Baseball season is fastly approaching and that means that the baseball sims are here and we here at Loot Ninja cannot be more excited. As avid baseball fans, we could not wait until we had a chance to play the next gen installments of the great American past time. On the Xbox 360, you only have one choice of game and that is MLB2K8 from 2K Sports. The 2K7 version was a huge jump up from 2K6 and the game was pretty good. There was a lot of promise for this year’s installment and the developers aimed to make all the necessary changes and tweaks to make the THE baseball game to get regardless of what console you own. Was this a home run or a strike three curveball in the dirt? It’s more of a nice one hopper to the wall.

Presentation and Graphics: The developers promised that this game would run at full 60 fps at all times, but I believe that claim to be a little of a stretch. While the pitching and hitting seem smooth enough, its the fielding aspect where you notice considerable slow down. Especially on ground balls to the infield. The game sort of lags for a few seconds and it really inhibits the flow in an otherwise smooth sport. The character models look better than average and the faces of the noticeable stars are on point. The batting stances and mannerisms were also very well done. My father who does not play games but watches the Yankees every night, could easily tell what guy was up based on their stance in the box as well as the pitchers’ windups. Job well done there. The stadium also look vey good, but not great. I would have liked to see the construction behind Shea Stadium which is apparent in both real life and in the other baseball sims. Its little things like that which make this game good, but again, not great. I am not a fan f 2K’s menus. They are horizontal here and not vertical which adds some confusion on where to find things. 7.5 of 10

Sound and Music: We get another year of the great commentary of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. They are basically the Madden of baseball. In this game, they are either spot on or light years away. Let me explain. They have great insight to the game and often break off in poignant and informative stories during the game. They also get every players name correctly, which has been issues before. Baltimore Orioles first baseman, Nick Mar-cock-is, spelled Markakis(Mar-cake-is), appreiciates it. There are other times when you hit a line drive that is caught and Jon Miller screams, “Liner into the gap”, when your player is out and already halfway back to the plate in shame. The in game music is decent. Its sort of a background thing as opposed to something you listen to. The crowd noise is awesome. They shout insults; its realistic. The one thing we did not like was the crack of the bat; way too loud. You’d think someone got piledrived through a table. Otherwise, the in game sounds are well done. 8 of 10

Gameplay: 2K promised some major changes to the game this year and some went over very well. Others not so much. A huge update was the new pitching mechanic. This is a great feature in theory, but in application, it tends to fall flat. The idea behind it is great. You have to input a double movement sequence with the right analog stick that mimics the flight path of the ball. Here is a video showing how it works:

In theory, it looks great. It the game, its very hard to master, especially with pitches that require movements in half circle directions. If you mess it up, even a little, the hitter gets a belt high meatball which almost always results in a home run. With practice, it can be mastered, but pitching is essential in baseball. Its hard to play when you’re down 8 runs before you even hit. As far as hitting goes, the Swing Stick 2.0 is tweaked. There is no more push up for power and just release for contact. You must push up at all times. Nothing major here, but not every swing should feel like you are going for the fences. The throwing is also different and this is where it really shines. You throw with the stick now(right is first base and so on) and there is a meter that measures power vs accuracy. If you let loose a throw at full tilt, its going to miss its target. They also made it essential to hit the cutoff man. Very good addition. Baserunning is nothing new and there is no more turbo. Not having turbo sucks at first, but after awhile you will not miss it. Baseball needs realism and this game is realistic, but to a flaw with the pitching. Its just too hard off the bat and the learning curve will be too steep for the casual gamer, at least for awhile. 7 of 10.

Multiplayer: Multiplayer has a new mode called “Strikes Only”. This is awesome. It prevents you playing someone online who only throws pitches out of the zone to be cheap. Let’s face it, in a baseball game you swing at everything. Why? Its a game. I know if its 0-2, you might not want to give the guy a belt high fastball, but it takes away the cheap factor that can plague multiplayer games. There was some considerable lag though in both the hitting and pitching. Everything felt a little slower online as opposed to off. They need to fix this. Timing is paramount to pitching and a second here or there and its a grand slam. Plenty of lobbies to pick from. 8 of 10

Lasting Appeal: Its baseball. You are going to play it all year anyway. There is a new mode where you collect baseball cards and you can build a dream team with the cards you acquire. MLBPA said that wagering the cards online is gambling; a four letter word in baseball. As of now, you can only trade. Franchise mode is deep as usual, but there are no mini-games. Home run derby is there but that is a staple, not an addition. Its your only choice for baseball on the 360, at least for a simulation. There will be some arcade type games, but they are a differnent genre really. 8 of 10

Final Word: Is this the dream game that Xbox 360 owners were hoping for. Not so much. The game is good is most ways, and verging on great in others. The framerate issues, tough pitching mechanic, and overall lack of polish will steer owners of both consoles to The Show 08. 360 owners are left without a choice and that sucks. I would strongly recommened that you rent this before you buy, just to see if you like it. Die hard fans will buy the game anyway, but the casual gamer should gives this a hard look. The game does have a ton of potential. If it gets all patched up, it’ll be a definite buy. Right now, its on the rental side.

Overall: 7.5 of 10

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