(continued from previous page) ...the players. It never seems to venture outside of that one area. It kind of gives it an awkward look that isn’t very pleasing and, though the swing animations are very realistic to their real life counterparts, the rest is lacking and could use an upgrade or at least the consideration of improvement.

The announcers remain Joe Morgan and Jon Miller. Though, much like last year, a lot of their calls are inaccurate and leave you chuckling sometimes and disappointed in others. It’s especially disappointing when they make it sound like you’ve gotten a base hit, only to watch the fielder scoop it up and throw you out at first. Fortunately, when they are getting the call correct, it does sound like you’re watching it on television. One of the cool things they discuss is baseball questions via email. It lets you learn a bit about the game of baseball as you play. This was a nice added touch to the commentating of MLB 2K8.

The soundtrack is filled with indie rock groups that are decent enough, but nothing special. You’ll probably not be crying for a custom soundtrack, but you won’t leave the game sitting to listen to the menu music either.

Overall, Major League Baseball 2K8 is a huge improvement over its predecessor from last year. With an amazing new pitching mechanic and a nice gimmick trading card feature, gamers will undoubtedly find something to love here. However, much like there being an opposite reaction for every action, the game has a number of niggles that will frustrate you all the same. With the PlayStation 3 playing host to MLB 08: The Show, you may want to look there first.