Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

[wsu_gb23]

I am starting to have my doubts about the 2K baseball franchise. It seems that every year there are new issues that need to be addressed. Now that I think of it, I have been playing 2K baseball since World Series Baseball 2K1, and I don't recall any 2K baseball game being that great. I actually think 2K7 is the best in the whole series.

[michiganfanatic720]

Re: Major League Baseball 2k8 Review

One thing you failed to mention is the fact that they removed vendors walking down the aisles and the fact that the fans dont reach for foul balls anymore. I cant undertand the reasoning behind that. Overall though, the game with a few tweaks, would play one hell of a game of basesball...to bad the developers rushed it out the door.

I think they were trying to take things out to make the game run smoother. It obviously didnt work very well though.

[Crash Davis]

Good review, this game is a disappointment, with some small nice touches,

[bigmoe]

Re: Major League Baseball 2k8 Review

Well I havent bought the game yet and this review along with many others take ,has put me on hold until I can buy on sale if I can hold out.NHL 08 and NBA2k8 still take up alot of my time anyway...

[Tomba]

Sadly this is NOT the game I wanted it to be... Bought/the PS3 versiona nd am hoping for a patch. i'm giving 2k about a month to do so...

[Tomba]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

why thank you ;-)

very tough game to review. balancing some of the new things they've done with the utter inexcusable frame rate issue wasn't that easy.

I only hope 2k and Brinkman see THIS review as I believe it is the "definitive" review of the game from the most accurate sports gaming site out.

[totalownership]

It's a vicious cycle people. Time is 2K's enemy. Ok lets look at it. They obviously didn't have the time to do what they wanted to get 2K8 out the door like they wanted to. So they had to compromise. Right when it hit the shelves they probably went to work on 2k9. BUT HOLD THE PHONE. We got a framerate issues going on here. So now they have to have some people stop what they're doing on 2K9 and address this issues. So what does that mean? Time that was supposed to be spent working on 2K9 now has been diverted to fixing some of 2K8 so 2K9 is already behind the eight ball timewise and the game still has a year before release. They need to just take a break one year and fix the game up properly. But that isn't going to happen and if I were running I wouldn't do it either. It's financial suicide. Besides the fact they're paying for the license.

[Spanky]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

Thanks for help saving me $60. It used to be I'd buy a highly anticipated game on release day. Not anymore. I've learned from my mistake -- NCAA Football 08 -- and I'm glad I showed patience with this apparent disaster of a game. I don't care if it has some good points and plays a decent game of baseball after you get the hang of it, for $60 it damn well better be orgasmic for me to reach into my wallet.

[jim416]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

The game "crashes"? You mean you'll be playing then, bingo, crashes like a computer game would?

[bulls23]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

Id give the game a 7/10 and if they fix the framerate 8/10. I agree about most what was said, but I think the pitching aspect of the game and the throwing meter save the title for now. You also have to give 2k some credit for fixing most of the annoying glitches that were in 2k7 (fielding hiccups, bad lineups, rain in domes, cant change CPU jersey), although its true they have created a couple of new ones. I really do miss the graphics from 2k7 and the little things like the fans and vendors.

[Triggerfish]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

when is the 2k contract with mlb up? I thought it was better then last year...which is ez...i really dont think they have the resources for the game. I am enjoying the pitching though...the "show's" old school buttons are getting real old and boring. I agree with the 6.

[Radja]

i actually think the score should be lower if you do not have a gold xbox live account. the frame rate issue will never go away. i fortunately, do have online support so it is a six to me.

the game play may be in the 8 or even 9 if it is fixed. but the overall problems really drag the score down.

[Brophog]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

the "show's" old school buttons are getting real old and boring. I agree with the 6.

It's all in your mind. The sticks are just buttons that work different with pluses/minuses as psuedo-buttons. You'll just get bored of them too, as the mechanism is essentially the same. Heck, take away the step process in swinging and it IS the same. Pitching is still essentially a meter. Throwing is the same metered throwing we've had for a while, with an accuracy penalty that doesn't seem to really exist unless you constantly REALLY botch it up. Whose that bad on throwing with the sticks?

That has nothing to do with the game, fwiw. The real reason you're bored is the fact we've been using the same controller designs now for a very long time. We have buttons, and imprecise sticks that act like buttons.

For the review, I agree that a 6 is a tad harsh, but I don't know his scale.......everyone has a different 1-10 scale. On mine, it's a tad harsh. On his, it may be generious. To me, though, the review focused too much on the framerate, which while annoying, is almost definitely to be fixed via a patch. And I know that there are still those out there that don't have broadband for their console, but the reality of console gaming in this generation is that a lot of games now require patches, however unfortunate that is for the end user.

So, to me, in terms of reviewing a game, the fact something like this framerate issue exists is merely annoying, I don't think I would put nearly the attention into it. I would have focused on the hitting engine, the variety, the animations, the feeling of if the ball is organic or on rails, the controls, the presentation, the sim engine........those kinds of things. And then I'd hope that something that sticks out like theframerate would be duly fixed.

Given that, what I would like to see from OS is a second review post patch. In fact, given how buggy The Show is, I'd hope both games got patched and both games got 2 reviews, to try to show how good they really are.

[crumpled_heap]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

This game does not deserve a six. All the negatives you gave it had nothing to do with gameplay. Who cares about the commentary, who cares about the presentation, who cares about online play. The gameplay is good therefore it does not deserve a six.

[gallandro]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K8 Review

This game does not deserve a six. All the negatives you gave it had nothing to do with gameplay. Who cares about the commentary, who cares about the presentation, who cares about online play. The gameplay is good therefore it does not deserve a six.

Huh? It's part of the game isn't it? Commentary and presentation is part of the overall package, isn't it? How can you avoid those issues and call it a comprehensive review. A 6 is more than fair for 2K8. The gameplay is pretty good, but seriously, beyond the gimmick of a new controller configuration (and it is a gimmick), 2K8 has problems out of the box, and a comprehensive review should reflect that.

I was a looooong time apologist for 2K Baseball (helped bfnjoe with some slider sets and discovered a workaround for the passed ball bug from 2K6), I loved World Series Baseball 2K3 and have steadily watched this franchise go downhill. There have been positives along the way, but all in all 2K has really just gotten stuck in a rut as of late.

Fortunately I rented 2K8 (MLB2K7 was the final straw for me buying 2K Sports games sight unseen), and will be passing on this year's version... I'll stick with The Show.


Yancy