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Last year's MLB 2K6 360 was a complete disaster. There's no two ways about it. Just getting the game to run was a chore, and what was there was a buggy mess. Heck, you know it was bad when even 2K and Kush Games admitted this fact before the release of MLB 2K7. So- that in mind, perhaps the bar was set at lets get the game to work correctly in 2K7. Presentation/Graphics.
MLB 2K7 is a very mixed experience. As is common with 2K Sports games, the graphics and presentation are top-notch. The players uniforms shine like polyester in the sun when they should, and the grass, textures, player faces, stadiums, etc- are all darn-near photo-real. You won't find any better baseball graphics. Unfortunately for this years' installment, that comes at a price. The catching and "chain" animations of players diving to make catches or hitting into a wall tend to be overly drawn-out. Often your outfielders will get caught in a very slow/lazy animation chain that should not be as involved or slow...while opposing baserunners round bases while your player struggles to get up from a big dive with no "hurry up" whatsoever. Needless to say, this can cause problems. Its a bit of a shame that with these spot-on graphics that many of the animation chains need re-tooled with an emphasis on speed and player urgency. All other facets of the graphical presentation, including highlights, replays, and the new "view from the grass" replays are all unequaled in the sports video game industry. Its just those sometimes-too-slow outfield animations. They can be killers. Sound.
In typical 2K Sports tradition, the audio and commentary are top notch. Sometimes the fans will surprise you with comments directed at players. Yankee Stadium is NOTORIOUS for this, and well that it should be. This game really shines if you have a surround-sound system. Jon Miller and Joe Morgan do a bang-up job with the commentary. I've read other reviews where the game has been criticized for over-used commentary tracks, but I personally don't notice it. No complaints from me on the sound.
Realism.
Here's where the rubber meets the road, and sadly for me- this is where the game starts to fall apart. Even with complex slider adjustments, this game tends to be an arcade baseball game. Sadly, that's always been the knock on 2K's baseball products, and this years' game doesn't break that trend. Most runs seem to be scored on home-runs or big hits that hit on or near the wall. 2K seems to be somewhat aware of this, so they seem to have super-juiced the AI opponent's ability to climb the wall and rob homers. (Lets face it, that's a very bad "band-aid" solution to the all too frequent long-ball in this game.) Variety of hits is an issue too. I find it extremely hard to influence a ground ball, making the hit and run a dicey proposition. What's worse, base-stealing is exceptionally hard unless you severely handicap the AI with slider settings. Even "no-brainer" base-theft artists will often get thrown out despite good lead-offs. This only augments the already existing forced-reliance on the long-ball to score runs. If you are a methodical "run manufacturing" skipper for your team, you will be quite likely to be frustrated with how things work in MLB 2K7. Also, hitting has more to do with timing than it does pitch location and bat location during contact. Myself and Chris J Nelson (who makes some top-notch rosters for the game) noticed a wild home run he had on me online from a VERY down and away pitch against a right handed batter who somehow figured out a miraculous way to rip a deep homer down near the LEFT FIELD foul line.
I know others are quick to point out the growing-pains and 2007 "do-over" issues at work, but the fact remains that two years later, the MLB 2K series is still significanly behind the far more solid MVP 2005 product that EA produced. Chances are if you were a big fan of MVP 2005, you will find that there's many things about MLB 2K7 that make you miss MVP 2005's realism. the MLB 2K8 producer already said they hope to address these things next year, but a 2K6 disastrous mulligan of a product, and a realism-challenged, very arcadey MLB 2K7 might cause people to grow very impatient with this product. Franchise:
Franchise play is there and is useable at the very least. There's some big problems with salaries (A Rod making 2 million?...um....is that 2K's way of giving my beloved-yet-terrible Pirates a chance to sign good players for cheap?). Also, if you were spoiled by MLB 06 The Show and MVP 2005's inclusion of minor-league teams, you'll be sorely disappointed with the 2K product yet again. They hope to have them in next year. There is a pool of minor league players to call up/send down from, so I guess there's that consolation. Still, franchise play is pretty decent- but franchise is only as good as the on-field gameplay- and as stated before, you might tire of the long-ball encouraging dynamics. You might also want to turn off AI trades, as you'll see some really bad ones that will leave you scratching your head. To be fair, this issue of AI logic with franchise trades has never really been adequately addressed in most console sports games. Still, it merits some mention. Online:
Online play is there, and I've found it to be pretty smooth. In the great tradition of 2K Sports games from the past several years, there is online franchise play with complete stat tracking. There's also leaderboards, lobbies, and everything else you've come to expect. Conclusion:
Its fair to say that MLB 2K7 improves on the 2K6 version immensely, but I don't really know how much of a compliment that is. (Many people had to wait for a patch just to play 2K6 on 360). 2K7 does work, and work well. I've noticed no technical issues. However, the fact remains- the actual baseball portion of the game is extremely soft-core and arcadey. 2K still has yet to catch up to where the MVP series was in 2005, or where the current gen MLB 07 The Show product is now in terms of the realism and execution of the very nuanced game of baseball. If you are like me, you may tire of the big-blasts and the high-scoring dynamics at work. However, if you are more of a casual baseball fan, you'll find plenty to like. Hopefully next years' MLB 2K8 will be the year when both sides of the hardcore/softcore coin can be happy, but for this year I just can't score it higher than a 7 out of 10. Review by Quietcool72
4/11/2007
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