While acknowledging that MLB2K10 has the right to stand on its own, it would be unfair to baseball fans to deny the fact that for the past few years, the Major League Baseball 2K series has been consistently outperformed by the MLB: The Show series. MLB2K10’s developers even admitted their disappointment in previous seasons in a recent conference call with Go! Gaming Giant and other media members. Despite the shortcomings and preconceived notions of earlier MLB2K games, MLB2K10 has all the pieces of a successful baseball game in place, but still falls short when the action is taken to the diamond.

Gameplay – 6.0

MLB2K10 focuses largely on the constantly waging “battle” between the pitcher and hitter. When batting, MLB2K10 takes a fairly bold step by placing the hitter’s camera at the eye level of the catcher, giving you a better chance to accurately gauge balls and strikes. Like all sports game, the camera can be positioned in virtually any desirable way, but the default is actually a refreshing setup that encourages you to take pitches rather than swing wildly.

The large downside of this angle is the lack of depth perception, and thus, judgment of speed on each pitch. Unfortunately, this thwarts you regardless of the chosen camera angle, and is an inherent flaw with MLB2K10. The aspect of timing is essential to the success of a baseball video game, and the difficulty in judging the speed of pitches (virtually impossible at higher difficulties) will leave you off-balance constantly.

To successfully initiate contact with the baseball is also hindered by MLB2K’s trademark swing stick. While excellent in concept (flicking the right stick controls the swing of the bat), the full evolution is still a bit lacking. When trying to initiate a “power swing”, you are tasked with “loading up” your swing by pulling the right stick back and then flicking it forward to hit the pitch. Swinging for contact is done by simply flicking the stick forward.

The fundamental problem with this tactic is in both theory and execution. Ignoring the batter’s “load up” when swinging for contact is not only wrong in the world of baseball (shifting weight and keeping balance is what drives the ball of the bat, regardless of the batter’s intent), but forces you to decide before the pitch whether or not you will be swinging for power. This decision should be made on the fly, with both options still available as the pitch is being delivered.

Continuing with the theme of pitcher versus batter, one of the best innovations to hitting is the ability to actually fight off pitches. This has been attempted in the past, but MLB2K10 has done it right. By violently flicking the stick away from the batter (typically it works best with outside pitches) at the last second, your player will basically throw his bat at the ball, spoiling the pitch. This is a core component of the battle between pitcher and batter that MLB2K10 strives to replicate, and the mechanic brings some more realism to the fight.

If you wanted to spend your life as a virtual pitcher, there is no better game than MLB2K10. Pitching in MLB2K10 is flat-out fun. After selecting your pitch, you rotate the right joystick in unique ways to create the desired rotation. By performing this action correctly, the pitch will have the intended movement while traveling to home plate. Making a mistake will obviously result in a bad pitch, either out of the strike zone or too easy to hit.

Regardless of the accuracy of each pitch, the end result of the pitching mechanic is phenomenal. Not only do the “rotations” mirror real life movement and grips, but pitching becomes a whole other mini-game in itself. At times, you will be performing the necessary action without even realizing it, another testament to this intuitive concept.

Playing the field in MLB2K10 is relatively straightforward. A small circle appears in the outfield during fly balls and line drives and grounders are typically hit hard enough that a small reaction is all that is necessary to field them properly. MLB2K10 also features a helpful “throwing meter”, where you fill up the power of your throw while trying to stay within a small green zone to ensure proper accuracy. You can even preload a throw while approaching the ball, and while difficult to gauge the meter during such a sequence, the option is certainly appreciated.

Unfortunately, where MLB2K10 falls short is in the “little things” – possibly the most important part of a baseball game. Some throws are too strong, while others dribble in as guys who have no business hitting triples routinely jog into third. Even the AI at times is upsetting, as the computer players should be able to estimate when a ball should be cut off. For example, accidentally throwing to home plate from the center field wall should result in someone other than the catcher receiving the throw and relaying it home. Instead, the catcher will run all the way to the outfield as other players stand around and watch.

The absolute biggest problem with MLB2K10 is the drastic disparity in difficulty. There are four difficulty levels: Rookie, Pro, All-Star, and Hall of Fame. Playing on the hardest level is downright impossible, while dropping it just two notches to Pro makes it way too easy to rack up hits. There are sliders with which you can tinker to make the game better, but there has to be a predefined setting that is acceptable.

Presentation (including graphics) – 7.0

Like most other categories in this review of MLB2K10, the game’s presentation is a roller coaster of great ideas mixed with bad execution. For example, the Swing Analyzer is intended to show you how badly you missed the previous pitch, however it offers no indication whether the pitch was a ball or strike, nor if you missed the pitch due to bad timing or bad location. Furthermore, there is no easy overlay to find out if any of the pitches you saw were balls or strikes.

The overall broadcast of each individual game is very well done, but the issues lie in the actual unfolding of the action on the field. Routine pop-ups are caught with dramatic basket catches and all fielders often make last second heaves to catch fly balls or field ground balls. The awkwardness is unsettling, and leaves the players looking too jerky.

The graphics are, quite frankly, disappointing. While each stadium looks truly authentic, the players within them look generic. Creating lifelike athletes is a difficult and unique undertaking considering that most fans know what the players should look like (unlike a typical video game where there is no comparison model), and it leaves little room for error. However, even given slight leeway, MLB2K10’s players fail the test.

Game Modes – 8.0

With all the disappointment surrounding the actual gameplay of MLB2K10, there is no denying that it stems from the incredible possibilities that the assortment of game modes provide. From MLB Today to My Player, there are a plethora of solid game modes for you to enjoy. Each one is well developed and solid overall, and hardcore baseball fans will certainly love the rewarding options.

My Player is an RPG mode where you take a created baseball player and try to work him through the ranks en route to a potential Hall of Fame career. The mode is a direct competitor to MLB: The Show’s “Road to the Show” from recent seasons, and is a fantastic addition included in 2K Sports’ baseball game for the first time ever.

The My Player mode begins with the creation of your future star, from batting stance to batting gloves. After allocating a generous amount of experience points, you are ready to take the field. During games, your player is tasked with specific goals to help the team win. These goals include the typical “get a base hit” or “drive the run in” goals, but also things that wouldn’t show up in the box score, like “advance the runner to second base”. Experience points are rewarded for positive results, but failing a goal won’t result in negative points. Additionally, your player gains points for all positive actions throughout the game such as driving in a run or making a putout without being told to do so.

When you have accumulated enough points, you can add them to specific areas of your player’s attributes. The experience point system is broken up rather nicely, with offensive, defensive, and baserunning actions only providing points in their respective aspects. The theory behind this is solid – stealing more bases should have no effect on anything other than baserunning. Unfortunately, this makes it very hard to level up areas of your game that are particularly lacking.

Where My Player mode falls short is in the actual realism. My Player mode features an MLB ETA Meter, including specific tasks (like play 15 games) that will directly result in your player making the Major Leagues. While this sort of reassurance is comforting, it is not at all realistic. A player should never make the Major Leagues in their first season in the minors, unless he is a phenomenal prodigy. While that could happen, it negates the concept of building your player up over a few seasons and going through the growing pains associated with being a minor league baseball player. Simply put, it is way too easy to get called up to the majors.

Actually playing as your character in My Player also has some areas of frustration. While the intent of attributes is to determine the effectiveness of each individual area of one’s game, sometimes the result just doesn’t match up. For example, players will continually hit weak ground balls, and then blast one to the wall. While this is obviously a result of many more things than attributes, the fact that a player can have such power should also lend itself to hard ground outs.

Particularly in My Player, stealing bases is downright impossible. With a combination of the pitcher’s pickoff move and speed to the plate, the catcher’s arm strength, and your player’s jump, each factor seems to work against you en route to being ultimate gunned down. This is extremely tiresome while trying to upgrade your player’s baserunning attributes, as explained earlier.

The other new game mode in MLB2K10 is MLB Today, a dynamic list of the current day’s real life games being played, whether in Spring Training or during the regular season. The mode does play as a glorified exhibition game, but the addition is definitely welcome, as it provides a nice connection between the real MLB and MLB2K10.

The Franchise Mode in MLB2K10 is extremely well done. News tickers are constantly updated with the previous days’ highlights and there is a very genuine sense of the rest of the league growing with your team. The management aspect harkens back to the success of MLB Front Office Manager, with additions like 40-man rosters and the trade finder. The franchise mode is absolutely flushed out with everything a hardcore baseball fan could appreciate.

Overall, MLB2K10 does contain one thing: promise. This game marks the first in the series that will actually leave you without a sour taste in your mouth. There are still a ton of problems, but the majority of them seem to be focused around lack of polish more than anything else. Basically, every new addition into MLB2K10 was well-conceived, but the end result for each one was still lacking.

At the end of the day, the decision is simple. If you are a hardcore baseball fan who owns a PlayStation 3, MLB 10: The Show is still the one to purchase; however, for the first time in the franchise’s existence, MLB2K10 could absolutely be recommended to satisfy those who only own an Xbox 360.

Score: 7/10

• Pros:
  • Pitching is better in MLB 2k10 than any other game
  • Quantity and quality of games modes is excellent
  • My Player shows a lot of promise, and the best way to experience it is through a pitcher
  • Franchise mode is excellent
• Cons:
  • With all the great game modes, every time the action is taken to the field, there is a feeling of disappointment
  • Constantly misses the boat with one small mistake after another
  • Stealing a base in My Player mode is nearly impossible
  • Players constantly look too “jenky” or jerky and the graphics are sub-par
  • Standard difficulty settings are too far off
• Random Fact:
  • MLB 2K10 is holding a million-dollar contest, where the first person to successfully pitch a complete game, according to the official rules, will win $1 million.

MLB 2K10 was developed by Visual Concepts and Published by 2K Sports and was released on March 2, 2010.