Major League Baseball 2K10 First Hands-on

2K hopes to vastly improve on last year's losing season.
by Nate Ahearn IGN

January 13, 2010 - Since MVP Baseball 2005, every game based on the sport has been a disappointment for me. Simply put, nothing has been as fun as what EA Sports was able to produce before 2K Sports snatched up the Major League Baseball license, the same way EA Sports did with the NFL license. But we as gamers must make do with what we're given, and for now that is the MLB 2K series, for better or worse. This year 2K Sports is going to great lengths to fix many of the problems that we here at IGN (and gamers the world-over) had with last year's effort.

I recently spent some time down in sunny San Diego putting my hands on a build of MLB 2K10 for the very first time and I can say that maybe, just maybe, 2K Sports got some things right with this year's game.

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Now, I'm not saying that my relatively short few hours with MLB 2K10 has won me over to 2K Sports' corner. Being around so many sports games, I understand that the more you play them, the more flaws become evident. But when Hilary Goldstein (IGN's illustrious editor-in-chief) posed his first question to me about the game, "Did they fix the damn framerate?" I was able to respond on a positive note for a change. Yes, the framerate has been largely smoothed out (thank heavens). There were still moments when performance would drop, but these instances were few in number and nowhere near as jarring as they were in the past. Now, on to the more substantive changes.

The most interesting addition to the traditional MLB 2K formula is one that I won't be able to give impressions of until a later date. I'm talking about the new My Player career mode that allows players to assume the role of a created player and play any spot on the field (including pitcher and catcher). While the design behind this mode is a bit strange on paper, it remains to be seen how well it plays. You begin in double-A ball and must work your way up by completing career milestones. The catch is that instead of playing every moment, you're pulled into the action at pivotal instances. You do, of course, have the option to jump in and play a full game whenever it suits you, but the mode is built around the notion of players getting in and out of games quickly in order to progress.

The single clutch moment I played had my double-A team down one run with two men on in the bottom of the ninth. All I had to do was slap a single into the outfield and we'd win the game. Well, it didn't happen, but the potential was there for an exciting moment. Aside from standard games, you'll also take part in drills to build your attribute points. Probably the biggest letdown for me when hearing about the career mode was that, when playing as a catcher, you have no control over pitch location or what pitch is being thrown, thus eliminating the entire point of being behind the plate. Hopefully that will be included in the next go-round.
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While My Player is wonderful to have, it seems like a different approach to what MLB: The Show (Sony's baseball title) has done in recent years more than a truly original idea. Thankfully 2K Sports has instilled some well thought out changes in the MLB 2K10 gameplay formula.

A huge gripe that many had with last year's game was the inability to pre-load throws in time for realistic double plays and throws from the outfield. Well, that's changed this year. Now if a ball is roped to the right-field fence, as your right-fielder makes his way over you can start pre-loading your throw to any base you like. Another change is that throwing to a base can be done with either the face buttons or the analog stick. In my time with 2K10, the pre-loading worked flawlessly and allowed players to quickly whip the ball around the bases.

Pitching is another aspect that has been tweaked a bit since 2K9. On paper it seems trite, but the switch actually makes a big difference once you have the controller in your hand. In last year's game everything was gesture based, from pitch selection to execution. This year you select your pitch with a face button and then complete a two-part gesture (the first of which is simple while the second can get a little tricky depending on pitch type) to launch your pitch. If you screw it up, the new pitch analyzer will show you exactly what you did wrong. The reasons for the increased simplicity are two-fold: first, to up the level of accessibility in the pitching and two, in order to allow for a new feature called Batter's Eye.
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I'm not going to deny that it's tough to get an accurate read on a sports game after only a few hours of play time, but it seems as though MLB 2K10 has righted many of the numerous flaws that plagued last year's game. There were still moments of graphical slowdown – mainly when the swing analyzer popped up to show me my poor timing – but there's little doubt that it was running smoother than it was last year. The visuals have taken a bit of a hit because of the goal of delivering a more fluid framerate, but I'd much rather have a baseball experience that moved like the genuine article than one that looked like the real thing but moved like rusty robots.

Another game 99% of GSA members will sadly not have available to them

Would love to read your thoughts on a game DJ, rather than just cut and paste jobs.

We love the gamers view here.

Since these game are not yet out I cant give you my point of view. Im simply relaying info that some may not come across and would like to read. Right at the beginning the source is credited I dont feel I was doing a disharm by putting Game News in Game News on the site.

No mate, I was just making a suggestion.
We like game news here, just even better if it includes personal views