Fun game especially for casual baseball fans, but don't expect a deep game.
If it's one I hate when it comes to critic reviews of games, is that often times a game is only measured in comparison to its competition. I owned both MLB 2k8 and MLB The Show last year, and although yes, MLB The and Sony has nailed the look and features needed to make it the top dog in baseball gaming, it always left me feeling like I was playing a sim and going through a grind....a 162 game grind.
MLB 2k9 is not 2k8. It's been rebuilt from the ground up and in some ways it's a good thing, but it shows in other ways that it's flawed. Some examples are, players on the field can walk right through each other and sometimes disappear. The AI can frustrating and inconsistent, but all these things are likely to be addressed in a patch that has been announced to be released by opening day.
With that being said, these things aren't really noticeable to the casual gamer. In my opinion 2k8 should never have been released and I've actually read online there is a class action lawsuit against the developers for even releasing such a piece of garbage deeming it "unplayable" which was very much deserved. But in NO WAY, is MLB 2k9 worse than 2k8.
Playability: 8.00
This game has come a long way from 2k8 and I find it not only to be a fun game, but also highly addictive. Now that Visual Concepts has nailed the analog pitching, batting, and partially fielding, it feels like you're playing a game of baseball as opposed to pushing buttons for a simulated result. Fielding has some issues if you raise the difficulty, but nothing that can't be fixed with some sliders. I give props to the 2k team for making this part of the game accessible for anyone picking up a controller. However,….there are frustrating times when either the 1st basemen pulls his foot off the bag on an easy out, or the fielder completely misses the ball on a routine fly creating a triple of inside park homerun. With a little practice in fielding in the practice mode, it becomes easier.
Sound: 9
A: The presentation and commentary in 2k9 is 2nd to none, with the new additions of Gary Thorne and Steve Phillips and they really make you feel like you're watching a baseball game. The commentary is much more accurate than John Miller and Joe Morgan (who offered decent commentary) and they seem to have something to say at the right times offering opinions and analysis. Although after a couple games, it seemed like Steve Philips wouldn't shut up and had something to say on every pitch, but that's just me. I play mostly sports games, and the commentary is the best I've heard in a sports game yet.
B: Not a great soundtrack here and it was on the edge of making my "worst game sountracks" list, but after I turned off a handful of them and starting hearing some of the more modern ones, it became decent.
Graphics: 7.5
I've read reviews where they claim the graphics look great (XPlay on G4), and I've read reviews that said the graphics are horrible (Gamespot). Overall I think the game has been scaled back from previous titles because it was causing a lot of frame-rate issues, but I think 2k did a pretty good job of what they had to work with. If you think about their decision to make this game run at 60 frames per second, you can put 2 and 2 together and clearly see they had to take a step back graphics wise to make this possible. Gone are the player jerseys flapping awkwardly in the wind, but 2k replaced one awkward idea with another by creating some cheesy dust clouds. (What were they thinking?)
Entertainment: 8
This game is just plain fun. The new additions are a nice touch, with MLB Headlines, Top 3 Plays, Player Specific Replays, and the Rosters Live that tracks every player move major or minor. Also you can upload user created Sliders, user created Replays, and you can save and upload your own with a replay editor similar to the one in NBA 2k9. I think all these new additions get overlooked because they are a carry-over from NBA 2k9, but are they are all still nice additions. The stats are deep with something called saber metrics that track everything that a baseball stat geek would want to know on a player.
Replay Value: 8
If you're a gamer who likes to play multiple 162 game seasons in Franchise, then you may want to be prepared to play some frustrating games and see some bugs which would lower your own replay value. This game isn't perfect, but nowhere close to the garbage 2k put out last year with 2k8. Like I mentioned before, 2k9 already has a 2nd Patch that is in the works set to release by opening day. So if you're a casual baseball fan who wants to play a fun and entertaining baseball game, MLB 2k9 can deliver with addictive analog controls, lifelike commentary, and a decent franchise mode. Just don't settle for The Show because it got better reviews, and don't ignore 2k9 because of horrible reviews such as Gamespots, I play different games for different reasons that satisfy my own personal experience. You should do the same.