Major League Baseball 2K8

"How this ever got released is beyond me."

How this ever got released is beyond me. One word sums up my description of this game : Horrible! Let's go over what makes this game so bad, shall we?


Graphics :

At first glance, the graphics on this game look ok. Detailed player models, nice looking stadiums, etc . . .etc . . . But then the players start to move. There's constant graphical glitches, most notably with the batter. Most times when you see a replay of a swing, the batter generally impales himself with the bat as it glitches wildly about.

Sound :

The soundtrack is alright, though rather annoying. When switching between menus and such, the music will stop, and then start at the beginning of the song that was just playing. Annoying, but bearable. The commentary was a major letdown, mostly because I'm such a big fan of John Miller and Joe Morgan calling games. For the most part, whatever the commentators say generally has nothing to do with what is going on in the game. An example, I just struck out a batter for the second out in the 3rd inning, and the commentators made a remark about wether the pitcher would be able to go the distance as he struck out a batter for the second out in the 7th inning. None of the play by play "flows" together if you get what I'm saying. The phrases are broken and deny any sense of realism. As one example, you'll hit a ball that is clearly a home run and John Miller will chime in his normal voice "Fly ball hit to right field" then about 2-3 seconds later, you'll hear an enthusiastic "HOMERUN!"It's pretty much unbearable to listen to.

Online :

There is an online mode, though I haven't tried it is as there's never anyone on. The biggest disappointment came when I went to download an official roster update, and there were none available. Sweet!

Gameplay :

There's a ton of different game modes, though not much difference between any of them. Pennant Fever mode is a nice change of pace. You pick a team, and you start off right after the trade deadline (August 1st) and make a run for the playoffs. Season, Franchise, and GM Career are essentially all the same mode with some minor differences. In season mode, you play though one season, and franchise allows you play through multiple season, and go through all the offseason rituals like the amateur draft and free agent signings. GM Career is basically Franchise mode, except that you get goals and can get fired or quit your current team and join up with a new one.There's also a couple different home run derby mode. The different Season type modes are all pretty in depth and show some real promise if you just use the game as a simulator (Except for one MAJOR flaw that I'll get to in a bit). Actually playing the games is where they lose their luster.

The gameplay isn't all that horrible, if you can get past the graphical glitches and horrible commentary, but it is still seriously lacking. Some times the players seem to move in slow motion. Occasionally when you go to catch a fly ball, your player won't even make any attempt and it will just fall in front of him. Also with fly balls, you have to call off the other fielders when going to make the catch. Great concept, poorly executed. It's nice to have this level of realism, though it becomes an epic fail the first time someone hits a lazy flyball to right, and you're camped under it and the center fielder/2nd basemen comes flying in out of nowhere and crashes in to you because you didnt see the need to call off the other fielders because no one was in sight. Another huge flaw is that the X button is the dive/jump for the ball. The X button is also the throw to home plate button. So you make a great diving stop with the short stop, he gets up and you press circle and he decides to throw it to home because you pressed X just a min ago to make the dive. Now on to that HUGE flaw I talked about earlier. In my first season in GM Career mode, 5 Major League single season hitting records were broken. Derek Jeter had 337 RBI's, Albet Pujols scored 489 runs and had a 168 game hitting streak, Miguel Cabrera stole 596 bases and Alex Rodriguez struck out 1045 times. Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows how absurd these stats are.


So to sum things up, this is quite possibly the worst thing ever. And I'm not talking just video games, this is probably the worst thing that man has ever created in the history of existence. And shame on 2k Sports for releasing such a giant load of garbage on the PSP community. As a PSP owner, I take this as an insult and will no longer be purchasing any more 2k games.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 09/08/08

Game Release: Major League Baseball 2K8 (US, 03/03/08)