Major League Baseball 2K8 360 Impressions

[bowlerguy92]

The shaking is a nice feature, but it made it virtually impossible for me to EVER get the ball over the plate and thus, I was shelled nearly every game. I have the Okajima and Youk cards.

[DannyMac910]

All I know is that I all of a sudden feel like playing MVP 05.

[jpcool202020]

OK, so I opened the game and slid it in my Xbox 360. The first thing I did was clear my cache and download the update. I turn the fielding view to arial, and I turn the strike zone off (other than that, I keep out of box settings). I start up a play now game with the Cards vs. the Cubs. Here's what I found:

1. Framerate issue: I'm not sure what other people are seeing, but I have zero framerate dropping issues. I am using a 1080i setup, and I did not experience any slowdown after a ball was hit anywhere. There are a few hiccups now and then during cutscenes and replays, but other than that, no problem. I see now that this issue has been blown way out of proportion.

2. Atmosphere/Presentation: As expected, the presentation is very similar to last year, with only small changes here and there. I would suggest to turn up all the croud and atmosphere volume because tat helps make the game feel better to me. Nothing to write home about, but not a game killer either.

3. Gameplay: Pitching is amazing. I love the different pitch motions, and the system is not as hard as people keep saying. Just run the tutorial for 5 minutes an you'll be on your way. I will say that I believe the difficulty should actually be raised through sliders because through 9 innings I threw zero meatball pitches. Basically, all of my pitches went in the general area that I intended. I'm sure the slider guru's will help here. Oh, and gotta love the actual pitch signals from the catcher.

Batting is much better than last year. The hit variety is amazing, and you can now make contact with anything near the strike zone. This will make for more foul balls and higher pitch counts. However, this is also an area where the slider guru's will have to help. We'll need even more foul balls, and less contact from the user side. The cpu side seemed pretty good though. Again, I was using out-of box settings. Oh, and you can actually check swings.

Fielding is 1000 times better than last year, and actually reminds me of that one game called MVP 05. I'm in love with the arial view. The throwing mechanics feel natural, and just right. Don't think I'll ever be able to go back to just pressing buttons again. On the cpu side, they seem to make good decisions when it comes to fielding and throwing the ball.
Baserunning is much better as well, as many people here have stated.

4. Graphics/Animation: Here is the only place where i see a slight problem so far. And I do mean SLIGHT. The resolution did take a slight hit this year (grass, player faces, etc.), however it still looks pretty good overall. I remember seeing one guy on here post that the game reminds him of PS1. Haha. That guy should tryout for Comic View. The animations on the other hand are smooth and look really great. I've already seen a few animations that weren't in last year.

Overall, I'm impressed with this game, and dare I say, I think it's better than 2K7. I never played The Show so I won't try to compare, but I must say that anyone who liked last years game at all will love 2K8. With all the gameplay enhancements (which is what we wanted, right?), and the franchise upgrades (controlling cpu rosters, and full minor leagues), this game is pretty much exactly what I wanted it to be. What's with all this negativity? This game plays great out of the box as well. Can't wait to see what the slider guys can do with this. And don't get me started on the full rosters, minor leagues and all. I may be playing this game for a long time.

I'd give this game an 8.5 out of 10 so far. And that's just leaving room for the presentation and graphics improvements that should take place next year. I may post some more impressions later as I find new things. Peace.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

Guys go into OPTIONS, then PRESENTATION. Once in PRESENTATION turn every OPTION-OFF except for Replay Frequency. This should help with the choppiness some also

Joe I know your trying to help make the game better, but Your shouldn't have to take you HDD off and then change settings to make the game run better, this was just a bad apple put out, it seems like Take Two and 2Ksports knew the game had issue and still released like it is, it's not the worst thing in the world, but it kinda seems they ripped us off a bit.

[Damanjinx]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

This is the option that has: Inning highlights, Player highlights, Cut scenes, etc..etc..etc.. I've also noticed that when I play the game with my HARD DRIVE OFF(360) the game runs very smooth & you can see a difference in the graphics, compared to when I pay with the hard drive on. Very weird

hmm it wouldnt surprise me one bit if this is the case, tell me if im on the same page bigfnjoe, basically when your playing your hard drive is basically scanning everything so just in case you make a good play ect...it stores it in the hard drive for Inning Highlights, Player Highlights ect.. so that is causing the frame rate problem....i can see that, can you turn on Cut scenes and see if you still have the same lag... Probably still since the harddrive is determing what players are on the field to do the cutscene.. but i love cutscenes couldnt care less about the inning highlights and that crap. Thanks

[DoNutToucH]

I'm sorry I don't plan on reading this whole thread but I thought I would just post my impressions of the game. Overall I think the game is still pretty fun to play despite everyone's complaint of the framrate.

I bought the game because it was the only baseball game I could play, as I only own a 360. I didn't read the reviews until after playing a few games. I have to say once I started the game it did feel different. The gameplay feels more solid than it did last year. All aspects were improved from hitting, pitching, and fielding. The graphics are improved in some areas with added details in stadiums, jerseys, body shape. While there were other parts that suffer like the grass which doesn't look as realistic as last years, but not a big deal imho.

It is unfortunate the game's framerate suffers but it does not take away from the overall experience of the game. For some reason it slows when the ball passes 2nd base regardless if its from a hit or a throw. I don't agree with IGN's review that its a 7.4 but I would say its a 8.2. Yes the graphics aren't as nice as the Show's but I've played the Show and it does get boring with it's simple button presses and meter pitching that's been around since MVP. Just remember graphics don't make a game fun. I know I could still play old school nintendo games and still call them fun without the fancy graphics. Gameplay, gameplay, gameplay!

All in all, I'm loving the game! I can't wait to see what Brinkman has in store for us next year while I enjoy 2k8. Good job to kushgamer and to all who put their hard work into this year's game! Thank you.

[TopDog]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spear

First of all of course it'd be nice to play The Show and have more baseball gaming options but some of us don't have PS3s...

I feel you. I don't have a PS3 either. I've never played the Show, and never will because I won't own a PS3 nor have I owned a PS2.

Yet, here I am having to wade thru a 130+ page thread to get impressions in the 2K8 FORUM that is filled with Show bickering. The pro Show people are just as bad as the negative dorks. Damn, take your cockfight elsewhere. Can we get back to the impressions of the game that THIS FORUM is supposed to be about?

[DannyMac910]

The small text size is a HUGE game killer for me. I can't enjoy my franchise if I can't read it.