Major League Baseball 2K7

"Hooray for Bells and Whistles!"

Major League Baseball 2K7 is an advertiser's dream. It features authentic rosters and stats from all MLB teams, post-season and all-star game modes, and a homerun derby. However, it's what this game lacks that makes it such a disappointment – a season.


GAMEPLAY: 2/10
There is no regular season mode to speak of. You turn the game on, pick your teams, play the game and when it's over you're back to the title screen. During the game, the controls can be a little clunky. Pitch selection with the L/R buttons is awkward. And while you're able to pitch to a specific spot in the strike zone (or out of it if you so desire), as a batter, you must also swing for a specific spot as well. Some of the better hitters (according to real-life batting average) are able to cover a lot of the plate with their swing, but less than stellar hitters only hit balls in the one spot the swing at. There's no way to adjust your swing once you see the pitch. In the field, the controls themselves are pretty basic so it's not very complicated. However, the fielders move very slowly when trying to chase down a fly ball. Any ball not directly hit at an outfielder usually winds up falling in as it is near impossible to reach it in time. Though, somehow the computer always manages to do it, which makes this game all the more frustrating.


GRAPHICS: 7/10
The graphics themselves aren't anything spectacular, but they are certainly satisfactory for a game like this on a handheld system. The display is your standard pitcher-batter view point from behind home plate. The players' designs are detailed, but you're in the wrong place if you're looking for them to look like the player their representing. Once the ball is in play, the players become smaller caricatures of themselves.


SOUND: 5/10
There is no background music in this game. The sound effects are very typical for a baseball game; the whirl of the pitch, the popping of the catcher's mitt, the crack of the bat and some generic crowd noise, similar to all the ones for older systems back the NES and SNES. However, I don't consider that to be a bad thing as there's not really much room to improve them.


REPLAY: 5/10
Mathematically, there are hundreds of combinations of teams to play as/against so you could easily play for years while never repeating the same game. However, I just don't see the value in multiple replays of a baseball game that has no season to play.


OVERALL: 2/10
Picking this game apart, each section gets its credit. But as a whole, this game doesn't cut it. As I said, I just don't see the point of playing a baseball game with no regular season of any type. I haven't even seen a one-game-and-done baseball video game since the Atari 2600 system. It would be different if it was an Atari game. It would be expected. But a modern system, even a portable one, should be able to handle a game with much more substance. Even the original Gameboy's "Bases Loaded" put you in a mini-tournament to play through. I could see playing every once in while when you feel the urge to play some baseball, even though there are many better games out there to play. If you still think you want to have this game definitely rent it first, but my advice is to stay clear altogether.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/08

Game Release: Major League Baseball 2K7 (US, 05/22/07)