Day 69, Game 69 - MLB 2K13

Well, I promised you a comparison between MLB 13: The Show, which I wrote about last night, and MLB 2K13, the competition to said game, didn't I? Here it is, in all its glory - and a lot sooner than I anticipated, I might add.

Now, I want you to know that I played MLB 2k13 on the Xbox 360, where as The Show was played on the PS3, of course, because of its exclusivity. So I can't fairly compare the two games base on graphics or system-specific things, but in the end, I don't think it would matter anyway.

MLB 2k13 sucks.

Alright, maybe the term "sucks" is a tad bit harsh, but not when compared to a wonderfully fun and beautiful game like MLB 13: The Show. Seriously, this game can't hold a candle to its competitor, and it's a shame that it gets the most hype and name recognition, because after playing both, it is clear that it is by far the inferior baseball video game.

Where to begin. How about on the title screen, where they show an animation of Tampa Bay pitcher David Price, with the chant of "M-V-P" in the background. That's all fine and dandy, had Price actually won the MVP this year. He didn't, but guess what? Justin Verlander did, last year, when he was the cover athlete for this game. Honest mistake or flat out laziness to just copy-and-paste a game, slap on a new year to it and call it new? I would hope it was a mistake, but it's not the only thing the game does wrong, so I would have to lean towards the recycling theory.

The game plays clunky. The animations drop frame rates worse than Skyrim on PS3 (BAZINGA!), and I never feel like I am playing the latest and greatest game of this franchise. To be honest, except for the updated rosters, I don't think I could tell the difference between this year's game and one that came out two or three years ago. It's that bad. Seriously. I can't make this up.

One shining star in the cloudy, dark and cold space this game occupies is still the pitching mechanics. It is ridiculously fun to try and throw that perfect pitch with the precise timing and analog stick movement it requires to do so, which ramps up the difficulty as your pitcher gets rattled or fatigued. It's awesome, and if The Show could do something similar to that, I don't think the 2K series could claim to be better at anything - except sucking more.

The hitting is juvenile an unsatisfying, the plays appear to be moving quickly, only to lag down to a snail's pace as the play develops for some unknown reason, and nothing feels GOOD. I really don't know how else to explain it. Even the menus are convoluted and difficult to not only navigate, but understand. The online seasons have been removed, and lacks anything mode that's even close to being fun and riveting like the Road To The Show, found in The Show.

Honestly, I just couldn't wait to stop playing this game, just so I could fire up The Show again and continue work on my RTTS campaign.

What a giant waste of a game, 2K Sports. Seriously. You are getting bested by a Sony exclusive, when you clearly have more market share to appeal to. Even with direct competition, you can't be bothered to ramp it up and make the best baseball game possible? That's just sad and embarrassing. Unless you are just conceding the fact that you can't  make as good of a baseball game as Sony San Diego Studios can with The Show, which in that case, stop stealing people's money and quit the arms race.

Maybe just stick to basketball, huh? Unless you plan on bringing Michael Jordan back into the baseball universe once again. Because that worked out well the first time. I mean for you guys, not MJ himself, of course. 

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