MLB 2K13 is a complete and utter retread with all the appeal of used chewing gum.
Sports games take a lot of abuse for their one-year production cycles. It's hard to jam in innovations alongside the usual schedule and roster updates, given the lack of development time available in the measly 12 months between seasons. Still, you generally get some sort of new feature or cool new physics to take the sting out of spending $60. And then there's MLB 2K13, a sports game that lives up to all the cliches about publishers doing little besides changing the packaging and the number in the game title. This ostensibly 2013 baseball game from 2K Sports looks, sounds, and plays exactly like the 2012 baseball game from 2K Sports. Aside from new rosters, a new schedule most noteworthy for the oddly annoying move of the Houston Astros to the American League, and the deletion of online leagues, this is simply a repackaging of what has come before.
When we say that MLB 2K13 is the same game as MLB 2K12, we mean it. The feature set has been fully carried forward with the one noteworthy exception being the removal of online league support. Perhaps it wasn't being used that much, or perhaps it was removed for budgetary reasons. Either way, it's a loss, since online leagues are a staple of sports games. The only significant changes are to the schedule and the team setup; the game does move the Houston Astros over to the AL West and out of the National League, where they comfortably resided for the past half-century.
Gameplay on the diamond is just about identical, with the same positives and the same flaws. So, yes, the game still comes with the same fantastic Total Control analog pitching mechanic that has made for such great moments on the mound in recent years. Pitching is tense and enjoyable, especially when you get runners on base and the pressure mounts.
The game also still comes with easy-to-approach hitting that lets you get good wood on the ball from even the first moments of play, whether you're leading a whole team in franchise play or a solo wannabe major leaguer in the My Player career mode. Opposition managers might be a little more intelligent this year. Pitchers get yanked at opportune times now in late innings, and pinch hitters are brought in mostly smartly (no more pitchers hitting with runners aboard in one-run games in the eighth inning, huzzah). There seems to be more situational awareness all around, which makes for more-challenging, more-realistic matchups.
Retread or not, you get a decent game of baseball here. It might be a little more oriented toward arcade action than a true simulation, but it's a satisfying experience that walks the line between re-creating big league baseball and letting you pretend you're Babe Ruth and pound the ball for a couple of hours. The game is also great for pick-up-and-play with friends, because its easy accessibility lends itself well to quick exhibition games, or when taking on a buddy over the Net or on the couch. Still, all this ease-of-use accessibility was available last year. And the year before.
The game plays very realistic on higher difficulty settings. It feels like more of an arcade game on Rookie, for example, when you can beat the snot outta the ball... but then again, it's probably because the CPU is throwing you more strikes than balls (or painting the corners of the strike zone).
1 Like Pretty obvious none of you (including the reviewer) don't know wtf you are talking about.
If this game is so "bad", why is it this game has been in the top 10 in sales for almost 2 months?
You all either SUCK or you're all just a bunch of "The Show" fanboys.
For those of you interested in this game -- buy it. It's a good/great game of baseball and ignore the amateurs on here and IGN.
Solid 8 to 8.5 game.
Clearly YOU are the one that doesn't know what they're talking about. If it's such a great game then why does a sac fly hurt your batting average? How am I a cleanup hitter batting in the first inning with no one on and only 1 out? Why does my player stop mid stride and spin in a circle? I'm assuming that the sales have something to do with people not reading critical reviews, and possibly the $1,000,000 prize. This game is a 5/10 at best.
@Doc_Fulk 100% Agreed! I play the crap outta MLB 2K every year, and even I've found several, major improvements... impressive given the dev team's incredibly short time to get the product out. I think we're just fortunate that we got our game on X360 and PS3 this year.
If it weren't for graphics, The Show would be a complete wash. 2K controls better, SOUNDS a hellva lot better, and the roster updates are always far more accurate (changes in regular lineups, rotations, details on new players) than they ever have been in its competition. Here's to MLB 2K14 on new consoles next year!
Transitional release? Wonder if they will continue to support 2k12 PC version with roster updates?
NBA was amazing , wondering why this one f*** up . uh ... i don't know anything about baseball . only sport games i have are NBA and FIFA .
1 Like It's so ridiculous that the publisher that makes the worser of the 2 sports games got the exclusive licenses. EA's Madden was clearly inferior to 2K Football, but EA got the license. 2K had the worse baseball game and they grabbed the license. Are they trying to ruin video game sports on purpose? As far as I'm concerned, there shouldn't be an exclusive license to sports games.
@VodooNFL 2k5 was much better than Madden05 but EA had to stop the competition after 2k5 because they saw a real threat. That's why the prices of Madden dropped to $30 bucks because NFL2k5 price was $20 and you had a much better and in-depth game than EA's madden. EA is a smart company who doesn't care for the fans of a sport. I will admit that although the reviewer isn't saying this is a bad game, it's basically just saying you can pick up MLB2k11 and have the same game for less so don't waste your money. It's a shame 2k allowed this to happen.
I don't recall Madden ever dropping to $30, at least since it was on N64. ESPN released a series of games that were priced at $20
1 Like only reason i have a ps3 and considering a ps4 is because of the show. i hope the new xbox finally gets a good baseball game, i'd rather just buy one console for the next gen.
1 Like This is a perfect example why there shouldn't be exclusive licenses thrown around with sports video games. Encourage competition. I said this before to allow 2K Sports to make an NFL/NCAA football game again (one can only hope), but it works both directions. No more exclusive licenses!!
1 Like @Tribesmaster yeah but they way they're going they'll want people to pay per pitch. oh you want an updated roster.. that'll be 14.99. Your team made the postseason, please deposit 9.99 to continue. EA has become a joke since MVP 05. Which I loved
@BongMonkey @Tribesmaster And the sad thing is, with all of that, it would still be a much better game than any MLB 2k game.
1 Like people love to hate on this game but a few years back as far as playability goes it was better than the show which played too much like a sim. Theres a reason the show stole a bunch of the mechanics from this game.
4 Like Madden should be a 5 then also i can't make a playbook in career coach mode/no ranked matches ,horrible online matchmaking... and they scrapped franchise mode for Ultimate team rip off pay $ to win ......also bummer 2k13 isn't on PC this yr..what up with that?
1 Like i agree that mlb 2k13 didn't do any redesign in preparation far as presentation. they disappointed me.. No online league very disappointing.. soon il buy a ps3 just for the show...That being said if you a sport fan that likes commentary mlb the show 13 and 12 is so boring. i mean it kills the game. To me 2k13 is better than the show as far as in game..way better. I dont know whose worse dodgers announcers mlb the show announcers...it kills the game... too me the show is a 5 based on they play by play. if you a person that play music whn playing the game this game is a 10... if the show had mlb 2k13 play by play greatest sport game of all time....yes sports fans its that bad... what bothers me is the show didnt even change anything...like its ok.. to me show 13 8.0 mlb 2k13 7.5
1 Like Wow, GameSpot being a tad sympathetic by giving this game a 5.0. The game is last year's game and they only give it a 5. A "5" is the middle score, this should have gotten a 3 or 4. But I guess when it's a freelance review, the consistency is thrown out the window.
3 Like Looks like some other company needs to pick up the license once 2KSports is done with it. So far we really only have one option for each sport: Madden for football, NBA2K for basketball & MLB: The Show for baseball....unless you own a XBox, then it's this game...which is a shame.
7 Like This is why I bought a PS3. MLB the Show is the only real baseball game for years now.
1 Like 2K supposed to end the series but they add another year, i think i don't know why but i bet EA will do a baseball game sooner than later.
3 Like Okay so I get the score - 5/10 is more then fair, no changes ect.... and the Madden franchise??? HOW IS IT MADDEN CONSTANTLY GETS ANYTHING FROM A 7.5 to a 9 ??
2 Like @buffaloblitz85 Madden has been a 5 for about a decade, no doubt. I have stopped playing it, which is sad because football games used to be my favourite games both on console and PC... if someone would bring back Front Page Sports Football with modern graphics I would be a happy man.
@buffaloblitz85 MLB 2013 the show does what this game should do while madden has no real competitor.
I have no clue why 2k renewed the license, wasn't the series hemorrhaging money towards the end of the last license? Then they release this garbage, good job guys...That is, if your objective was to not make money.
@tmacman Word is that the MLB struck a deal with 2K at the eleventh hour when they realized there'd be no baseball game for the Xbox. The deal had to be financially beneficial to 2K or else they never would of released such an awful product that obviously won't sell.
If that's true, that sounds incredibly insulting and downright disrespectful to Xbox owners. I would rather watch my team lose for the umpteenth time then play this ****. I'm being completely honest that Xbox users will have to get a PS3 for a good game of The Show if they want a quality baseball product. **** 2K.
3 Like Finally a guy that has a problem with games not improving over their last yearly release... He should review Madden and CoD every year.
10 Like I've never understood why they release a new sports game every year. There's not enough time to make any changes and there is simply no reason to release one every year. They should release a new one every 5 years and every year in between simply give a $5 DLC pack for the new roster and schedule. I mean, these games are stupid anyway, so why not at least make them a little bit sensible...
@Patohua1 It's very simple, they don't put too much effort and money to make it since it's the same game from last year with little changes and people still buy it because it's new and actualized. At least that's what happens with football games, and they make tons of money.
1 Like @Patohua1 I like the yearly releases of sports games, but only because I don't buy the same one's every year, It's smarter to alternate between different sports each year.
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1 Like 2K Sports should bring back The Bigs.
I guess 2K figures they can make some money from 360 owners who like baseball games. Still, someone else should get a shot to make a third-party MLB game.
It truely sucks to not be able to play a good baseball game every year as a Xbox gamer. I wish EA Sports would step into MLB games.
1 Like @slicedbread117 another reason to get a PS3 and another proof on how xbox is SHIT on exclusives.
2 Like i wish EA could make some mlb games like they use to i dont like EA very much but it would be better than this garbage
2 Like It's a shame that this franchise is consistently terrible when they do such a good job with the NBA series.
1 Like @FAIL_TR0LL Kinda weird isn't it? NBA 2K is a great basketball game, but MLB 2K is garbage.
I wonder if anyone at 2k Games have ever heard the term "Class action Lawsuit"
Just when you thought 2K couldn't possibly get worse than it already was, MLB2k13 comes out and fail in every way.
