When it
happens once, it can be brushed off … after all, mistakes happen.
When it
happens no less than five times, all within the space of a month (in the career
mode – aka, an afternoon of intense gaming), the first reaction is disbelief,
followed by some baseball-based epithets, and then the AI is questioned.
Come on –
Julio Lugo has been playing in the Major Leagues for 10 years; he certainly is
not so thick-headed as to try to steal second base when a teammate is standing
there and no double-steal signs have been put on.
And yet Lugo
will do that. The only way to get him to stop is to boost skills and career
numbers and then move up in the batting lineup, but even then there are
problems. For example, in some worlds being assigned to AA is the start of the
progression to Triple-A and then The Show. Not in Major League Baseball 2K10.
From Double-A it’s straight to the Majors (this varies depending on the position
of the player created). And there is not slow build-up of playing time. The
career player is an everyday starter (as a position player) in the field –
immediately. Ok, so this is fantasy baseball – allowances have to be made. Make
contact, boost that batting average and move up to hit second in the lineup.
That’s
drool-time for a Cardinal rookie. The opposition has to pitch to the rookie if
for no other reason than Albert Pujols hits third and Ryan Ludwick is in the
clean-up slot. So the pitches are there and once the stroke is found, and timing
is down, the rookie starts to light it up, finding the alleys in the outfield
and knocking out doubles.
Cool! Runner
in scoring position with one out and Pujols coming to the plate. Sure, the
opposition can walk him, but that brings up Ludwick, who can do some damage when
he makes contact (his OPS – on-base plus slugging percentage – was .936 in 2008
and .668 in 2009; baseball is all about percentages, as any true fan will attest
to). However, for some odd reason, about 70% of the time Pujols will stand
there, bat on shoulder, watch pitches go by without swinging once and get
chalked up as a strikeout. And if Pujols K’s, Ludwick will do the same.
The career
mode is new to MLB 2K10, and it has some flaws. Some of those are notable in the
controls, which – though – also have some sparkling moments. Positioning the
created player is extremely limited and it is only after accruing points (earned
through gameplay accomplishments – like an assist on defense nets 25 points) and
raising skills that some elements get much easier – which is not a complaint.
But the AI does not seem all that intelligent. And the game seems to fail to
recognize achievements.
Brought up a
month-and-a-half into the season, the rookie goes on to hit .407 with 12
dingers, about 70 RBIs, doesn’t make a fielding error and fails to be named the
NL Rookie of the year. Knowing the game won’t see those accomplishments is all
the fodder needed to completely blow off each of the goals thrown up prior to an
instance involving the created player and just go up to bat hacking. After all,
it’s rather hard to get ahead in the count when the opposing pitcher is throwing
nothing but fastballs straight down the middle of the strike zone. Trust me on
that one – my rookie took three of them waiting to get ahead in the count. On
base, it’s hard to pull off a hit and run when the batter either strikes out of
flies out.
Want another
sign that the AI is lacking? Ok. Runner on third, one out. Career player is told
to score the run. Gets a decent pitch and lofts a fly ball to center-right
field. Outfield drifts over, makes the catch and chucks the ball in to the
pitcher. The runner on third went down the line, then retreated and stayed at
third. Hmm … ever hear of tagging up and scoring on the sac fly?
While the
new career mode needs help (and yep, it took SCEA’s The Show a few seasons to
fine tune and get it to the place it is now), there are elements of 2K10 that
are well done. For those who have never played, the right thumbstick controls
the swing of the bat; up is for a normal swing, back and up is for power – but
don’t try that until the power of the batter has been improved – through points
put in, not some cyber ‘human growth hormone. ‘ That is a fun and entertaining
element. The pitching takes some practice to get down, and fielding is generally
intuitive.
The game can
be tailored to individual players using a series of sliders that will impact
most facets of the game. Those can’t be taken online, of course. Speaking of
online, Visual Concepts has online ranked matches and online league play for
those craving stepping outside the confines of single-player campaigns. Expect,
though, lag in online games – it seemed to be part of every game played – and
no, it wasn’t the seventh-inning lag, it was all over the place. For the single
player, there is an MLB Today option that allows for playing through the real
MLB season as it takes place.
While the
visuals are generally very bright and well implemented, there are some clipping
elements and other assorted swings-and-a-miss elements that can spoil the
overall effect. Player ball caps that stick out about two inches off the back of
heads is almost laughable. And on a couple of occasions in the career mode,
there seemed to be a Cardinals’ coach standing midway up the first-base line
when the Cardinals were on defense. The audio presentation is solid. The musical
score is too repetitive, but the announcing trio is solid.
Some of the
other changes to the game include the aforementioned tweaks to the pitching (the
right thumbstick is used in a variety of ways to make the pitch, such as down
and up – using a meter – for a fastball, or up and clockwise, or to 4 o’clock on
the meter and then … well, it goes on and on), and some of the field play,
though streamlined, seems a tad too quick. It is often easier for the second
baseman to field a grounder and try to turn the double-play himself than relay
it to the shortstop covering second for the relaying throw to first.
Still,
though, Major League Baseball 2K10, despite some of the problems, is a decent
baseball game on the 360 (*cough* … can you say ONLY MLB game on the 360 that is
true to the season? *cough*) and the deficiencies are not hard to overlook. Get
past those and there is an enjoyable game underneath that is challenging and
entertaining.
|
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Gameplay: 7.5
Sliders make all
the difference in the way the single-player games are realized, but the look,
camera element, controls and feel of the game is solid.
Graphics: 7.5
Great
environments, and the animations are – for the most part – decent. There are
some odd animations at times, plus there are clipping problems and some of the
players don’t quite look like MLB counterparts – and ball caps have a fitting
problem.
Sound: 7
Announcing is
solid, music is decent and ambient sounds are average.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 8
Work needs to be
done on the career mode, but MLB Today is solid and fun. Give Visual Concepts
props, though, for the tweaks and overall improvement in the quality of the
game.
Multiplayer: 7
You can find
games, but you will also find lag.
Overall: 7
In the past, the
2K series was hampered by a lot of little things. The developers obviously put a
lot of time in improving the overall gameplay and it shows. The new modes are
fun but need some attention to iron out bugs, and there are some areas where the
errors are just downright contrary to the game of baseball. On the surface,
baseball seems a simple game, but to the baseball fan, the layers of complexity
are what create that overall feeling that is Major League Baseball. A few errors
are made here, but the series has, nonetheless, been reinvigorated.
