Second place is the first loser.
PlayStation 3
Released in 2011 by 2K Sports
Grade: A-
The 2K baseball series gets very little credit because it lives in the shadow of The Show, which was the king of simulation baseball before this game came out and is still the king today in 2017. The Show is exclusively on Playstation systems, and so 2K baseball is more associated with Xbox and Xbox 360.
That said, this is still an excellent game. It has a deep pitching and batting interface, realistic physics, pitches that move like real pitches, fun action in the field, and plenty of options.
Where it falls in the series
The 2K baseball series jumped to PS3/Xbox 360 for 2K7, and called it quits after 2K13.
Praises and gripes
The pitching system is unusual and challenging. Each pitch has a “gesture” with the right thumbstick. To throw a fastball, you point down, then up. For a slider, point right, then rotate down and left. You’re shooting for the smoothest motion possible, while also getting the timing right. It requires quite a bit of focus. A helpful display shows your exact motion after each pitch. Over time, you’ll find that you’re nailing some pitches and struggling with others (kinda like a real pitcher).
I don’t necessarily dislike this system, but I’m not in love with it either. It’s interesting, it adds dynamics, I get it, but meticulously pointing a thumbstick in just the right fashion doesn’t sound like a good time to me. Luckily, you can dumb this WAY down by switching to “classic,” which is a simple press-and-hold system.
Batting also uses the right thumbstick. Pointing up is a contact swing. Pointing down then up is a power swing. It’s a solid system. More important, the viewpoint is good, with the strike zone directly in the middle of the screen. You can dumb this down too if you’d rather just press X to swing. The displays show some helpful information as you work to get the timing right, although I hate the feature that tips you off to what type of pitch is coming during the pitcher’s release.
The good news is that you can toggle nearly every little bell and whistle on or off … but boy, it will take you a few trips through the menus to figure it all out.
Fielding and baserunning are both very simple to pick up. The general feel of the action isn’t quite as smooth and lifelike as The Show, but it’s very good.
The graphics are nice, but there are a couple hiccups. Some pitchers’ deliveries look non-human, and baserunners look awkward at times. The commentary sounds slick but you’ll hear plenty of mistakes before you turn it off and just enjoy the solid ballpark sounds. The options are a-plenty. There’s an assortment of training modes; some are better than others.
There’s too much shine to the presentation. The scoreboard, statistics, and menus glisten like a jewelry store. Rays of light are shooting off them throughout the game. I almost never complain about that stuff — it’s all about gameplay — but it really is distracting. When you throw a perfect pitch, which should happen often, a red and gold circle twists and flashes over your view of the ball. That’s not only annoying, but it gets in the way of you learning exactly where your pitches end up.
I should reiterate that this is still a damn good game. It looks like baseball, plays like baseball, has the strategic depth of baseball, it’s friggin’ baseball. This is like the Ted Williams of baseball video games … does everything except win the World Series.