. They have a huge amount of information for each hitter: stuff like how aggressive they are for each count, how well they do against certain pitches, and more. The same is true for pitchers. Having this information makes the ratings more accurate and the AI more intelligent.

Online gameplay right now is questionable. It's early and things could change but 2K is known for having mediocre online service. If you want to play online, expect a lot of server downtime and slow connection times.

Graphics and Presentation

Not a strong part of the game. They don't detract much for me, but if you're looking for an impressive visual experience, I wouldn't get this game. With that said, the players and stadiums are relatively detailed but it's tough to compare to MLB: The Show's graphics (I know I said I wouldn't compare).

The presentation is also pretty standard for a sports game. As of the time I write this, there a bunch of presentation bugs that don't affect gameplay but can be a little irritating. However, 2K has a history of fixing these bugs in patch releases so I wouldn't let them deter you.

Sound

The commentary is both impressive and irritating. What's impressive is how much unique commentary there is. Even though some of it is a little generic there is more variety than most other sports games. What's irritating is that the announcers talk too much. I'm a fan of announcers like Pat Summerall and Mike Gorman (Boston Celtics) who know that brevity is important (kind of ironic compared to how long this review is). The announcers sound like they've downed a 6 pack of Jolt, coffee, or maybe both.

The soundtrack has some decent selections if you like pop/alternative rock but I'd say it's too small compared to other sports games.

Overall

Nothing revolutionary here but that's not a bad thing. If you're a fan of baseball games, you'll probably like MLB 2K10. If you own a Playstation 3, you might want to look at MLB The Show, too.

After reading mixed reviews about this game and hearing that most of the past flaws in the game have been fixed (e.g. hitting too many homeruns, baserunning issues etc), I decided to give it a try. After about a week of playing it, I became more and more frustrated with this game. Even though you may not hit 7 homeruns in each game, there are still other tradeoffs that make this game not worth $60, or even $30. For one thing, the defense pretty much tracks down every ball in the outside you hit (note that I played on Pro difficulty). Second, the baserunning is just dreadful and frustrating to control. Another problem I have is that how is it possible that most of my pitchers have a higher batting average than my star players. This game is NOT fun. It is frustrating more than anything else. The new pitching interface is a step in the right direction and is one of the few positive changes in the game.

Bottom line is, I would not recommend this game. Or at least wait until it's in the bargain bin. Chances are you will only have to wait a month. They have put out garbage the last two years and 2k10 is no exception.

This game was actually pretty fun, It's challenging and has alot of the cool stuff I was looking for. Don't really care about super hi-def watch him sweat graphics but it's a fun game.

I have had MLB 2K10 for more than a year now and I still play it regularly. I am a huge baseball fan, so keep this in mind while reading the review. I recently sold my MLB 2K10 and my Xbox 360 because I was tired of it chewing up game discs and paying ~$45 a year for Xbox 360 12 Month Live Gold Card. I just got a PlayStation 3 160GB Call of Duty: Black Ops Bundle and got MLB 11 The Show. I've been wanting to do this for a while because many people on the internet that review this game end up saying MLB 2K10 is great!!... but its like the BMW to MLB 11 The Show which is the Ferrari. Unfortunately, Xbox 360 owners can only get MLB 2K10 to fill their baseball game craving.

My review is to tell you.. THE 2 GAMES ARE QUITE SIMILAR. In fact, after getting used to MLB 2K10 (which is very quick and easy compared to MLB 11 The Show), you will prefer MLB 2k10 if you can overlook the mistakes the game developers made.

The MLB 2K10 game is easy to place, easy to learn, and the layout and design is pretty simplicistic and eye appealing. The Show on the other hand has a gazillion settings that you can fix and tweak. While that's great for people like ESPN's Steve Berthiuame who recreated the entire 1980's Milwaukee Brewers team down to the height, freckles, and eyebrows (Google it, its a funny story)... its too much that gets in the way of us normal people that get more excited about Chase Utley fighting off 10 pitches with 2 outs, 2 on in the bottom of the 9th and smacking a walk off single.

Also, MLB 11 The Show tries to copy MLB 2K10's right stick hitting and pitching system... but their way of doing it (bc of courrrrrse they have to be a lil different) is really confusing, especially when you have to remember all the other buttons for baserunning, stealing etc. For example, in The Show when youre on base, L1 is step back to the base (on throw over attempts), R1 is take a lead and R2 is steal (i think). But when the ball is in play and you are on base, moving to the next base or staying put is different buttons (I think R1 becomes move to the next base)... WHYYY!??? Also, if you go from 1st to 3rd on anhit and run situation that's R1 + square or something. So confusing!!! MLB 2K10 just does this better.

FLAWS OF 2K10: It is very obvious that the game designers literally did not spend more than 10 minutes testing this game after they finished making it. Occassionally you will see stupid glitches that 70% of the time don't effect the outcome of the game or play but just make it a way less authentic experience... or 30% of the time when it DOES AFFECT THE OUTCOME.
Example: Since pitches are so fast, you kinda have to gauge where the balls going upon release from the pitchers hand and also the style and arc of the pitch. Occasionally, the game will make the pitcher do the "cutter from middle that cuts inside" cinematic for the windup and pitch... BUT WHEN THE BALL COMES OUT OF HIS HAND it is a outside fastball with no movement. So, if its a full count and I think its going to cut in and stay in the strike zone, I'll swing. But it ends up being a pitch wayyyy outside and I look idiotic.. and I strike out!
Example: Sometimes you're pitching and you throw back/check on the runner. Sometimes it seems like you really got him by a mile, but then his legs wont move and he'll glitch his way at 200mph that last 5 ft back to the bag.. before the tag. Its just really annoying.

THERE ARE OTHER WEIRD GLITCHES LIKE THAT. I BET YOU CAN FIND THEM ON YOUTUBE.

But in the end, you get used to these small things and I would recommend this game over The Show.. if you are a lover of the game more than a stat and create-a-player lover.

This game would be perfect if it wasn't for a few crippling problems.

The game will automatically switch fielders for you. This sounds like it should work, but it doesn't at all. I don't know how many times a fly ball was hit, and I was ready to catch it with my second baseman, and for no reason the control switched to the center fielder. At which point a routine fly turns into a base hit. Or, the game will automatically have you control the right fielder when the ball is heading towards center, and you cannot either rush over or switch fielders in time to get the out.

The batting timing feels off as well. I have endlessly played with the batting difficulty sliders to try to find something that works, but nothing does. I have hit so many balls [seemingly] perfectly only to watch them mosey away for a fly or ground out. It seems like the difficulty sliders have me fighting to stop shutouts on 69 difficulty and winning by 14 runs on 70 difficulty.

There is a terrible glitch where after an action replay, the game will completely freeze and the only way out of it is to intentionally walk the batter. When I'm down by one run and the other team has two on board, and this glitch happens, the game isn't worth playing any more.

The game just feels cheap and rushed overall. It seems like they had a good game on their hands but didn't have enough time to test it and iron out all the imperfections. MLB 2k11 isn't really any better as far as glitches and cheapness goes.

However, through all these glitches, this game is still fun to play with another player in couch head-to-head. Forget about online since the batting is so time-sensitive; lag will just make it unplayable. But when you're playing with another person on the second controller, and you're both susceptible to the same glitches on an even playing field, it can be fun.