Official ESPN MLB 2K5 impressions
 

Can we please post all impressions of this game here. Thanks!

My first thought is that it looks stunning. The sound is nicely done. I lost my 1st game 4-3 in 10 innings, then won #2 2-0. Coming from playing MVP last year, I have to get used to the new baserunning controls. (I kept running around the bases a number of times)

I like being able to set songs for players. That should make it cool.

One problem - at least for now - is that I could not force a trade to move some players around. I was trying to move Sosa to the O's for Hairston and it kept telling me that Sosa meant to much to the team (lol).

I have played quite a few games of this so far on XBox and it is pretty good. The only thing I dont understand is when there are minor annoyances that are so simple to correct and which would make the game(not just this one but any sports game) better. For example among other things

1.Usually, in real life, when a hitter gets a basehit into the outfield, they reach first base and turn the corner towards second but in the game they all run up the RF line

2.Simple things like the announcers. I was playing as the A's and I threw somebody out from RF to 3rd base and the announcer says "What a throw by Eric Chavez!". Only problem is Chavez was the one who caught the ball at 3rd.

These are minor glitches obviously, and I have found some bugs in the game, but it seems like these things are always in sports games year after year. Is there any reason why we can all see things like this but the people who test the games cant? This isnt meant to bash anything, just some of my thoughts.

Is there any way to force a trade in 2k5? I'm not having much luck. Also, I do not have xbox live, so is there a way I can update my roster without it? Like maybe hook my system up to my brother-in-laws (he has Live) and download it to my system?

I agree. I've been playing both of the new baseball games, and the little things get annoying. For instance, in 2K5, I hate watching the first baseman throw the ball overhand to the pitcher who came over to cover the bag, even though he's maybe five feet away. One of the nice touches I saw (can't remember which game) was when Ichiro caught a fly ball for a third out and then tossed the ball into the stands as he was jogging back to the dugout, just like you'd see in a real game.

Production values for this game are incredible though, which is a big thing to me even though game play of course is the #1 consideration.

I've been playing this quite a bit, and it's lot better than last year's version, which was completely horrible. The presentation is awesome, as stated. The pitching is really well done; the pitching cam is perfect. I actually prefer the K-Zone to MVP's metered system. The rest of the game is another story, though. I think that has to do with the physics and animations in the game. The ball feels kinda "floaty" when you're batting and fielding. The animations can be bad. For example (I believe this was mentioned), sometimes your 3rd baseman will casually flick the ball overhand to 1st base on a groundball. I don't think even Mike Schmidt had that kind of arm strength. And batters may have different stances, but they all have the exact follow-through when they swing.

The graphics are pretty good, but not great. The uniform textures and lighting are done well; the player faces are not. At times there seems to be some slowdown when there are too many players/too much movement onscreen at the same time.

Truth be told, I find myself playing this game more than MVP 2005. I haven't tried online play yet, so I can't comment on that. Despite its shortcomings, 2k5's presentation is so top notch that it keeps drawing me back in. It's too bad we'll never get to see what an MVP+ESPN game could achieve in the next few years.

That was ESPN 2k5

Do the trades before you start the season in roster manager. You just assign them to another team.

I have both games...I like MLB 2K5 better. The pitching is a lot better.