PixlBit

With the 2010 MLB season back in full swing, 2K Sports has released the latest in their baseball line, MLB 2K10. Given the past few years being a disappointment, MLB 2K10 offers a brand new look, new modes, and updated rosters. Though this is taking a huge step in the right direction, the game still has a few problems.

I have been a huge fan of 2K Sports' baseball games over the years from when they first started on the XBOX, but over the past few years they have been falling in the shadow of Sony's MLB games. With MLB 2K9 having many bugs and problems, it was necessary for 2K10 to correct these issues. Thankfully, many of them have been addressed, but some still linger. Some of the big improvements include the smoother controls and new pitching format, as well as a collection of new modes.

My Player mode is 2K Sports' first effort at delivering a career mode in their baseball franchise. The mode allows you to create a player and choose a team to add that player to, with a goal of one day breaking records and entering the hall of fame. On face value, the mode seems like it would a very enjoyable and smooth experience, but the more time you play it, the more its design and technical shortcomings become apparent.

Spring Training is another one of the new modes featured in the game. This allows players to use minor league players who you wouldn’t normally see in a MLB focused game. For me this was a great bonus because it covered new territory, and allowed me to check out players before they start hitting the pros.

The problem with the mode is that the computer's AI is exactly the same during the spring training mode as it is during the season. Not one player is rusty or out of rhythm, which tends to be an issue when you are using minor league players. It takes away from the idea of spring training and just makes the season feel longer during franchise mode. Most of the time I see myself simulating the spring training games because there’s no point in playing it. It would have been nice to be able to improve minor leaguers’ talents in order to improve confidence of current major league teams. This is an undoubted flaw that should be fixed for the future games.

Yet another new feature of the game is MLB Today, a mode which shows you the current exhibition games for each given day. It shows real-time results, standings, news and states to allow users to know what’s going on around real life Major League Baseball. You are also able to play the current match ups which include the probable starting pitchers and position players. For a baseball enthusiast like me, this makes the game more engaging and unique.

This mode is bolstered by the new Million Dollar Challenge. In order to obtain the $1,000,000 prize offered by 2K Sports, players must throw a perfect game on camera, and submit it to the company. As you might expect, this offers quite an incentive to continue to play every day in hopes of reaching the seemingly unattainable goal.

When comparing gameplay to its predecessor, 2K9, 2K10 is clearly better. It still has bugs and glitches much like in 2k9, for example, the ability to pick off any runner at second base during online match ups. In 2K10 when stealing a base, the runner stands up and freezes while the other fielders keep moving around. Sometimes a batter will come to the plate but will be invisible - all you see is the bat drifting back and forth. These bugs are fairly substantial and clearly take away from the immersion factor.

2K Sports decided to spice up the commentary for 2K10 by adding ESPN analyst, John Kruk, who was a former Philadelphia Phillies player. This addition to the commentary team is much better than having the same old voices from the previous game. However, most of the commentary is word for word from 2K9, which given the talent, is very disappointing. Worse, there are still many glitches with the commentary much like in 2K9. At times, either game, can’t even say the right name of the pitcher on the mound. Now, for instance, say you are 0 for 3 with a certain player and you finally hit a single, the announcers claim that you are having a great game and have 5 hits with that player. This is a minor problem with the game that doesn't affect the gameplay, but it does alter the game experience.

In the end, MLB 2K10 is a very big step in the right direction from where the game was 2 years ago. With more and more bugs being fixed and new modes being perfected MLB 2K10 is a decent game to get. If you don’t own a PS3 disallowing the option to pick up the new MLB 10 game, I recommend grabbing MLB 2K10. It might not be the best game in the world but it is something that will undoubtedly keep you entertained.