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Let’s just be brutally honest, MLB 2K8 was a disaster. Taking a big step down from the previous year’s version, a consumer would assume that maybe, just maybe, 2K Sports would come back with a game a majority of baseball fans would love. Unfortunately, our assumptions of MLB 2K9 were completely false. Before we get too into detail with the numerous problems with the game, let us look at a few of the positive additions.
To start, it seems as though 2K Sports took some time to hear what the community had to say. Although some of the most pressing issues were left out, they did add many improvements from the disaster they presented to customers last year. Among the improvements are hitting foul balls and an array of diversity in the hitting game. It seems as though every at bat has a foul ball here and there and that is much more realistic than previous editions of the game. Last year, Jose Reyes could have broken the single-season home-run record set by Barry Bonds a few seasons ago. If the ball was not crushed out of the park, it was a gap shot. It seemed as though every line drive for a hit was straight up the middle. In this year’s version, the line drive finally has the ability to get through the gap between the corner infielders and the middle infielders. Although there seems to be a home run problem still, it has been scaled down from 2K8. Finally 2K Sports has given us the ability to hit a grounder through the infield and a single over the middle infielder to the outfield which has been a rare occurrence in the past.
This was the year that the 2K series could break through and deliver a great game for users to love and play consistently. Regrettably, its game play is overshadowed by all the simple mishaps. The bigger of the mishaps include ridiculous errors, very unrealistic computer aggressiveness, and disgusting artificial intelligence. Now these issues could be disregarded in many ways if it happened every now and then but that is just not the case. These are concerns that are occurring every single game, and often happen several times throughout the game.
I understand that errors are a part of baseball, but the way these errors are dealt with is beyond ludicrous. If you have played even a single game in the demo released earlier this week, you’ve probably been introduced to a pop-up the fielder is standing under and the ball pops out of the glove like it has never been used. Remember playing catch with that brand new glove and it seemed as if you could never squeeze tight enough for the ball to stick in it? That is the best example of what happens when a fly ball is hit. The fielder will run in what seems like slow-motion to the ball and even if he finally gets under it, the result often results in an error. Something I didn’t notice as much in the demo was the fielder’s detection of the ball coming. On a couple occasions, a slow ground ball that wasn’t directly hit to the field ended up either go right between his legs once he got in front of it, or was simply let right through the infield.
Perhaps the most annoying part of MLB 2K9 is the aggressiveness of the AI. In the many games I’ve played in the demo and the actual released game, both the computer hitter and pitcher were horribly aggressive. When pitching, it is a rare happening to watch the hitter watch a called strike go by. Although I haven’t done any calculations, I’m willing to bet at least 90-95% of balls thrown in the strike zone were swung at. Although this aggressiveness speeds up the game for those who like to get through a game at the highest pace, it really takes away from any realism possible. In reality, it is a pitchers dream to have a three-pitch inning. In MLB 2K9, it is almost the norm. The hitting aggressiveness leads to unrealistic pitch counts and easy innings. Pitching to the computer is like facing Alfonso Soriano 30+ times per game.
On the opposite side of the ball, I am a very patient hitter at the plate. Similar to most players in Major League Baseball, the first strike is often not the best pitch I want to hit. In this game, I have drawn roughly two walks per game. That’s not bad right? Wrong. About 80% of the walks drawn have come from a superstar at the plate with two outs and the pitcher intentionally walks the hitter to get to the less dangerous on-deck hitter. Again, this causes very low pitch counts and the uselessness of using a middle reliever. In one instance, Jason worth came up to the plate with a runner on second and two outs. Now I’d understand intentionally walking him if he has had a great day at the plate or the on-deck hitter had been struggling that day but this was the polar opposite. Werth had been to the plate three times, struck out twice, and grounded into a double play the other. The stupidity of the AI decided it would be a great idea to walk him to get the possibility to have force outs at first, second, and third. The next hitter up was Chase Utley, have a great day hitting. Utley was three for three with a homerun and a double with three runs batted in. My point here is even when the rare occurrence of a walk ensued, it often came at an inopportune time for the opponent.
As stated before, the AI generously took it’s time getting to a fly ball in the gap. On some occasions, the fielder would not get there fast enough to get under the ball and it seemed as though someone pressed the fast forward button while the fielder ran faster than humanly possible to catch an approaching fly ball. The most annoying element in fielding is the fielders inability to play the ball of the wall. Whether the ball was catchable before hitting the wall or the ball just hit off the wall, the fielder looked as though he had never played baseball before. On a ball catchable before it hits the wall, the computer would attempt to jump and catch it whether it was hitting to top of the wall or the bottom corner where the wall meets the warning track. This would often result in triples for guys like Ryan Howard and Adam Dunn, and the easiest inside-the-park home runs with guys like Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez. If the ball hit off the wall before the fielder was able to get there, he would often mishandle the ball trying to pick it up with his bare hand. Again, this would lead to triples and homeruns when it was possible to hold them to singles and doubles. The AI’s worst aspect in MLB 2K9 could be the numerous occurrences of the first basemen decision that stepping on first base while applying a force out is forgotten. Several times during every game I played, the first basemen would simply take his foot off first base resulting hits that should have been easy outs. This was most prominent on ground balls in which the third basemen needed to charge the ball before throwing over to first.
As a whole, if you’ve never played a virtual baseball game, it is playable. On the other hand, if you are a baseball enthusiast, you will struggle putting MLB 2K9 in your console more than once. I can honestly say I was very excited to open this game up and see what 2K Sports had to offer its customers this year and all I can do is be completely embarrassed that a product with so many prominent issues was even released. If 2K Sports wants to have a license for baseball and create an exclusive game for the XBOX 360, put some time into the game and test it. It seems as though they felt the need to design a copy and failed to put any time into testing it.
Thoughts? Concerns? Anything I should add?
To start, it seems as though 2K Sports took some time to hear what the community had to say. Although some of the most pressing issues were left out, they did add many improvements from the disaster they presented to customers last year. Among the improvements are hitting foul balls and an array of diversity in the hitting game. It seems as though every at bat has a foul ball here and there and that is much more realistic than previous editions of the game. Last year, Jose Reyes could have broken the single-season home-run record set by Barry Bonds a few seasons ago. If the ball was not crushed out of the park, it was a gap shot. It seemed as though every line drive for a hit was straight up the middle. In this year’s version, the line drive finally has the ability to get through the gap between the corner infielders and the middle infielders. Although there seems to be a home run problem still, it has been scaled down from 2K8. Finally 2K Sports has given us the ability to hit a grounder through the infield and a single over the middle infielder to the outfield which has been a rare occurrence in the past.
This was the year that the 2K series could break through and deliver a great game for users to love and play consistently. Regrettably, its game play is overshadowed by all the simple mishaps. The bigger of the mishaps include ridiculous errors, very unrealistic computer aggressiveness, and disgusting artificial intelligence. Now these issues could be disregarded in many ways if it happened every now and then but that is just not the case. These are concerns that are occurring every single game, and often happen several times throughout the game.
I understand that errors are a part of baseball, but the way these errors are dealt with is beyond ludicrous. If you have played even a single game in the demo released earlier this week, you’ve probably been introduced to a pop-up the fielder is standing under and the ball pops out of the glove like it has never been used. Remember playing catch with that brand new glove and it seemed as if you could never squeeze tight enough for the ball to stick in it? That is the best example of what happens when a fly ball is hit. The fielder will run in what seems like slow-motion to the ball and even if he finally gets under it, the result often results in an error. Something I didn’t notice as much in the demo was the fielder’s detection of the ball coming. On a couple occasions, a slow ground ball that wasn’t directly hit to the field ended up either go right between his legs once he got in front of it, or was simply let right through the infield.
Perhaps the most annoying part of MLB 2K9 is the aggressiveness of the AI. In the many games I’ve played in the demo and the actual released game, both the computer hitter and pitcher were horribly aggressive. When pitching, it is a rare happening to watch the hitter watch a called strike go by. Although I haven’t done any calculations, I’m willing to bet at least 90-95% of balls thrown in the strike zone were swung at. Although this aggressiveness speeds up the game for those who like to get through a game at the highest pace, it really takes away from any realism possible. In reality, it is a pitchers dream to have a three-pitch inning. In MLB 2K9, it is almost the norm. The hitting aggressiveness leads to unrealistic pitch counts and easy innings. Pitching to the computer is like facing Alfonso Soriano 30+ times per game.
On the opposite side of the ball, I am a very patient hitter at the plate. Similar to most players in Major League Baseball, the first strike is often not the best pitch I want to hit. In this game, I have drawn roughly two walks per game. That’s not bad right? Wrong. About 80% of the walks drawn have come from a superstar at the plate with two outs and the pitcher intentionally walks the hitter to get to the less dangerous on-deck hitter. Again, this causes very low pitch counts and the uselessness of using a middle reliever. In one instance, Jason worth came up to the plate with a runner on second and two outs. Now I’d understand intentionally walking him if he has had a great day at the plate or the on-deck hitter had been struggling that day but this was the polar opposite. Werth had been to the plate three times, struck out twice, and grounded into a double play the other. The stupidity of the AI decided it would be a great idea to walk him to get the possibility to have force outs at first, second, and third. The next hitter up was Chase Utley, have a great day hitting. Utley was three for three with a homerun and a double with three runs batted in. My point here is even when the rare occurrence of a walk ensued, it often came at an inopportune time for the opponent.
As stated before, the AI generously took it’s time getting to a fly ball in the gap. On some occasions, the fielder would not get there fast enough to get under the ball and it seemed as though someone pressed the fast forward button while the fielder ran faster than humanly possible to catch an approaching fly ball. The most annoying element in fielding is the fielders inability to play the ball of the wall. Whether the ball was catchable before hitting the wall or the ball just hit off the wall, the fielder looked as though he had never played baseball before. On a ball catchable before it hits the wall, the computer would attempt to jump and catch it whether it was hitting to top of the wall or the bottom corner where the wall meets the warning track. This would often result in triples for guys like Ryan Howard and Adam Dunn, and the easiest inside-the-park home runs with guys like Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez. If the ball hit off the wall before the fielder was able to get there, he would often mishandle the ball trying to pick it up with his bare hand. Again, this would lead to triples and homeruns when it was possible to hold them to singles and doubles. The AI’s worst aspect in MLB 2K9 could be the numerous occurrences of the first basemen decision that stepping on first base while applying a force out is forgotten. Several times during every game I played, the first basemen would simply take his foot off first base resulting hits that should have been easy outs. This was most prominent on ground balls in which the third basemen needed to charge the ball before throwing over to first.
As a whole, if you’ve never played a virtual baseball game, it is playable. On the other hand, if you are a baseball enthusiast, you will struggle putting MLB 2K9 in your console more than once. I can honestly say I was very excited to open this game up and see what 2K Sports had to offer its customers this year and all I can do is be completely embarrassed that a product with so many prominent issues was even released. If 2K Sports wants to have a license for baseball and create an exclusive game for the XBOX 360, put some time into the game and test it. It seems as though they felt the need to design a copy and failed to put any time into testing it.
Thoughts? Concerns? Anything I should add?
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