Major League Baseball 2K7

One of the many reasons I don't have a life is I play video games...a lot of video games. Usually every other Spring I'm willing to pop for a new PS2 baseball game. This year I've skipped my usual two year interval and picked up a new one for two reasons: 1. The one I bought last year is frozen beyond repair and 2. I found this one for only $18.99.

I've always been loyal to the MLB/The Show franchise. The gameplay was great and up until last year Vin Scully was the announcer. Unfortunately, every version of it that I've purchased eventually hit a spot where it froze solid. You can't load any of your saved data. MLB 2006 The Show froze like this before I could even finish a season. With regret, I must move on to a new baseball game series.

I think 2K Sports is what used to be the "ESPN" franchise. In spite of that, overall this is a good game for the price. Playing this one is actually challenging. I've actually lost games in my brief time running my virtual Dodgers. After 10 games, I'm 7-3.

Pitching is pretty easy - or maybe the creators think highly of the Dodgers pitching staff. I have taken a no hitter into the 9th with Randy Wolf and 1-hit the Padres with Chad Billingsley.

Wait a minute, didn't I say it was challenging? Yes I did. Hitting is beyond fucking difficult. For the first 4 or 5 games, I couldn't top 2 runs per game (also maybe more of a commentary on the Dodgers than the gameplay). There is a lot of stuff you need to do at once to hit the ball well.

Another challenge is the CPU fielders. Fuck these guys. They run like the bionic man and climb walls Spiderman would have difficulty with. I've already been robbed on more bullshit plays 10 games into my 1st season than a real team will be in an entire season. Its annoying, but it keeps the games competetive.

In spite of the fact that its ESPN's Sunday Night Crew of Jon Miller and Joe "I'm Better than Everyone Playing Today" Morgan, the announcing is the best I've heard on a game. You don't get them repeating themselves constantly during the game and their comments actually make sense in the context of the action.

The only downside I see so far is that the players look absolutely god awful. 2K Sports has awesome sample graphics like this on their website:

See, that looks like Jeff Kent right? In reality, Kent looks more like British superhero/terrorist V in the game. Most of the other players look like the Cloners from Star Wars Episode II. The stadium and other graphics look pretty good though.

I got it on sale for $18.99, but its regular price of $29.99 for PS2 isn't bad. Of course, you can find it online for less.