|
| ||
|
||
|
|
||
|
Pros: Great off field content, solid pitching and batting interface Cons: Game crashes despite patch, stupid AI, no 2005 stats for booth
Concept: MLB Baseball |
Before I even start to describe Major League Baseball 2K6 let me remind you I am playing the game on the patched copy to correct the freezing problems associated with the hard drive models of the Xbox 360. Even with this patch the game still suffers from random crashing and makes me wish the Xbox 360 would have more then one baseball title this year.
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
Inside Edge serves as one of the focus points of the game. While playing through the franchise or GM modes you have the chance to buy scouting reports on the teams you will face. At first you will only be able to buy a few and will most likely buy your division rivals reports, over time you will gain revenue and purchase as many as possible. These reports will help you make defensive shifts, know a batters weakness and also a pitchers. Owning the Inside Edge reports does make a definite advantage.
Payoff Pitching is a solid system and offers a lot of control when trying to strike a batter out. MLB 2K6's pitching system is designed to let you control the break point of the pitch. When facing a batter you target where in the zone you want the ball to break at, press the corresponding button for the pitch and watch as a ring forms around the ball to indicate how much power you will be putting into the pitch. As this occurs a arrow will rotate around the ball showing how much play is being put into the ball and how well it will break. With two strikes on the board you can aim your pitches into a specific location in the zone to increase that pitches stat on a strikeout.
When on the other side of the plate the batting system is also great. The swing stick system can be found in MLB 2K6 and works with the right analog stick. Pulling the stick back will make your batter begin his step and releasing the stick will let him swing. If you follow the stick up your batter will go for the big swing and aim for the fences. For those that prefer classic batting it is also still available though the swing stick is done perfectly.
Once on base is when the AI issues arise though. Base runners often make pee-wee errors by rounding bases when they shouldn't or running more then half way to a base and deciding they can't make it so returning to slide six feet into first. Also on several occasions when queuing base runners for extra bases they will stop and then start running again once they reach a base. The frustration of being called out on a dumb mistake by the AI can ruin the fun.
Fielding also has its quirks when infield routine outs turn into errors. Either it hits their mitt and they can't hold onto it, or it's wildly over thrown balls countless times per game. The most annoying bug though is when outfielders are running back to the track to recover a ball they slam into the outfield wall. This results in an easy inside the park home run on what should have just been a double.
Graphically while the stadiums do their best to look next gen and the players, in the end they just look sloppy. The facial rendering is what you would have expected to see on last gen consoles, with some players having no likeness to their digital counterparts. Pretty much every other sports title has blown MLB 2K6 out of the water in this department. Stadiums don't really feel all that large. On home run playbacks you never get a feeling of "wow that was a smash" regardless of the distance. For those looking at this game as their next gen baseball fix I wouldn't count on it. Nothing here screams excitement.
Jon Miller and Joe Morgan deliver the play by play for us and carry the game quite well. While it is disappointing the 2005 stats are missing for the analysis. Hearing that Derek Lee has no home runs or RBIs last season just isn't as funny to hear after awhile.
Online play suffers from some pretty nasty lag as well. The batter's eye interface is unusable and is best left sitting over the center of the plate. The lag will make it jumpy and nearly impossible to target correctly. The interface to find game though is straight forward enough and adds some fun competition and leagues into the mix.
Though when it comes down to it I wish I had another MLB game to play on my Xbox 360. MLB 2K6 is an excellent game in quite a few areas, but the frequent crashes that still occur and pee-wee AI make this a tough game to suggest to anyone who actually wants to play the baseball part of this game. The off field game is stellar, but the on field play is where most will want to spend their time. If 2K Sports can work out the kinks MLB 2K7 will be an amazing title. For this season though, I wish we had something else.