Customer Reviews

Mlb 2K9 Xbox360

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

First let me say I actually enjoyed MLB 2k8. It had flaws(several), but after tweaking some sliders I actually played a few full seasons, simming a game here and there, and enjoyed it. I had high expectations for MLB 2k9, and was very disappointed. After getting home and putting the game in I started up an exhibition game. I loved it, the presentation was new and great, the announcers were new and fresh, and the graphics looked good. Unfortunately the more I played the more the bugs and glitches started showing up. Such as......perfect throws to the first baseman and he wouldn't put his foot on the bag; outfielders not getting there gloves up in time to catch flyballs and letting the ball go over their heads; Players running through walls and disappearing; Stats are all screwed up; Pinch hitters for the CPU coming out and pitching the next inning; I actually had some phantom player standing in the other batters box once when I was hitting. My first franchise froze after the first three games and I had to start it over. I haven't even mentioned dumb things that just don't happen in a true baseball sim. Things like the CPU swinging at everything. They never take a pitch. For that matter, the CPU hardly ever throws a ball. Almost every inning is three or four pitches. You can fix that with sliders like last year right? Wrong. They took away a ton of sliders and presentation options from last year. There is no slider to control CPU aggresiveness at the plate. There are no sliders for a ton of things, and what ones there are you can't figure out what they mean. Want to change the presentation angle? Can't, there's no option. Oh and if you do mess around with some sliders it disables the card collecting feature.

I will close by saying that everything is there for 2k to improve on to make a great game. Like I said before the presentation, graphics, and overall broadcast of the game is very nice. Unfortunately, I believe the bugs are just going to be too much to overcome for us xbox360 users to have a good baseball game to play this year. Oh well, theres always next year....

The title of this post should pretty much say it all: This is a BAD GAME. Many reviewers are noticing the rampant glitches in this year's version--many more than were in MLB 2K8, which wasn't all that smoothly done in the first place--and what they are reporting is accurate if, perhaps, understated. In terms of its programming, this game is a disaster. And the baseball action (fielding mechanics, pitching, etc) make it seem like there probably isn't a single actual baseball fan employed in the 2K studios. Had a chance to check out The Show 09 on my buddies PS3, far--far--better.

So my solution is simple--don't buy this game. If you did buy it, return it to the store immediately. It'll be disappointing not having a new baseball game this year, but maybe if everyone leaves this dog on the shelf either MLB properties will reconsider and send the license back to EA, or 2K will fire their entire design team and start over. At this point, either solution would likely result in a major improvement.

EDIT

I've talked this over with a number of friends, and we all agree--the enforced yearly output for sports video game franchises is killing the quality of the games. There is, literally, no time for major innovation, good quality control, etc. We've all agreed the following solution would work and hope you agree: Put out a new title once every two or even three years--offering downloadable ($) roster and rating updates for each new season between generations of the game. Giving these studios more time to focus on quality and innovation would probably lead to increased game sales. I did not purchase MLB 2K9 this year, choosing to rent it first instead since I was disappointed with the last two or three iterations of the franchise . And, needless to say, won't be buying it. I will be doing the same thing with Madden as well. Use the power of your pocketbook, rent these games for a few days before u purchase them. It will save u both money and time, and maybe the sports game companies will wake up and smell the new century.

I have started 12 games and finished none since Sunday. I can't get over how bad this game is, I really want my money back. there is just too many things wrong with this game. I love baseball and that is the only reason I'm still giving this game a chance, but seriously don't know how anyone can say this game anything more then a 2.

For the record I'm not a ps3 fanboy, in fact I'm a PC and EA MVP fanboy, but that makes me a dinosaur I suppose. I bought the 360 begrudgingly because I can't take it that all the studios are catering to the console market and forgetting about the PC, even though the PC is truely superior to both consoles. I only picked up my 360 in October and I couldn't wait to play this game, Maybe that's why I'm so frustrated. I can't wait another year (and hope) for the next version. It's really enough to make me consider selling the 360 and bending over for a ps3.

I picked off 4 runners in one inning! that's insane. Jacoby Ellsbury has more headers then Ronaldo. Jeter has been hit in the nose with line drives twice in one game. and to add insult to injury the commentators seem to chim in about how the defense has failed as the pitcher hits an inside the park home run because the ball went physically though the center fielder and then could not be picked up.

I've tried every default difficulty setting and downloaded 3 different slider sets touting realism. they didn't help other then to stop the onslaught of homers being hit against me. Personally I don't believe you should ever have to use a slider period, unless you want to cheat or to even the playing field if you're playing against someone that isn't as good.

I don't think patches can fix everything that's wrong, and even if they could, it shouldn't have to come to that. This game is a lemon.
and to all those that say it has depth....well I just don't see it. Does it have potential, sure, will that potential be realized? Highly unlikely.

Bring back EA MVP baseball!!!!!!!

As someone already said, this game is LOADED with awful bugs and glitches... The graphics are nice and blah blah blah but there are so many glitches that it is impossible to enjoy this game... First off my "Franchise" has locked up after just 5 games... And what I mean by that is the console freezes every time I try to load my franchise... Yeah, sure it could be an issue with the console and not the game but considering the game has only been on the market 3 days now and 2 of the 6 total reviews have noticed this makes it odd.... Next the 1st baseman is never on the base.... The computer is safe on routine ground balls because when you throw to 1st base your guy isnt on the base.... This has probably happend about 10 times total in the 5 games Ive played so far.... Other issues Ive noticed are you cant pull up the computers roster in the middle of a game. This might not be a big deal to most people but if you are a true basebal fan and enjoy the strategy of using left handed relief pitchers against a tough lefty hitter and things of that nature it is IMPOSSIBLE because you have no idea whats going on with the computers roster. You have NO access to viewing that at any point in mid game.... Honestly the game play seems like it could be fun. But the glitches are too much to overlook... If it was a minor issue here or there that would be one thing but the constant freezing in "franchise mode" combined with the 1st baseman never being on the base on routine groundballs makes this game unbearable and virtually impossible to play. Especially if you plan on playing a 162 game season without these glitches becomming too over bearing.... The absolute best I can say is rent this before buying and play it OFTEN when you rent it to make sure you get the full experience of all the glitches. If you just play 1 game on rental you may not get the full jist of the problems... Im not trying to ppick on 2K sports because I think NBA 2K9 is a fantastic game, but this game is awful with too many bugs and glitches.... and based on there currently only being 6 reviews of this game on Amazon and a few of them are complaining of the same issue I dont think I bought a "bad" copy.... I think this game needs to be recalled.

I ignored the negative review and now i'm paying for my ignorance.I can tolorate all the glitches but when the game locks up during loading or after finishing the game to exit while playing the franchise mode making you start the season over,that pretty much put the nail on the coffin for this game for me.I bought the system when i purchased MLB 2K9 so i assume the game getting locked is the software issue.

I've been jonesin' for a good baseball game since the good old days of Acclaim Sports and the EA versions of MLB. When 2K locked up the MLB franchise and locked out EA I was really disappointed in the 2K game play, the controls, and many other things. I've only played 3 games with the new 2K9 MLB but the difference for the better was immediately noticed. YES! Nice coding 2K. You notice nice little improvements everywhere. Lets go right to gameplay: I hated pitching last year, this year is soooooo much, much better. 2K9 has clearly labeled just about everything in the game that was a mystery last year. This makes a huge difference. And they've provided a nice practice mode with CLEAR explanations for Pitching where you read what to do and how to throw and then can practice till you're comfortable. They've moved a couple of buttons in pitching to more logical places but for the better. Don't worry, the buttons are all where they supposed to be if you've played baseball games before. There is a second practice mode for how to run and steal, a third for for fielding where you shag balls and try to throw out stealers. Again improvements with the buttons making it much nicer and more intuitive. This year you can throw to the base in last year's style with the RS, OR new in 09 you can use the 4 buttons to throw to bases! Both methods work right out of the box without changing settings. There's a batting practice mode as well with helpful big letters that tell you how you went wrong "VERY LATE SWING" "LATE SWING" "VERY EARLY SWING" etc. This is very good, it's not an earth shattering change but it's easier to learn how to hit. I can't emphasize enough how the general feel of '09 now that makes it easier to get up to speed on any aspect faster. Things make sense because they are now well labeled. The announcing is very good because it is less in your face. Last year's Miller and Morgan patter was a 10 on the tiresome scale because the same raps came up over and over again. (The passed ball from the 1941 World Series line.) This year it blends so much better and will probably not be tiring as the season goes on. The gameplay is so much more like the good old days of Acclaim Sports and EA Sports baseball. Hitting, pitching and fielding all feel great. You can actually pick guys off the bases this year. A nice promise appears at the beginning of the game. When you log in for the first time the game asks your permission to let 2K rabidly keep your rosters updated with the very latest changes in baseball on a daily basis if necessary. If they really do this, it's a VERY smart move and it's going to make for a great season. I've only had this one day (it came out today!) but I am thrilled. I expected it to be crappy like last year. Way to go 2K and thank you! A Nice Surprise.

I agree with some of the posters on here that the presentation is wonderful. The graphics are great and the commentary is lively and fluid. The issues I have are with the pitching controls and the bugs. The classic pitching control is horrible and makes the game unplayable in my opinion. I believe that 2K needs to go back to using a "classic" pitching interface like the one in MLB 2K7. Second, the bugs do make for a frustrating experience. It's disappointing after waiting with excitement for this game to be met with so many issues.

MLB 2K9 is a huge lazy disappointment. There's really no nice way to say it. The game was just starting to find itself in 2K8, but they decided to strip away features and dumb the pitching and batting down for this one. Let's hope they figure out how to make a real baseball game next year. They should really take a lesson or three from MLB09 The Show. Now THAT is what a baseball game should play like.

Simply put, here are the reasons this game isn't worth more than a ten dollar price tag:

- Much too easy to hit home runs. Even if you play with the difficulty sliders, it's still a joke. I had the power slider down to about 15 and started a season. After the first month of the season, I had five players leading the league with 20 long balls each. Ridiculous.

- Completely dumbed down the pitching stick and batting. Last year it took a bit of skill to throw your pitches with precision and the swing stick was great. They decided to strip that down for this game and now you can load up your back leg (or step) at any time and just let it rip. Pitching is a joke. Much too easy. Just like the rest of the game.

- Fielding. Or lack of it. If you barely touch the stick when getting under a can o' corn, you will likely drop the ball or completely miss it. And your infielders will double pump, take their time and sometimes cost you a double play because of it. While outfielders throw the ball as if their life depended on it. Completely backwards if you ask me.

- Hits. There is no variety at all. You'll see the same half dozen grounders and fly balls over and over and over again until you can't stand it.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm getting angry just thinking about it.

And please, for the love of all that is holy, will a game ever make it to where a catcher rips his mask off when tracking a pop up behind the plate or near the dugouts? It can't be that hard to code that in, can it?

Dismal baseball game. The Bigs 2 is a better baseball game and that's saying something.

I read a lot of the reviews for this game that complained of poor gameplay, awful glitches, and a disappointing experience overall, but I was really jonesing for some baseball so I decided to take a chance. I have to say that I am very happy with the game thus far. Maybe the patch that was released fixed most of the issues. Yes, fielding is difficult, and the controls took a little getting used to, but I really don't have a lot to complain about. The graphics are excellent, the presentation is good, and the game plays smoothly. I have not run into any of the glitches that I have read about. Yes, the first baseman foot was off the bag once but that's because my shortstop's poor throw pulled him off the bag (as I said, I find the fielding difficult). I have not tried the MP yet so I cannot comment on it. Is the game perfect, no, but I find it enjoyable and look forward to immersing myself in the franchise mode.

So far this is a pretty good baseball game. The franchise system is good (so far). The pitching and batting systems work well. The base running system is great and easy to pick up.

The commentary seems just as repetitive as ever and sometimes flat wrong.

Fielding is the only weakness I see. It is just not very smooth...jumpy at times for lack of a better word. Errors seem to happen too often on default but I think there is a slider for this.

Gripes:

The default views are what you get as far as I can tell. Batting is fine but the pitching view is from behind the pitcher. I much rather pitch with the same view as bat.

I also noticed that some players from the minor leagues were missing. Could be because of the rosters they used. I went to look for some prospects and they were not there.

*Edit*

After day 2 with this game, I would change to 3 stars if I could. Graphics glitches such as, an outfielder ran through a wall, ball taking a different trajectory than the throwing motion etc.

The fielding (especially the throwing meter is increasingly annoying. It is inconsistent as to when the meter pops up. Sometimes it pops up then disappears. We should be able to preload the throw and thus far can't.

The AI fielders are near perfect when it comes to making great plays. Shortstops running out into center making over the shoulder basket catches. Perfect timed dives every time. Outfielders have amazing range. This can be fixed with sliders (i think) but I HATE having to move sliders within a few days of playing a game to make it more realistic.