Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

[StatMan79]

In four games played:

I had a much better time pitching than I did hitting. Hitting is still very frustrating to me and I'm apparently really bad at pitch recognition.

I was able to get a lot of called strikes and swinging strikes.

I had two check-swing strikes on the computer.

The hardest hit ball I had batting-wise was a screaming drive with Ryan Howard that hit off the fence for a long single.

It felt like my fielders were sluggish to move while the computer seemed to reach anything I hit.

It also felt like I didn't exactly hit anything very hard.

I had three liners on the infield get nabbed; one at third, two at first and one of those got spun into a doubling off of my runner at second who apparently decided to take off the bag too much after taking a one-step lead. Yargh!

My inability to hit lead me to lose two games and have the other two tied at 0.

The computer seemed to be able to dink and dunk hits off of me at will once they got on a roll with it. This bothered me because I recall the last two 2K games being similar to that where if the computer was locked on, you would get torched. I was able to work out of one of these jams with Hamels striking out a batter to end the inning with no runs allowed after giving up three cheapy hits.

I like this about a million times more than 2K8 and once I'm able to get hitting down, I'm going to really like this game I think. Pitching is much more user friendly and by that, it's a lot more fun.

The catcher calling the pitches still seems to be a bit stupid. Calling for off-speed junk with fast players on base and calling for curveballs up high when the pitcher wants to sacrifice. Fastballs up and in should be the mandate there but its negligible.

I'll be anxious to see how much cleaner this is next week when it comes out.

[johnprestonevans]

The Good:
Crowds are improved
Real world atmosphere is well done
Pitching and hitting controls are quite responsive
Good framerate consistency throughout
Commentary is very well done
Signature styles are recognizable

The Bad:
Fielding controls a little sluggish
Player models not much improved
Some awkward jerky animation transitions
Cameras are zoomed out a little too far
Players sometimes "skate" into position
A few noticeable AI follies - poor decisions

The Ugly:
Some player faces are frighteningly last-gen
Dust trails on base paths are distractingly cartoonish
Pitch indicator is way to big, flashy and arcadey for a baseball sim

[Earl1963]

The demo is alright but it just feels too last gen in my opinion. Player models are robotic, very stiff and the game lacks atmosphere.

[skeem]

I actually laughed after playing the first inning, and that's not a good thing. I deleted this mess off the HD immediately after I was done.

[dave_sz]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brooklynnets24

thats it for people default can be find for NBA 2K9 and now MLB 2K9 its a must to change the sliders so the game isnt messed up. You basically have to finish the game for them

That does sound like a pain. I've had no experience with 2k games before this so I wouldn't know...

[LAKE4742]

About the real time throwing: I appreciate the mechanic a little more now. Although, they're kind of hard to do, the variation in accuracy and speed is kinda cool.
As others have mentioned, some animations look weird. It seems stiff, too.
Seems like a solid game (although, glitch issues are now rearing their ugly head)....but not a buy.

[jerm21]

wow. from what i see it every single one of you dislike the game so far.

Don't you guys realize how crummy last years game was, and how much of an improvement it is this year? It was 2k baseball's rebuilding year, they are starting in a new direction with the animations, the announcers, the real time atmosphere, I mean give them a break.

It's only gonna get better. All that matters is its a solid baseball game. Better than last years, I'll be getting it. And if there are things I don't like about it, that is what the 2k10 Wishlist forum will be used for.

[dave_sz]

Quote: Originally Posted by StatMan79

In four games played: I had a much better time pitching than I did hitting. Hitting is still very frustrating to me and I'm apparently really bad at pitch recognition.

Just hold up on teh left stick and if you see anything higher than middle of the plate, swing. You'll get hits left and right...