Pitching and hitting are fixed! But nearly everything else is broken.
2K Sports offered up a surefire winner with NBA2K9 last year. NHL2K9 skated on thinner ice than a March Break pickup league. Now comes the all important "swing" vote with Major League Baseball 2K9. Remember way back when 2K secured the exclusive 3rd party rights to the MLB after loosing the NFL? Well here we are 5 years later, in what is supposed to be the prime of current generation technology. Fair or foul? Here's what you can expect from 2K's signature game of diamond ball this season.
Gameplay.
Last year was a complete write-off. The botched pitching mechanic was too cumbersome, and the hit stick was still in its awkward infancy. The result was an almost unplayable game. Fixing these fundamental problems was key to avoiding another disaster. 2K Sports has gone back in-house to develop this year's ballgame with mixed results. For the most part 2K9 plays very well. You'll be pleased to know that the pitching is much improved and is actually fun. A combination of the left analogue stick to target your pitch and the right analogue stick to execute a particular type is somewhat challenging at first. Lucky the game guides you through how to flick your right stick to deliver those devastating curves and overpowering heaters. Making a good pitch means combining the proper motion on the right stick in conjunction with the power meter that fills during your windup. It doesn't take too long to get this mechanic down and it does add something above and beyond your typical button press (which is still available in the menu options).
Hitting also uses the right analogue stick to swing the bat, but with far less intuition and "skill". A basic down up motion on the right stick produces anything from an infield dribbler to an upper deck homer. Success with hitting depends on anticipating the pitch and timing your contact accordingly. The hitter's eye is back in this game but does add much to the experience. MLB2K9 feels like an offensive-minded game out of the box. I say that because the game does offer a nice library of sliders to adjust gameplay. In fact the inclusion of such AI adjusters is a strong selling point for a game that has some issues at default.
Bat on ball physics are lacking. There really seems to be no apparent rhyme or reason as to what constitutes a homerun, a fly out or a ground ball. A few times I swung at a pitch very low the strike zone only to fly out. Upon watching the slow motion replay and zooming in on the bat at the point of contact confirmed that I did swing overtop of the pitch (by a lot). I'm certainly no scientist, but basic rules of the universe would dictate a grounder, but instead magically produced a sky-high pop up to the pitcher. The result is a batting system that feels very arbitrary.
MLB2K9's biggest flaws have to do with inconsistent fielding and player behavior. Lets begin with the infield. The biggest issue I had with infielding is the throwing meter which powers up the longer you hold the intended base button (or stick direction) down. Anything shy of a split second tap results in a laser beam across the diamond. It would have been nice to have more variation. The act of scooping a ground ball and transitioning into a throw feels somewhat unresponsive. Players will lock into animations (which is fine) but stutter to transition into another one - creating some very ugly and unrealisticly slow throws. The first baseman misses tagging the base far too often on routine relays. Infielders are often confused on whether or not to go after balls hit clearly in their direction. A number of times my SS and 2B stood and watched a playable roller scurry past by without flinching.
The outfield suffers from this same confusion from time to time where it feels like there is a 4th invisible player calling them off. Luckily this does not happen all too often. What does happen on far too many fly balls into the gap or down the line is a strange pre-calculation to the outfielder's running speed. If a ball is not hit directly at an outfielder you'll see him move at just enough speed so that his catch remains outstretched. This "just in time" catching animation system could be for dramatic effect, but ultimately it does not capture how fielders would perform in real life. The slo-motion run needs to be patched so that more often than not the player will get to the ball and be in a better position to make an appropriate catch. Outfielders only seem to know how to cannon the ball back to the infield - even in situations that require the softest of touches. Making a routine fly ball catch with the bases empty still produce what looks like an attempt to throw someone out trying to tag up. All in all you will find a handful of situations in which your players will not react as they would in real life, and for those who demand a true sports simulation, will find that is enough to take you out of the experience. The sluggish defense is hard to get past. Gameplay = 6.5/10.
Graphics.
First lets go over what is good about MLB2K9's visuals. The stadiums are very well designed and executed. While there are a few small examples of architectural inaccuracy, overall their scale and attention to detail remains very high. The "personality" of each stadium, for lack of a better word, is present and accounted for. Little details like the statues of legendary Tigers on the left field porch at Comerica Park, to the transforming dome above the Rogers Center, 2K has done an admiral job making you feel like you're right there. However, some of the textures could use some more work. Everything appears to have been given a somewhat smooth and glossy look to it. The lighting is pretty good. You'll be blinded by the glow of the outfield lamps during night games.
The crowd is very much improved over previous installments of the series. They don't quite live up to the more photorealistic rendering given to NBA2K9, but still add enough variety and visual fidelity to what it happening in the game to make you feel like someone is watching.
One area that requires a lot of attention for future editions of the series is player models – specifically their faces. A handful of superstar have been given the attention they deserve, and most players will be at least somewhat recognizable, but there are still a majority of heads that are frightening to look at. Warped jaws, sullen eyes and zombie-like facial animations are prevalent. These are very notable on close-ups but not really an issue from general gameplay cameras.
What are worse are the horrible animation transitions. This was touched upon in the gameplay portion of this review because this jerky transitioning from one pre-rendered motion to another affects the responsiveness of the controls, as well as hurt the eyes. There are a lot of great animations. 2K has done a lot of work with motion capture and the result is pretty astounding as to the variety of animations in the game. They just haven't been stitched together very well. The "seams" as it were are those awkward stutters, popups and sudden speed changes that take place on any given play. You'll see players standing around, and then suddenly start to run for a few paces only to stop, slowdown and run again. Batters will waggle the bat and the pop into their final swinging position. They just look very confused and unnatural. You'll also notice players standing near a base who inadvertently "skate" into the position he is supposed to be. It's a shame because the animations themselves are quite good. 2K needs to spend a lot more time ironing out how they are used and fit together.
There are also some considerable collision detection issues. If you let the camera run on after a play you'll often see your baserunner returning to the dugout walking through sideline coaches and other players like he was Slimer from Ghostbusters. Other times you'll notice the resting arms of coaches sinking through the padding on the dugout fence. Dust trails from players running the basepaths are obtrusive and overdone. The clouds of dirt are generically produced with an out of place blur filter that's really more of an eyesore than anything. The pitching curser is also much too large and loud to fit into a true baseball sim. The overwhelming power meter should be greatly reduced next season. It was a great idea to add in these presentation elements (which I'll get to later), but without the polish it almost ends up negating the effort. Graphics = 7/10.
Sound.
2K Sports has always done a great job with their audio and this year's baseball offering is no different. A new commentary crew of play-by-play man Gary Thorn and color guy Steve Phillips replaces Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. The result is a fresh batch of commentary with an equally high level of authenticity. They have a nice variety of play calls that are accurate most of the time. You will still hear the odd gaffe once in a while. On a routine double play that was perfectly executed, Gary Thorn remarked "The second basement takes the ball to the bag himself and decides to hold on to it. They wont get the double play". All while both base runners were out and walking back to the dugout. Still their enthusiasm and delivery make them one of this game's best features.
The crowd on the other had needs some more emotion and reaction to what is going on. Overall the stadium sounds far too quiet – especially on sellouts. Yes the fans cheer on a hit and will boo a high profile opponent when he steps to the plate, but not with enough volume and longevity. Some stadiums have better fans than others, and this should be the case in the game as well. Yankee/Redsox games need to sound like the heated rivalry that it is.
The sound effects are good but not great. The echo of the ball making contact on a swing is virtually the same no matter what kind of hit is occurring. The stadium music is fairly generic but fitting to baseball. You'll hear the customary organ as a backdrop through most of your games. Nothing really stands out and each stadium could benefit from greater personalization and variety. Sound = 7/10.
Presentation.
If there is one big plus to MLB2K9 it is the "Real World Atmosphere" that gives the game a nice broadcast style look. Most of the game's camera angles are well framed. The only glaring omission to this is the fielding cam during gameplay that is a bit too far zoomed out. It is possible to tailor the gameplay cams to have either a behind the batter or pitcher view, as well as the ability to tweak the zoom and altitude for each. I really like that. The post play cameras are excellent and dynamic. Watching replays from cinematic cameras with "clever" edits is a real shot in the arm visually. Stat overlays and modern broadcast flare like the team hitting distribution and pitcher tendency illustrations are fantastic. The commentary is progressive as well, meaning you'll hear the announce team talking about the momentum and big plays that have lead up to that point in the game. A nice touch. Lighting and time of day are very well done also.
On the downside, the menu system from NBA2K9 has been ported over into MLB. This is a very confusing and hard to navigate tool that needs to be modified in the future. The addition of more dynamic weather effects that progress during a game would also help with the real world atmosphere.
Post game highlights and player of the game clips are great additions that round out the broadcast experience. Accompanying analysis and out of town highlights would take this a step further. Hopefully 2K Sports will continue to polish this very fine effort in presentation. Presentation = 8.5/10.
Overall.
There is a lot of value in MLB2K9 if you can get past some of the fundamental gameplay problems. Living Rosters have found their way to the franchise – giving gamers weekly updates to trades, injuries and performance support if you have an online connection. The Inside Edge is a good feature that allows teams to purchase scouting reports of their opponents to aid them in the pitching/batting battle. If you want to find out Manny's weakness at the plate (if there is one) - you can! The Online Season mode allows you and up to 29 of your friends to participate in league play and/or playoff tournament style. The baseball card collecting and trading feature is a bit of a tag on, but is fun nonetheless as you can wager your cards in games against other players.
You can clearly see the good intentions from 2K Sports to put together a solid baseball title. Ever since Sony arrived on the scene with their console exclusive MLB The Show series, it has been hard not to compare the 2 games. MLB2K9 does well in some respects, but does not hold up well in others. The fielding, AI and animation glitches are enough to keep this game from being great. Perhaps future patches will address some of these frustrating problems. Casual fans of baseball will enjoy 2K9. But for those hardcore sim fans, playing your 162 game season will be about 161 games too long. Final rating = 7.2/10.