With EA's recent renewal of their exclusive deal with the NFL, it reminded gamers of the limited options they have for sports titles. This year's one and only 360 Major League Baseball simulation-style offering attempts to buck the trend of slow to improve sports titles with a game that fixes nearly every nagging issue from the 2007 iteration. Those afraid the exclusive license agreements will kill innovation need look no further than 2K8's stellar Total Control pitching interface.
The game's pitching interface worked decent enough the last few years, but after a few games with the new Total Control system, you will question why you ever settled for anything less. The newly developed system uses only the right stick to make all your pitches. You begin by aiming the stick in one direction. As the blue power circle gets larger, you move and hold the stick in another direction to affect the spin on the pitch. When the circle closes back to the center, you release the stick back to the center.
Fastballs are the easiest pitch in the game, simply pulling down on the stick and then pushing forward. Sliders and curveballs require starting the pitch at another angle, then swinging the stick around to a certain point; both feel quite real, as a result. While the motions themselves are simple, the timing of it all requires quite a bit of practice. Time your pitches wrong and your pitcher will toss a 'meatball', which is highlighted in orange for the hitter. Most gamers will end up getting completely bombed the first several games, tossing up repeated 'meatballs' for hitters to drill. Once you get the hang of it, the interface feels like the most natural pitching interface baseball games have ever seen. You will be throwing hard sliders and fall-off-the-table sinkers in no time, with a well-earned sense of accomplishment.
Unfortunately, the catcher A.I. is not quite as smart as it should be. Trusting your catcher's frequent requests for high sinkers can be hazardous to your earned run average. Thankfully, the catchers do not seem too phased when you decide to do your own thing. The hitting feels authentic, with most batters hitting balls accurately to the fields that make sense based on where the ball is thrown. You are not likely to see too many inside pitches taken the other way, or too many low and away pitches hit for anything other than a weak grounder.
Fielding has been a sore spot for the last two iterations, but it feels much improved this time around. While in the past, too many ground balls would scuttle through to the outfield for hits, the infielders seem more than competent this time. Hits feel earned, rather than awarded by the game. With the lone exception of some occasional framerate sputtering on fly balls to the outfield, the fielding mechanics are smooth and reliable. In addition to clearing up the awkwardness fielding, the game also reinvents the way you throw the ball in the field. Rather than using the same old method of assigning specific buttons to the bases, 2K8 uses the right stick directions and a power meter.
After gloving a ground ball up the middle, a quick flick of the stick to the right will open a vertical meter next to the player. Release the button at the desired power level, ideally, when it is still in the green, and throw out the runner at first. Hold the stick in the base direction too long and it is possible your player will throw the ball away for an error. While it may sound clunkier and more time consuming than you want, the meter actually fills very quickly, leaving you plenty of time for ordinary throws. Double plays are still possible, but thanks to the sensitive controls, can be adventurous. Throwing to the wrong base does happen from time to time, typically confusing second with either first or third, if you are not very careful as to what direction you are pressing. The system needs a little tightening, but is a fantastic addition to the franchise, making fielding and throwing feel more realistic than ever.
