PlayStation 3
Released in 2008 by 2K Sports
Grade: C-
There’s a lot not to like about this game. It’s got overly ambitious controls, bad camera angles, jumpy animations, and a general sloppiness to it.
Where it falls in the series
This is the second installment of the PS3/Xbox 360 generation. The series called it quits after 2K13.
Praises and gripes
It’s pretty funny to look back on games like this. It tries so hard. Visually, it’s a total mixed bag, with very attractive elements clashing with very ugly elements. The batter’s helmet looks photo-realistic, but you can see a mysterious light inside his sleeve. After your first baseman smoothly makes an out, you see all your fielders sprint back into place like machines. Everyone’s jerseys blow in the wind in the most digital, unnatural way. Cutscenes that are meant to look slick usually end with an abrupt transition to live action.
The controls are a nightmare. When you pitch, you have to execute a “gesture” with the right thumbstick, such as down-then-up for a fastball, or left-then-around-to-the-right for a slider. It’s way too sensitive, punishing you for slight imperfections in your motion. Most humans will be throwing all over the place. Luckily, you can switch to a simpler timing-based pitching system.
Hitting also uses the right thumbstick, and it’s also a pain, but again, you can switch to a simple, one-button system. The same goes for throws in the field. (The series later fixed the sensitivity on these controls so that people might actually want to use them.)
When batting, the camera view isn’t ideal, and it switches based on righty-righty, righty-lefty, etc. The pitcher doesn’t look like he’s 60 feet away, and the ball doesn’t look like it’s moving 90 mph, and it even seems to disappear before crossing the plate, making batting harder than it should be.
The action in the field is jittery. The players don’t move with the grace you normally see in the big leagues. The ball doesn’t ever seem to be moving that fast. Home runs have an underwhelming feel. The baseball logic isn’t all there. My outfielders ran into each other on a routine pop fly … twice! What is this? The Three Stooges?
That’s enough badmouthing for one game. This series got better later on and gave The Show more of a run for its money.