Major League Baseball 2K6

"What did I just pay $60 for?"

I was looking forward to this game for quite some time. I eagerly watched IGN for updates for this game starting around November. I visited my fair share of message boards, here at GameFAQs, over at IGN, and at 2KSports' website. What I got when I opened up the package was a seemingly half-finished game that I had just spent my saved up $60 on.

Gameplay: 6/10
Gameplay is ok. I could live with it if the game did everything else right. The swing stick is difficult to get used to, and it's tough to get timing down. It takes patience to get it down, and sometimes you'll feel like you got a hit more because of luck than because you were on top of the pitch. You can barely judge if the ball will be a ball or strike with the camera angles they give you (more on that later), and fielding is still choppy and over the top. Fielders move too fast, even if it is Juan Pierre or Aaron Rowan or Scott Podsednik. NO FIELDER CAN COVER THE GAPS. I find myself taking away too many hits that should of never been close to being outs (barring any outfield shift). Baserunning is about the same as last year, with the window of each player on base is at it's respective position on the TV. Again, there is turbo for baserunning, which I don't like (you can turn this off though). Pitching is awesome. Perhaps the saving grace for some (not me unfortunately), it is really well done. You pick your location, then hold down the pitch button and a yellow "circle" will start to grow around the ball cursor. Release the button and the circle will quickly go towards the cursor, then you hit the same pitch button and the pitch is thrown. You can also use the right analog stick to move around the catcher. Enough about gameplay...

Presentation: 1/10
ESPN, where art thou? Seriously, without the ESPN presentation, this game's menus and scoreboard really sucks, to be blunt. If you don't have an HDTV and don't want to sit 6 inches from the TV, good luck reading the writing. The writing is small and cramped, so it's hard to read e-mails and stats and ratings. It's barely readable, and it didn't have to be that way. I'm assuming those with an HDTV will not have this problem, but I'm not 100% sure. Menus are cramped and not the prettiest to look at. The background in the main screen and franchise is grayish with some writing and pictures scrawled about, so it can make reading the small letters even harder.

Sound: 4/10
The announcers (Joe Morgan and John Miller are the main 2) aren't bad, but they may confuse the situation and repeat lines. The talk like they're actually talking to each other/the viewer in the booth instead of reading from a manuscript. However, that's where the good ends. Homerun shots still sound like shotgun blasts. I don't need to hear "BLAM!" when I hit it out, that's just not natural. I'm looking for more of a "CRACK!", which is more like it really is. The sound of the ball hitting the glove is too loud. A minor gripe, but it's too overdone and it gets annoying after a while.

Graphics: 6/10
For next-gen, they aren't good on a whole. The player faces look nothing like their real life counter-parts. The batting stances and animations are girl-like and awkward still, although it has somewhat improved from last year. Running is more laughable than anything else. However, on a more positive note (and the reason why the score is above a 4) is because the stadiums and the day effects are great. They really look next-gen and you can tell when it's getting darker and when clouds are moving in. I don't look for graphics in a game though, so it doesn't bother me nearly as much as the...

Camera angles: -10/10
I've never given a negative score before, and I probably never will again. However, this camera is what ruined the game for me. Although there are plenty of camera angles to choose from, none are good for batting. For pitching, they're all fine (behind 2nd base is default and works well). This is why judging a pitch is so darn hard. You can try all camera angles, fiddle with the zoom, and if you find one that works, you either have a good eye or aren't as picky as me. I'm try to be reasonable and look for the best in things, but I see none in terms of camera angles. Then, when you make contact, they vary the types of angles you get. You may get one that follows the runner, or one that is too vertical to the field. Not good. When you're fielding, it doesn't change, but stays on the 'too vertical to the field' camera angle which kind of slows the bleeding. I could go on and on about these camera angles, but for the sake of this review I won't.

Buy or Rent?
Avoid it, avoid it, avoid it. File a restraining order against it. Do what ever it takes, just don't go near it. The only reason I would take this game if it was given to me is for the money I would get in for trading it in. If you have a lot of patience, an HDTV, and really want a next-gen baseball game then wait for a price drop if anything. But even so, there are much better baseball choices out there at this moment that cost a lot less than $60. This game is a mess from every angle, I just hope that 2K gets it together for 2K7, but I won't be holding my breath. Maybe one day I can have a decent next-gen MLB game, but until then I'll just have to wait...

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/06