Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

[Trevytrev11]

For those that have the game and have played it enough to get used to the controls and give the game a "fair chance", give it a rating.

To be fair, hold off on rating it until you've played at least 5 full hours of the game to be fair to the readers. Some people are weighing their decision on the opinions of those on these forums.

Also, this is a public pole, names will be shown, so people can make the best judgement based on those voting in the poll.

Bear with me a few minutes, while I enter the info for the pole...the pole will be submitted in a few minutes.

We already have an impressions thread, but this is strictly to get user ratings.

[baumy300]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

For now, without a patch, 5.5 out of 10.

[NYY4Life]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

I gave it 6.5-6.9 the game is still fun but fielding is glitchy and graphics seem all around worse then last year.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

Scores are all over so far...Wonder how much they would change after a week or so with the game. I'm not saying there is or isn't homerism, just find it funny that one person can think it deserves a perfect score while another see's it the complete opposite and gives it the lowest possible score.

[ac11367]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

8.5

Pitching - I love to be able to be more involved.
Hitting - Easier checkswing. Able to distinguish between curveball and fastball earlier midflight. But it's hard to get a hit on all-star though, something which slider can fix.
Fielding - Framerate issue not a problem for me, even though it shouldn't happen on this generation of consoles. Otherwise everything about it is pretty solid so far.
Baserunning - WIth my lack of hits and walks, my verdict is still on hold.

[jrod1981]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

^^ Stealing his formula

I gave this a 7.5-7.9

Pitching - This is AWESOME! I think this revolutionizes this in a vid game.
Hitting - I'm not a fan of swing stick 2.0 but i love the variety of hits!
Fielding - "Framerate issue not a problem for me, even though it shouldn't happen on this generation of consoles." <Very true statement! The fielding has been good.
Baserunning - So far so good. I think small ball will be important this year.

Commentary - Its pretty much like last year, but I usually don't pay too much attention to John Miller anyways.

[ehh]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

I gave this a 7.5-7.9
<very true="" statement!="" the="" fielding="" has="" been="" good.="">

I would give it the same.

</very>Pitching - Very, very fun and challenging. This allieviates the major problem of 2K games of the past where all pitchers could throw pinpoint stuff a majority of the time.

Hitting - The swing stick is probably my third choice of hitting system but it's improved a lot from 2K7 (I turned it off the day I bought 2K7) so I'll stick with it for a while and see if it sticks or if I go back to classic hitting. The hit variety is definitely the best improvement in this department though, along with the increase in foulballs.

Fielding - The frame rate is inexcusable and should have been fixed but it's not a game killer for me and on my home setup it is no where near as bad as people on this board are making it out to be. As I've said, the only time I see FR issues is on throws across the IF. Perhaps their games are that choppy, I have no idea, but I do know that it's not bad on mine. The fielding has really improved as well before even discussing the new throwing system. Fielders are much more reactive and you can control them and get under a ball much more fluidly this year. The throwing system is fun, nothing crazy or wildly innovative but it works great. It's so nice to not see a 2B fire the ball at a 1B from 10 feet away!

Baserunning - I thought the base running was fine last year, it's fine this year.

Commentary - The commentary has always sucked in MLB2K. Not to mention Morgan is bad enough IRL. This needs to be completely redone for 2K9, it's as bad as it gets in the current line of sports games.

Graphics - This is where there's a lot of disagreement. I personally think the game is beautiful and night games look much better than they did last year. I also think the crowd looks better than it did last year (they don't move anymore or reach for foul balls but at this point I'm not concerned with that). The timing is also much more accurate than last year, now if you start a game at 7:00 it won't look like it's 4pm. If you start a game at 8:00 it'll pretty much be dusk/dark instead of having a good amount of sunlight still out. The sig styles are perfect, absolutely amazing. 2K spent a lot of time redoing these too. Just on the Yanks; Damon, Abreu, A-Rod, Posada, and Melky all got new-and-improved stances. Plus all the accessories are great, every kind of armband, wristband, sleeve, brace, etc you can think of. Almost all of these were in there last year, but they're always welcome each year.

The best part is that this game hasn't even been attacked by the slider guys yet. They should be able to fix a majority of the issues (CPU crushing every meatball, etc) and make this game very good.
<very true="" statement!="" the="" fielding="" has="" been="" good.="">
</very>

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

Good, Thoughtful review. Thanks. I will be picking my copy this weekend (rent first). Thanks to all of the negativity by others, my expectations are probably more realistic now then they were a week ago.

[bowlerguy92]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

I said 8.5-8.9. This game is FANTASTIC.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

I've played about 7 or 8 games and haven't encountered the severe frame rate problem as others have. Maybe it's not as severe or maybe I just don't have the eye for it. Bottom line for me is that it plays a really good game of baseball, with a few hindering exceptions, of which most I can look past. I was on the border of a 7.5-8.0 or an 8.0-8.5. This is a game I really enjoy and look forward to playing.

Unlike last years game, I actually feel in control most of the time, which is very important to me. Canned animations look nice at times, but when they are plentiful, it feels more like I am assisting the computer than actually controlling the players.

[flintkingpin]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

I also have not had the issues with Severe Framerate.

Yes, right before an OF makes the catch, there is some stagger.

To me that doesn't matter.

The Gameplay, especially Pitching on higher difficulties, really makes you work. Knowing that leaving a junk curve over the plate can be Bombed, makes every pitch matter.

The Franchise mode is great, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to even start, thanks to my lust for acquiring Baseball Cards. I am the last person to fall for a gimic, but this just gives all the more reason to play Exhib. Games.

The Online right now hurts. I remember last year's game was flawless. This year, right now, you really have to Jumpstart everything. Step, Swing, Pitch, just to make up for the lag.

If this patch to fix the VIP transfer works and online is back to the way it was last year, then this game is a 9.5 to me.

Baseball is my favorite sport. Xbox 360 is the only console I have, so what MLB 2k8 gives me is a fantastic game of baseball.

My score could be lower if I played or owned The Show, but as it's not and I don't have a comparison;

I have to rate 2k8 as a 9.0, because it's the best baseball experience I've had since MVP 05.

[Bwnarrow3]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

Many of you may know me from 2Ksports.com, and I earlier posted a review there giving it an 8.3/10.

[thornie]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

A solid 8. Some quirks that I am slowly getting used to, but all in all, great game.

[bigfnjoe96]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

7.0-7.5.. No NEW Commentary. Unsteady Frame Rate & How Replays & the VIP System don't cache correctly to the HDD are what stops this game from being a 8.0-8.5.

[myghty]

Re: Have it? Played it (enough)? Rate it!

My score 7.9

Pitching - Probably the most fun I've had while pitching in a BB game is with this new pitching system.

Hitting - I hated Swing Stick at first but now that I got about 20+ games I have grown to it. Very challenging & but gotten good with it & I always get fooled on those hooking curves. (damn you Zito!)

Fielding - Framerate issue not a gamekiller but inexcusible to even release this game with this problem even after we were promised 60fps. Just not right...

Baserunning - Its pretty easy to get a hang of.

Commentary - Meh, same as previous years & not even calling the right plays on the field... Luckly you can shut them off

Atmosphere - Its a good step in the right direction but have to fix the crowd to chant when HRs are hit, etc. KILL THE ORGAN MUSIC!