MVP 05 is still the best baseball game, by far. I bought 2K7 with high aspirations and even though the gameplay has been cleaned-up, it still has glaring and-- in my mind-- game killing flaws. I hate to beat a dead horse with some of the things I'm about to say, but I'd still like to get my point across. My first impressions of this game were very good. The franchise menus actually are improved (as we all know) and the Payoff Pitching system is still great, although it's not perfect (more on that later). Batting and fielding, in my opinion, are still ABYSMAL. Cameras aren't all that great, especially after you get a basehit and it pans out to face the runner. I'll try to make a more organized list of my problems with this game:
-First off, the batting. Unless I lock on to a pitch with the "Batter's Eye", I have no relative clue as to where it'll be. This makes even the worst pitchers suddenly unhittable, simply because you can't judge whether or not it's going to be a ball or strike while the ball is on it's way to the plate. For pitchers like Johan Santana and Barry Zito, I can understand, but I don't appreciate Esteban Loiza throwing a 2 hitter against me with 10 Ks in 8.2 IP. Out of about 10 games so far, the most hits I've gotten in a game is 5, (playing on Custom, sliders in between Pro and All-Star) and all of the runs I've scored, except 1, have been off HRs. Which brings me to my next point:
-HRs are too frequent in this game, as has been stated before around here. But when rallies live and die by the HR, it just doesn't make the game exciting because you know that at any given time with any given player, you can use a power swing or (if you are using Classic swing) point up on the left analog and hit a HR. Case in point, I hit 2 HRs in Safeco Field with Yudiensky (?) Betancourt in 1 game. I'm not implying you can just hit them out of the park any time, but there's always a fairly good chance of hitting one as long as the pitcher isn't up. Sliders can tone this down (I don't think it's completely cureable), but still not to the level at which I'm satisfied. I rarely (that's an understatement) see any doubles and triples when I play, and even singles aren't as common as HRs during my games.
-Pitching is the strong point of the game, but I have to things to mention. If you have "Catcher Suggestions" on (or whatever it's called; where the catcher suggests a location and a pitch type), I don't notice an awful lot of variety. I notice a lot of calls for a 2-S/4-S FB. If I look at the %s from the pitching HUD, I'll see I've thrown about 65% of fastballs (2-S and 4-S combined) and 2% 12-6 Curve. That's just an example, but I'll see it every game with different pitches. Even if an "out" pitch is rated high (say, Zito's Curve), I still may only throw it 3 times a game if I always listen to the catcher. This is a simple problem though, one that irks me a bit. As with most simple problems, there are simple solutions, and this case is no different. Just turn it off or shake off the sign. It still bothers me though
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-Second gripe about pitching, and the biggest of all: The lack of Ks. I, for the life of me, can not strike anybody out. I don't know if this is attributed to the fact that I've only played about 10 games, or that my sliders are a bit out of line (I think they should be fine where I have them; mostly in my favor in terms of AI Contact, Pitch Speed, Take Strike, etc.). It's still annoying when the AI comes up first-pitch swinging half the time and makes contact, even if it is just a fly out/ground out. I'd like to be able to work the count with a solid pitcher.
-Fielding is still horrendous. They should scrap the whole system. Speed burst is useless, the fielders are still clunky, and the animations could be better. I don't like seeing my 2B pick up a ground ball, turn around 180 degrees to face the outfield, then whirl around and whip it to first for the out. Slightly exaggerating of course, but it's not too far from what I see on a game-to-game basis. Diving stops happen FAR too often as well. At least once every other inning there is some sort of diving catch or diving stop, followed by a throw from the knees to get the runner. It's nice to see these once a game, but when it happens 5+ times a game it takes the fun out of actually pulling it off. As for the outfielders, I can't get used to the way they move. It's kind of like NFL 2K5, where the players turn on a dime and you don't really have a firm control over which direction they go until the turning animation is over. Again, one of those things to get used to if you have the patience, but it could be much smoother.
-The simulation engine is still kind of messed up, and the AI in-game management. Good example, I'm playing the Indians in my Mariners GM Career. CC is on the mound and he's pitching a gem (mostly because I can't get used to the damn hitting). I get a rare base hit sometime around the 6th inning. It couldn't have been higher than the 3 hit he'd given up in the game and he's taken out for some shmuck reliever. Wasn't injured or anything, they just took him out. As for the SIM engine, I'm still seeing pitchers going around 5.2 IP when they are pitching a pretty good game (a line of something like "7 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 3 BB..."). Also, BBs and Ks seem to be a little too high on a per game standard, but it's not as bad as it was last year.
-Buzz box is reporting strange, and probably useless things. I've seen too many star players request a trade hardly 2 weeks into the season. Within the first 2 weeks, Mariano Rivera and Albert Pujols demanded a trade over "clubhouse altercations". Get real. Those players are one of the most highly tauted players on their team. Their teams would most likely go all out to retain them for the length of their careers in real life, and they are demanding trades within the first 2 weeks of the season.
That's it for my rant. There are some good things about this game. It's improved over last year's game, but that's not saying much unfortunately. The pitching is great, the graphics are great, the atmosphere is pretty good, the ump and catcher animations are nice, and there are plenty of other small things that can set it aside from other games. I'm just not sure if that equates to one of the better baseball games I've played. It's all for naught if they make 2/3 of the core gameplay (batting and fielding) tedious and aggravating.
-First off, the batting. Unless I lock on to a pitch with the "Batter's Eye", I have no relative clue as to where it'll be. This makes even the worst pitchers suddenly unhittable, simply because you can't judge whether or not it's going to be a ball or strike while the ball is on it's way to the plate. For pitchers like Johan Santana and Barry Zito, I can understand, but I don't appreciate Esteban Loiza throwing a 2 hitter against me with 10 Ks in 8.2 IP. Out of about 10 games so far, the most hits I've gotten in a game is 5, (playing on Custom, sliders in between Pro and All-Star) and all of the runs I've scored, except 1, have been off HRs. Which brings me to my next point:
-HRs are too frequent in this game, as has been stated before around here. But when rallies live and die by the HR, it just doesn't make the game exciting because you know that at any given time with any given player, you can use a power swing or (if you are using Classic swing) point up on the left analog and hit a HR. Case in point, I hit 2 HRs in Safeco Field with Yudiensky (?) Betancourt in 1 game. I'm not implying you can just hit them out of the park any time, but there's always a fairly good chance of hitting one as long as the pitcher isn't up. Sliders can tone this down (I don't think it's completely cureable), but still not to the level at which I'm satisfied. I rarely (that's an understatement) see any doubles and triples when I play, and even singles aren't as common as HRs during my games.
-Pitching is the strong point of the game, but I have to things to mention. If you have "Catcher Suggestions" on (or whatever it's called; where the catcher suggests a location and a pitch type), I don't notice an awful lot of variety. I notice a lot of calls for a 2-S/4-S FB. If I look at the %s from the pitching HUD, I'll see I've thrown about 65% of fastballs (2-S and 4-S combined) and 2% 12-6 Curve. That's just an example, but I'll see it every game with different pitches. Even if an "out" pitch is rated high (say, Zito's Curve), I still may only throw it 3 times a game if I always listen to the catcher. This is a simple problem though, one that irks me a bit. As with most simple problems, there are simple solutions, and this case is no different. Just turn it off or shake off the sign. It still bothers me though
.-Second gripe about pitching, and the biggest of all: The lack of Ks. I, for the life of me, can not strike anybody out. I don't know if this is attributed to the fact that I've only played about 10 games, or that my sliders are a bit out of line (I think they should be fine where I have them; mostly in my favor in terms of AI Contact, Pitch Speed, Take Strike, etc.). It's still annoying when the AI comes up first-pitch swinging half the time and makes contact, even if it is just a fly out/ground out. I'd like to be able to work the count with a solid pitcher.
-Fielding is still horrendous. They should scrap the whole system. Speed burst is useless, the fielders are still clunky, and the animations could be better. I don't like seeing my 2B pick up a ground ball, turn around 180 degrees to face the outfield, then whirl around and whip it to first for the out. Slightly exaggerating of course, but it's not too far from what I see on a game-to-game basis. Diving stops happen FAR too often as well. At least once every other inning there is some sort of diving catch or diving stop, followed by a throw from the knees to get the runner. It's nice to see these once a game, but when it happens 5+ times a game it takes the fun out of actually pulling it off. As for the outfielders, I can't get used to the way they move. It's kind of like NFL 2K5, where the players turn on a dime and you don't really have a firm control over which direction they go until the turning animation is over. Again, one of those things to get used to if you have the patience, but it could be much smoother.
-The simulation engine is still kind of messed up, and the AI in-game management. Good example, I'm playing the Indians in my Mariners GM Career. CC is on the mound and he's pitching a gem (mostly because I can't get used to the damn hitting). I get a rare base hit sometime around the 6th inning. It couldn't have been higher than the 3 hit he'd given up in the game and he's taken out for some shmuck reliever. Wasn't injured or anything, they just took him out. As for the SIM engine, I'm still seeing pitchers going around 5.2 IP when they are pitching a pretty good game (a line of something like "7 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 3 BB..."). Also, BBs and Ks seem to be a little too high on a per game standard, but it's not as bad as it was last year.
-Buzz box is reporting strange, and probably useless things. I've seen too many star players request a trade hardly 2 weeks into the season. Within the first 2 weeks, Mariano Rivera and Albert Pujols demanded a trade over "clubhouse altercations". Get real. Those players are one of the most highly tauted players on their team. Their teams would most likely go all out to retain them for the length of their careers in real life, and they are demanding trades within the first 2 weeks of the season.
That's it for my rant. There are some good things about this game. It's improved over last year's game, but that's not saying much unfortunately. The pitching is great, the graphics are great, the atmosphere is pretty good, the ump and catcher animations are nice, and there are plenty of other small things that can set it aside from other games. I'm just not sure if that equates to one of the better baseball games I've played. It's all for naught if they make 2/3 of the core gameplay (batting and fielding) tedious and aggravating.
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