MLB 2k8 is a frustrating game. It’s not particularly attractive. It stutters and hitches anytime the fielding camera moves. Baseball oddities, like fielders running right over the top of a hit ball occur with freakish regularity. It’s cursed with the kinds of problems that can only be described as sloppy, like being able to use the pre-game menus to change your AI opponent’s pitcher and lineup in a franchise mode game. Yet, despite all of that, it does offer a compelling, even fun, baseball experience that if you game exclusively on the Xbox 360, is just good enough to warrant a purchase for those that need summertime baseball.
The first hiccup you’re likely to notice occurs the second the game gets to the field. The batter versus hitter interface is smooth, but that’s pretty much it. Any ball hit in the field that requires the camera to actually move results in frequent hitches, slowdowns and speedups in the animation. But it doesn’t stop there. Every time there’s a cut to a replay or some other form of cut scene there’s a notable hitch as the transition graphic flashes on and off the screen.
The worst moment occurred after my first game, in which I was no hit by the Red Sox. There was a fantastic celebration scene following the final out, which would’ve been unbelievably cool except that it occurred at around five frames per second throughout. Only when it was complete did the frame rate return to normal. Now, these things don’t affect the actual gameplay, per se, but they’re both annoying and headache inducing if you can’t grow to overlook them.
What's worse is that the game's inability to maintain a smooth frame rate makes online play all but unplayable because it has a huge impact on the batter-pitcher confrontation. If online is your thing, you can forget about working pitch counts as you pretty much have to initiate your swing as the pitcher is releasing the ball if you want to have any hope of making contact. That's bad enough on spec, but it also opens the game up to all sorts of cheese if your online opponent wants to take advantage of that fact by throwing an egregious number of pitches outside the strike zone.
If only the cavalcade of sloppy issues stopped there. Whether it’s an infielder failing to even attempt to scoop up a ground ball (with no error called on the play), a news ticker that won’t go away even when you turn it off in the options menu, or a pitcher with a hit ball in his glove not even attempting to tag out a runner despite that runner running, literally, right through him, there’s no shortage of bizarre occurrences that completely dispel the notion that you’re playing a well constructed game of video baseball. What’s doubly frustrating is that none of these issues, by themselves, occurring only in isolated situations, would register as much of a blip on the radar of most baseball game fans. The problem is these things occur in almost every game. If it’s not some bizarre missed fielding animation, it’s a hit into right-center field resulting in a force out of a runner going to second base.
What’s really a shame about all this is there’s a fantastic baseball game lurking beneath all these problems. The atmosphere in a close game is electric. While it may not get an A in the school of baseball 101, if you tweak the settings sliders a bit in certain areas it certainly gets a B+. Players cover their positions appropriately and make sound decisions with the ball when under AI control. In a tight game with outs to spare, the AI will bunt a base runner into scoring position. And the variety of hit types is as good here as in any other baseball game.
As with most sports games these days there’s an emphasis on the right analog stick to perform a host of actions in the game, and nowhere is this more prevalent than in the batter-pitcher stand-off. In particular, the new Total Pitch Control scheme is a fantastic addition to the game. Using this method, different pitches require different motions with the stick. A straight up fastball or change up require a down-up or up-down motions respectively. A slider requires a down motion with a 90-degree rotation to the right. The better you execute the motion, with the necessary timing (done to an on-screen graphic), the more likely your pitcher is to hit his spot. But just getting the motions down isn’t the half of it. Pitch accuracy is also reflected in how good a pitcher is with a given pitch. A guy with an 80-rated 12-6 curveball is much more accurate with it than a guy who’s only rated a 65. Also, the more fatigued your pitcher is, the more difficult it is to properly time the throw. If you miss badly enough, you’ll end up throwing a “meatball” pitch that, if the hitter is able to take advantage, can easily be tattooed over the fence in straightaway centerfield.
The hitting model, Swing Stick 2.0, is also well-executed, though it lacks the variety and creativity of Total Pitch Control. When hitting you simply draw the stick back and, when you want to swing, push it forward again. The catch is you need to time drawing back the stick to the pitcher’s delivery. Do it poorly and you’ll have a harder time making good contact on the ball. That said, despite what the manual will tell you, every swing is the same. There’s no hitting for power or contact. There’s no locating a target area to swing the bat, though you can try to guess the location ahead of time and push the swing stick off to the left or right to try to hit the ball in that particular direction.
