Gameplay

In my opinion, a video game’s most important aspect is gameplay. MLB 2K10′s gameplay is pretty good. One of the biggest new features this year is Total Control pitching. At first, I wasn’t down with TCP and it frustrated me. However, the more I played, the more it grew on me. For lack of a better description, you control everything. If you have good timing and good precision, you’ll get batters out. The only downside is it requires a lot of focus for each pitch. If you’re looking for a more laidback, casual experience you can always change the controls back to button-based pitching.

I’m less of a fan of the new hitting system, Total Control Hitting. While I think precision and timing work great for pitching, the batting system requires way too much precision at higher difficulty levels. Get ready for a lot of low scoring games. To get an extra base hit or a home run you literally have to have near perfect aim and timing (this very rarely happens). The good news is you can revert to 2K9′s system, which is easier to use. One new hitting feature I am a fan of is Batter’s Eye. It makes good vision players like Kevin Youkilis and Nick Swisher more effective by occasionally telling you what kind of pitch is coming.

The game types in MLB 2K10 are standard fare for modern baseball games. The one difference is My Player. It’s similar to a regular Franchise mode except you control a player instead of a team. If you like Franchises, you’ll probably like My Player. There are also a variety of other modes including Home Run Derby, Drills, Franchise, and more.

Like most other 2K games, the AI is strong. Whether a pitch is hit is based on a variety of factors you’d expect like timing, the pitcher’s skill, and the hitter’s skill. What’s really unique is 2K’s Inside Edge scouting. They have a huge amount of information for each hitter: stuff like how aggressive they are for each count, how well they do against certain pitches, and more. The same is true for pitchers. Having this information makes the ratings more accurate and the AI more intelligent.

Online gameplay right now is questionable. It’s early and things could change but 2K is known for having mediocre online service. If you want to play online, expect a lot of server downtime and slow connection times.

Graphics and Presentation

Not a strong part of the game. They don’t detract much for me, but if you’re looking for an impressive visual experience, I wouldn’t get this game. With that said, the players and stadiums are relatively detailed but it’s tough to compare to MLB: The Show’s graphics (I know I said I wouldn’t compare).

The presentation is also pretty standard for a sports game. As of the time I write this, there a bunch of presentation bugs that don’t affect gameplay but can be a little irritating. However, 2K has a history of fixing these bugs in patch releases so I wouldn’t let them deter you.

Sound

The commentary is both impressive and irritating. What’s impressive is how much unique commentary there is. Even though some of it is a little generic there is more variety than most other sports games. What’s irritating is that the announcers talk too much. I’m a fan of announcers like Pat Summerall and Mike Gorman (Boston Celtics) who know that brevity is important (kind of ironic compared to how long this review is). The announcers sound like they’ve downed a 6 pack of Jolt, coffee, or maybe both.

The soundtrack has some decent selections if you like pop/alternative rock but I’d say it’s too small compared to other sports games.

Overall

Nothing revolutionary here but that’s not a bad thing. If you’re a fan of baseball games, you’ll probably like MLB 2K10. If you own a Playstation 3, you might want to look at MLB The Show, too.
Rating: 4 / 5

1. Franchise mode is almost unplayable. The teams re-sign every player every year so there are virtually no new free agents. The teams will also go way over budget just to keep their mediocre players. There is also a problem with the pitcher progresion. Every pitcher will get way worse after a couple years.

2. The one major problem with gameplay is that the fatigue meter resets back to 99% after about 7 innings. I think this is just cosmetic, since I still feel fatigued when I pitch, but the AI doesn’t realize this. The AI will leave the SP in the game forever because the fatigue resets. I’ve seen the SP be left in for 13 innings.

3. This also applies to My Player. It is nearly impossible to be a SP for My Player because of this issue. You will pitch a complete game almost every time unless you really get lit up. My Player as a hitter has been very fun though.

Other than these major issues, the game has been very fun and much better than recent years for 2k. If you can look past these things you will have a great time playing this game.
Rating: 3 / 5

MLB Baseball 2K10 is the best Baseball game I have played since MVP Baseball 2005.
This game is a must-buy for baseball and sport gamers.
Rating: 5 / 5

There are some quirks though, all of your outfielders seem to have canon arms, and they can get throws to home with extreme accuracy. The fielders constantly make Derek Jeter type 360 jump throws which are pretty far fetched for some defensively challenged fielders. I know I’m nitpicking here but I wish they could add a little more detail in the backdrops, for example for PETCO PARK in MLB the show you can see planes coming in to land at Lindbergh Field in San Diego. Is it a big deal? No, not really but hopefully next year they can add things like that.

I have yet to play the “my player” mode. I typically stay away from these parts of sports games. The last thing I want to do is turn a baseball game into a role-playing game, but I understand some people like this so my review does not include that aspect of the game.

This is definitely not a perfect game, but it is fun and challenging. Visual Concepts has got this franchise on the right track. When I bought 2K9 I noticed the flaws from my first game on. Playing 2K10 I noticed the improvement over last years mediocre game.
Rating: 4 / 5

That being said, I happen to think that MLB 2K10 is an overall above average game. The main thing keeping last years version from being a good game was the pitching controls, it was just terrible. This year it is much better, and actually makes the game more enjoyable. The pitching has been completely redone. Each pitch now has its own particular motion that you must do with the joystick. In a way it is similar to doing a special attack in a fighting game. For example, for one particular pitch, you must first push forward and then do a half circle from 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock on the joystick. The success of the pitch is determined by the timing and motion of your movements. They even do a pitch analysis after the pitch so you can see what you did right or did wrong. The new pitching structure is a great feature of the game.

The graphics are decent but they are actually a slight down grade from last year. . . . . however this is a welcome change because the gameplay is alot more fluid than last year. I’ll take a slight drop off in graphics if it makes the game run smoother and cleaner. The players really don’t look anything like they do in reality but when it comes to playing a sports game, graphics are second in my opinion to smooth gameplay. The stadiums are very accurate and detailed and do a nice job of giving each field its nuances.

The presentation in this game is really good. The announcers (Steve Philips, John Kruk, and Gary Thorne) have more varied and insightful phrases than ever before. It makes you feel that they are really there calling your game. For example, I was playing the game on a Tuesday night, and when the game started, they said “welcome to tuesday night baseball. ” They also have alot of information to say about every player and team and their performance last year, even vs the particular team you happen to be playing. Another aspect of presentation I like is on stolen bases. When its a close play at second, they slow down the play and zoom in on it so you get a really nice view of the tag. They also do pitch and swing analysis after the pitches and swings. This is really helpful at first when you are trying to learn the game, but can get annoying once you don’t want to see it anymore. That’s ok though because it can be turned off. I am stats guy and another thing I like about this game is that when a batter comes up, they will show his last years stats vs the particular pitcher he is facing, a nice touch. The batting view in default mode is way too low to the ground in my opinion, but it can be switched in the options menu.

The gameplay itself is alot more fluid on swings and also once the ball is in play, but no real major changes here from last year. One particular bug that bothers me and wasn’t fixed from last year is that the players body position and arm motion don’t necessarily match up with where he is throwing. For example, I took a cutoff throw to shortstop and then threw to second base, however the player was facing towards third and his arm motion was to third, but the ball came out to second base. Not a huge deal but it is something that should have been fixed.

Overall, MLB 2K10 is a pretty nice game that is really fun to play. I happen to be a gamer who is not overly critical of a game and try and have fun when playing. Any casual to advanced baseball gamer will find this game enjoyable. If you are someone who gets really bothered by bugs and such, you may have your gripes with this game but in my opinion, this game is alot better than 2K9 and worth a play. If you found 2K9 okay, minus the pitching structure, then you will really like this version, but however if your dislike of 2K9 was for other reasons, you may not find something you like here because little else was changed.

3/5/10 Update:

Upon playing this game more I have noticed a bunch of more bugs than when I originally wrote the review. The check swing has either been taking out of the game or is impossible to pull off, this is a big draw back in a baseball game. Also, if you switch to classic batting, the controls are inverted. . . for example, if you want to hit the ball to the left side you have to push right on the joystick and vice versa. Also, in classic batting theres only one swing, not a power and a contact swing, so I have no idea how it decides if you hit a little bloop or a long drive. Finally, the game is a bit off in its stats record keeping, it charges RBIs and ER to the wrong player sometimes. Hopefully these will be patched. I would have to give the game 3. 5 stars if I could.
Rating: 4 / 5