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Major League Baseball 2K10 Review

Welcome to the best version of 2K baseball you'll find this year. If you have the horsepower, of course.

by Nate Ahearn

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March 4, 2010 - Sports games on PC present a different situation to users than when other genres make the leap from a console. Controlling athletes on any sort of field of play just doesn't translate well to a keyboard and shelling out even more dough for an input device when you've already plopped down thousands on your PC gaming rig isn't the most attractive of solutions. But if you're willing to pick up a wired Xbox 360 controller and plug it into a PC with some horsepower behind it, then MLB 2K10 becomes a fairly enjoyable game despite the gameplay glitches and issues it has.

Let it be known that the PC I played MLB 2K10 on is likely faster than yours. I used an Alienware laptop with an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU running at 2 GHz with six gigs of RAM, a GeForce GTX 260M, and it was running the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium. Yes, the system whizzes along at a good clip and MLB 2K10 certainly benefited from the increase in horsepower when compared to the PS3 or Xbox 360. I'm glad to know that it isn't 2K Sports' engine that keeps MLB 2K10 on consoles from looking its best, instead it's a lack of technical optimization to make good use of the relatively limited hardware. How do I know that? Because MLB 2K10 on PC runs like a dream. The framerate is locked at a constant 60 frames per second (something that's very important for me when it comes to sports games) and everything from the player models to the crowd to the shadows cast on the field look better than on any other system.

Click above to watch the Rays against the Indians.I know that a lot of that was due to my powerhouse of a laptop, but the substantial increase in visual performance certainly makes this PC package more appealing than the console alternative (and the $30 price tag doesn't hurt). Not only do you get a serious step up in visuals, but the same robust feature set has been doled out for PC fans to utilize. That means you get the new My Player mode, you have the ability to pre-load throws and the new emphasis on delivering an authentic pitcher vs. hitter experience is fully intact. Yes, everything that was good about the console versions is in. Sadly that means that the bugs made it over as well.

You'll still see players sliding around the field of play in My Player and in standard games in order to complete plays in the field. Other animation issues like strange looking throws also make it in. Inherent My Player design issues that I mentioned in my Xbox 360 and PS3 review are still here, meaning that playing as a catcher is still mind numbingly boring and there's still no artificial intelligence for managers to trade your player. So while it's true that every one of the gameplay hitches and quirks that kept the game from greatness (and one new bug that breaks the swing analyzer) is still in the PC rendition, that doesn't mean that it isn't a much more technically sound experience.

It's important to note that a large part of my pleasant play experience with MLB 2K10 was due to my use of the Xbox 360 controller. I was disappointed to learn that the game doesn't recognize the fact that it's an Xbox controller and still gave me the A,B,C,D button icons to decipher. After I learned the corresponding buttons on the Xbox pad things got much easier. Playing it with a keyboard is absolutely terrible. The only way to go is with a gamepad with two analog sticks. For most that will mean an Xbox 360 controller. If you don't have one, go buy one; it's a great investment for console games that make their way to PC.

Click above to watch AL Classic All-Stars battle against Classics from the NL.One area that gave me a bit of a headache on PC was signing up for online play. For whatever reason 2K Sports seems to have screwed up the CD key authentication process and some authentic CD keys are being labeled as invalid. A quick perusal of the 2K forums will reveal many disgruntled users. Thankfully I had two copies of the game on-hand, and the second CD key worked like a charm after some finagling (including dashes in the CD key is apparently mandatory). After I got it up and running I was disappointed to learn that the same online lag that was present on consoles exists in the PC version. Hopefully they'll release a new patch and get these multiplayer issues ironed out before too long. Thankfully the lag won't stop you from enjoying the living rosters or MLB Today, both of which are present.

Closing Comments

The PC version doesn’t try to fix or correct any of the gameplay failings that I found in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, but its increased technical proficiency makes it the version to buy this year. You get the same exact functionality and feature set that’s present in other versions, but for $30 less and you get to enjoy a much nicer visual presentation if your computer has the muscle. This year’s MLB 2K10 is far from perfect, but the PC version – for a change when it comes to sports games – is the best version currently on the market.

For a more detailed review of the gameplay features and intricacies of MLB 2K10, be sure to check out IGN's console reviews.