MLB 2K11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (PS3/360)

[acreyman]

i have been playing alot of 2K10 lately so I was able to immediately tell the difference in the graphics and especially the player models.....HUGE IMPROVEMENT! not moderate like some are saying, it is a big difference. The stadium looks way better and the hitting camera is WAY better. The animations are ALOT smoother and over the game just seems to me to be MUCH better. That said, wont be buying it day one, will wait for first few patches and wait for the good slider settings to hit.

[DJ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Picci

Sounds good all. Glad to hear that much of the gameplay seems sound. Only concern I have is I'm not hearing anything on users walking the CPU batters. Has anyone been able to walk the CPU? Thanks

Yep. I walked 2 guys with Brandon Webb (I'd be shocked if he was ready to go by Opening Day) and walked 1 batter with Matt Cain in my 3 games I've played so far.

[CoreyMac]

Does have some framerate issues on foul balls, but other than that a pretty smooth framerate. Still has herky-jerky animations transitioning from a play back to player position. Bat speed on swings looks way too fast still, not realistic at all. The cameras are okay, but I feel most of the action is just too far away to be truly engaging. Pitching is fun, hitting is decent but no check swings, no warmup swings while in the box, and bunting is still tied to a face button as opposed to the stick which I think is silly. Uniforms are still off: Names on the back and numbers are too big etc. Overall, its better than 2K10....but can it beat The Show 11? I don't think so.

[TheTruth]

Quote: Originally Posted by sroz39

- love the fielding and the throwing meter. This aspect of the game is just great all-around. One aspect I didn't like was a particular scenario when throwing. I like to pre-load all my throws when I field. It just makes everything look better. Problem is, if you pre-load any throws in this game where the play takes you away from the bag you're throwing too, it always triggers an off-balanced/spin and jump throw, regardless of how much time you have to get the runner. I would like for the game to determine if it's necessary or not to trigger those animation (like The Show does) and if you DO have enough time, to catch the ball, plant and throw instead of always making an unbalanced throw.

This- I do the same thing as far as preloading throws and noticed this morning when playing the demo that I got the falling away jump off one foot animation a lot.

[enice128]

this is the reason i bought a ps3, solely for mlb the show. don't get me wrong, i buy more games for the xbox 360 as well as play online with xbox live but i got so frustrated every year with 2k's release of what they call an mlb game! how can nba 2k11 be (along with sony's mlb the show) be so true to the actual real life sport & their mlb version such crap EVERY year? every year i wait , hope & read the reviews of whats being implemented into their new game & keep checking my computer like waiting & staring at the phone for some girl to call! and in the end always being let down from what 2k calls a true representation of an official MLB game!!!!!!

[statnut]

Quote: Originally Posted by Picci

Sounds good all. Glad to hear that much of the gameplay seems sound. Only concern I have is I'm not hearing anything on users walking the CPU batters. Has anyone been able to walk the CPU? Thanks

I walked two with Derek Holland earlier.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by DJ

Yep. I walked 2 guys with Brandon Webb (I'd be shocked if he was ready to go by Opening Day) and walked 1 batter with Matt Cain in my 3 games I've played so far.

I was all over the place with Sanchez, probably because two of his pitching motions are relatively challenging, and his control is not great so even hard to paint with fastball.

[RedLine]

I was able to play about 4 games of the demo, and overall I like the demo and could see that this will be an improved game over 2K10, which I enjoyed. The game play was smoother and I could see there were more animations in all aspects of game play. This again looks like it will be a fun game to play, and with the MLB Today enhancements like dynamic player ratings and the improvements to My Player this will be a day one
pickup for me. Really looking forward to playing the retail game next week!

Detailed impressions and observations:


* It looks like a slight upgrade to me graphically, with improved uniforms and the player models look better too. I think the lighting is better which makes the overall game look more appealing.

* I experienced the slight frame rate hit that others have seen on a few occasions including after power swinging and hitting a deep fly ball and home run. Expecting this to be fixed in retail game.

* Like the subtle pitching improvements to accuracy and strike calling. Had to throw more pitches when nibbling the corners.

* Like the new camera after hitting the ball a lot. However, when bunting I could not really see where I bunted the ball because the camera was low and behind the catcher.

* Like the new throwing meter (kind of like 2K8) and how the throw zones dynamically changes based on player ratings, and how you are throwing the ball (i.e. off balance).

* I don't know if the right stick directional position (pointed to 1B, 2b, etc) influences the accuracy of the throw like 2K8 did though, which I liked a lot. It appears that throw accuracy is only tied to Red/Green/lt. Green zones on the throw meter. BTW, you can also use the controller face buttons to throw to bases so it makes sense there is no directional aspect to the throw meter.

* I did not see an error but I saw a few bobbles in the infield and then had the throw pull the 1B off the bag to catch an offline throw.

* I like the new fielding circles for fly balls, really makes you notice the different fielding ratings for the players.

* Noticed that the players on defensive for the most part know the state of the game, how many outs there are etc. They throw the ball more casually back to the infield when appropriate.

* Hitting is improved and I saw many new hits types that I did not see in 2K10: popup behind home plate fielded by the catcher, choppers in the infield, more infield flies.

* Liked the new defensive adjustment popup windows to confirm your changes and tell you how the AI is playing the batter.

* Liked the little window that pops up for player substitutions and shows who's out and who's in.

* Disappointed that the homerun celebrations were not improved. Maybe just because it's the demo but when I hit a homerun I did not see the 3rd base coach low five the runner or have the next batter on deck congratulate the hitter. Seems like the same home run trot from 2K10.

* Really like that they removed blue flash from game between pitches and batters. There's now a more subtle gold/yellow flash around the strike zone but it's not an issue.

* The Real Time Presentation aspect of the game is improved from 2K10, with the little cut scenes of pitcher emotion, etc. However, There seems to be too many instances where the pitcher is just shown standing there chewing gum or staring straight ahead.

Overall more to like than not so 2K11 is looking good to me!