MLB 2K5 from 2K Sports

If you are looking to pick up ESPN Baseball 2k5 this spring to play on your X-Box system, you’ve come to the right place. The name has been changed, but it’s still the same game. From what started out as World Series Baseball for a few years, the game changed its name to ESPN Baseball last year, and with the takeover of licensing by 2k Sports, it’s now Major League Baseball 2K5, powered by ESPN.

This game has all content to make the diehard baseball fan want to play it and the more casual fan too. At $19.99, you can’t go wrong in price and with an X-Box live hookup; you can play online against your friends and also have the latest up-to-date roster releases.

The first notable difference in this year’s game and last year’s is the animation. The player swings at the plate one year ago looked somewhat forced and choppy. This year, it is all redone and it shows. The hitters at the plate have no hesitation when they are taking a swing and it looks and plays more solid. You can fool a hitter and have him swing off his back foot or make him lunge for a low, outside pitch. The second thing that grabbed my attention was the addition of unlockable items. In last year’s game, nothing was locked. All uniforms, stadiums and teams were at your disposal as soon as you put in the game for the first time. Now, there are ten locked teams (including the ’76 Reds, ’55 Dodgers and ’86 Mets), three locked stadiums (Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn and Olympic Stadium in Montreal). And just about every team has a uniform for you to “unlock”. You have to do all this by earning tokens for things you do in a game.

Finally, the addition of Joe Morgan in the announcing booth with Jon Miller was a major improvement. Morgan replaced Rex Hudler from last year’s game. So if you enjoy watching ESPN Sunday Night baseball, you’ll have a very good idea how this duo of announcers work with each other. They know each other well and they work well off each other and it comes through in the game.

Before you get into playing a game, let me briefly go over some of the options that are provided for you:

Gameplay: You have a choice of Arcade, Pure Baseball and Custom. In my games I played, I customized the Pure Baseball option. If I want arcade, I’ll reinstall Triple Play baseball.

Pitching Styles:
Classic: Basically you just guide your cursor to where you want to pitch the ball, pick your type of pitch and go.
Effort: A meter goes up with the amount of effort you put into each pitch. Use maximum effort on each pitch and your pitcher gets tired a lot faster.
Meter: System that is very similar to the meter used in MVP Baseball. If you have no trouble with that meter in that game, you will be happy it is in this one.
K-Zone: A new option this year that helps you control your pitch accuracy and velocity. It sounds good, but if you make a mistake, the batter can smash the ball easier. I preferred the classic mode of pitching in my games.

The K- Zone

Hitting Styles:
Cursor: Assisted hitting style. Not bad to use. A little oblong circle is in the batter’s box and it helps you hit.
True Aim: That’s taken away in here. It’s all up to you in this option. You need your left thumbstick to help you here. When a pitch is delivered, you have to move your left thumbstick in the direction where you want to swing and press A for a contact swing or B for a power swing.

After you have picked your teams and chosen your options, it’s time to play this game. Here’s a picture of what you’ll be seeing lot of:

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