Chris' MLB 2K10 Review - RaychelSnr's Blog

RaychelSnr's Blog

Chris' MLB 2K10 Review

Posted on March 2, 2010 at 05:43 PM.

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Starting with the baseball games, I am going to review every major release on my blog in a short form fashion with a 1-5 star rating scale for each game. These reviews will be meant to supplement our already off-the-charts awesome reviews we publish with each game. With that said, expect our man Caley Roark to have his thoughts on MLB 2K10 and the official OS Score by the end of the week! Also, I skimped on some gameplay details simply because I think my first impressions still cover a lot of my thoughts on that, check them out here. Now onto the review:

MLB 2K9 was bad. Atrociously bad. It was a half star to a one star on my ratings scale.

MLB 2K10 on the other hand, is everything MLB 2K9 wasn't. It is relatively bug free, it plays decent and while there are nagging issues which a patch will have to take care of, the game is by and large respectable and a huge improvement over last year's title.

The first thing you notice when you hop into MLB 2K10 is that it does everything a lot better than last year. The execution and the flow of the game, much less the looks, are much better than last year's game. The AI is smarter, the game plays more like baseball, and I totally dig the pitching/hitting system.

However, a contender with the perennial heavyweight champion MLB: The Show this game is not. While it has moments where it seems it could be a contender, there are numerous problems which keep the game from really reaching it's potential. The outfielders all have arms which are far too strong and too accurate, you can still hit relatively easy on the default settings -- sliders do help though, and there are numerous moments when you realize the game just lacks a nice coat of polish.

The two main modes of play I have gotten to check out, Franchise and My Player are both solid. I didn't have enough time to get down and dirty with each, but both are solid modes. Franchise produced realistic and believable stats when I simmed through a season and My Player seems like it's a viable option to RTTS. Both will have nagging problems discovered which will bug baseball fans I'm sure. But with Franchise mode, the improvements made over last year's mode are very noticeable.

In the end, what MLB 2K10 does have going for it is exactly what the developers said it would, it's simply a different and interesting take on baseball compared to The Show. And while I wouldn't recommend a PS3 owner even consider MLB 2K10, baseball fans stuck with just a 360 will find the game is now respectable and worthy of at least a look. MLB 2K10 signals a dramatic turnaround in the franchise. If this is the start of a new trend, next year could be a banner year for baseball gaming.

Chris' MLB 2K10 Rating:

Comments

# 1 NAFBUC @ Mar 2

Thanks Chris.......I was curious about 2k gameplay. Good to see they are on the right track.

# 2 SuperKyle @ Mar 2

I played one exhibition this morning and was very pleased. The game is much more colorful (at least inside Tropicana Field) and I'll take a dip in graphics if it means smooth gameplay. Presentation is phenomenal.
(Also, how many stars is this rating out of? 3/4 or 3/5? Thanks.)

# 3 RaychelSnr @ Mar 2

Kyle,

The ratings are on a 5 star scale (as mentioned in the first paragraph)

# 4 buzzguy @ Mar 2

3 out of 5 is pretty decent, especially for this series.
Nice write-up!

# 5 SuperKyle @ Mar 2

I guess I should lurn 2 reed evrythang.
Dohhhhhhhh
(Sorry

)

# 6 Fetter21 @ Mar 2

Thanks for the quick write up, good stuff.

# 7 RaychelSnr @ Mar 2

No problem Kyle, thanks for reading man

# 8 DJ @ Mar 2

Chris, nice honest write-up, as always. Pretty much confirms what I thought going in; that the game would be a step up from 2K9, but not necessarily worth a $60 purchase.

I'm going to hold out and wait for the patches to drop before I pick this up.

# 9 CrazyKitchenGuy @ Mar 2

I'm probably one of the few people that own a PS3 that picked up 2K10. To me, the 2K series has mad amazing strides over the past few years, and I can't wait to dive into 2K10 after work tomorrow.

That being said, I really don't understand why everyone is so amazed by MLB The Show. I played it back in '06, and it really doesn't seem like they have made much of general improvement, other than tweeking this, and tweeking that. The gameplay, in my opinion hasn't changed all that much.

For example, lets use the same pitching meter that has been around for a long time, and not really attempt to go outside of the box and try something new.

Sure, it may be a bit more polished than 2K, but for me, the gameplay and atmosphere that 2K provides makes it a much better game in my opinion.

# 10 Tomba @ Mar 2

I own a PS3 as well and prefer MLB 2k10. MLB 2k10 just has something about it. I've calibrated my TV just for MLb 2k10 so i think that plus the added customization to the camera is already a step ahead of the show. And the player models even though skinny on some major stars, overall look more real. Seriously though like you mentioned 2k9 was bad but 2k8 was MUCH worse. somehow i feel that MLB 2k10 is what 2k9 could have been IF after 2k7, 2k8 was better than 2k7.

# 11 Skyboxer @ Mar 3

Good review. Played both games today and for ME while it did get closer 2K is still in 2nd place by a large margin. 2K should be praised a bit for really improving the game for 2010. Good job.
Lastly CrazyKitchenGuy I have no idea what you consider improvemet but if you think the Show 2010 is basically the same as 2006 version then frankly I have no idea what to say to you. Everyones entitled to their opinion but....really.....

# 12 CrazyKitchenGuy @ Mar 3

I'm not saying that MLB The Show 10 is the same as MLB 06 The Show. What I am getting at is that the aside from graphics, SCEA hasn't tried anything groundbreaking or outside of the box.

# 13 El_MaYiMbE @ Mar 3

To say SCEA hasnt tried anything new our outside the box is saying that the MLB hasnt done anything either! The game gets closer to perfection year after year and it produces a realstic game of baseball each time. 2K is trying to find what works for it, while The Show has found it and improves on it yearly.

I was an MVP guy and when 2K took over I had no choice since I only had a 360. I never understood the hype behind The Show, bought '08 after i got a PS3 and STILL HATED IT! But that was because I still played 2K.

Once I got fed up with 2K I dove into MLB '09 fulltime w/ out playing 2K9 at all and havnt looked back since. I am amazed at how real this franchise is....Sony has a customer for life now because when PS4, PS5, PS6 comes out I will buy it just to play SCEA's baseball game...

# 14 rudyjuly2 @ Mar 3

It does need some polish but it's still fun. They need to focus on defense next year imo.

# 15 StormJH1 @ Mar 3

Couldn't agree with Post #10 more. I swear it's as if people who ran out and bought PS3's and started playing The Show had never played the game on PS2. It really hasn't evolved much at all since 2005. SCEA revived the brands out of the ashes of 989 Sports and put out MLB 2006, which was a great game but had a terrible freezing glitch. They rebranded it MLB 06: The Show the next year, and if you play that game, it's basically the same exact thing PS3 users have now, except for the obvious upgrade in graphics. Even a lot of cutscenes, such as the ones for foul balls, haven't changed at all. And that's not even addressing the fact that MLB 2005 and MLB 2006 borrowed HEAVILY from the success of MVP 2005, especially the pitching meter. CrazyKitchenGuy is right.

I'm not saying that 2k's game has ever been better or even "as good" as The Show. I'm just saying that out of the two, 2k is trying much harder to innovate. And with 2k10, they've finally given us a playable alternative. If I had a PS3 instead of a 360, yes, I'd probably still opt for The Show, but I don't, so the question is irrelevant.

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