Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

[Garrett67]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

(Note: I'm playing on PC)

The game plays decently, there are a few things that bother me while playing but what can you do?

It 'kinda' reminds me of a visually polished MVP 05.

Besides some of the goofy animations and jerky fielding, poor AI decisions .. its not a bad game.

The game really does need fielding assist though. There have been times where it would have prevented runs being scored because you think you should be controlling one outfielder, so you move in one direction only to find out the other fielder is selected and you're running the wrong way. Since you already made a break in the other direction, you can't recover fast enough and the ball is rolling off of the wall.


There have been a few occasions (in one game mind you) where the CPU could have easily turned a double play but opted to toss the ball to first. Like there wasn't anybody on 1st base.


But, the game is fun. The presentation is great. The game is ultra crisp at 2560x1440 resolution. The player models and faces aren't the best but its all about fun, right?

Overall, I think it will be a decent game. I have that one PS3 game too but I like this because it feels different. It probably won't get all of my attention but its another option, and choices are good.

I think with some slider tweaks (and perhaps a few MVP Mod tweaks), it could play a good game of baseball.

[jeffy777]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

I'm really impressed with how good this game looks on PC. Quite a bit smoother than the 360 version.

Anyone who complained about the graphics really needs to see it in action on a good PC. My wife even noticed the difference.

[hurdinator]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

To be honest, having had to wait for another 10 days for the southern hemisphere release, I am pleasantly surprised at how well this game plays; despite the bitching and moaning from many. The graphics are not as bad as I was led to believe and I have encountered a few glitches, but not that major. A shame about the franchise fatigue "balls up" but overall I am quietly impressed. 8/10 so far.

[spit_bubble]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

Some good news for those guys who really like a sim type of game:

I finally started tinkering around with sliders, to see if I could get pitchers to issue the right amount of walks. I put both the human and computer's pitch control all the way at zero (actually the computer slider is "Strike Zone Tendency" I believe), and after only a few innings it was pretty clear that I would be getting too many walks. In other words, there is a balance point to be had.

Now, if they patch the AI's handling of pitchers and pinch hitters, we might have ourselves a game.

[rudyjuly2]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

After almost two weeks I'm still really happy with the game but some of the issues are annoying. The bugs in the game reek of your typical 2K quality controls or lack of them.

The cpu doesn't handle their pitching staff that well and base running AI still needs work. Fatigue and injuries are flat out broken in franchise mode. There is NO fatigue when you actually play a game. Afterwards everyone is rested so you have to go by the honour code. Injuries happen WAY too much when you play. With the slider at 40 I lost Zumuya for the year in game one. Scherzer went out 2-4 weeks in game two. Dropped slider to 30. No injuries in game three. Game four Valverde lost for 2-4 months but his ghost remains on the field when I try to sub him out (known glitch). So I use the in game save and reboot the game to remove the ghost. This works but after the game Valverde is 100% healthy! Good for me. Note that none of the pitchers were even close to their pitch count. Maybe halfway to their max. Game 5, Will Rhymes gets hurt in the first inning but at least it looks minor and that's with the slider now dropped to 10. I may turn injuries off altogether if I don't see some of this stuff toned down. Plus franchise mode still lacks player options as you or the cpu can send veterans down to the minors which can't happen in real life other than rehab assignments.

I think the game itself is very good and you can create a very sim like environment. But I have found myself tweaking sliders a lot as the game is not tuned that well out of the box imo. Outfielders are too slow and base runners too fast resulting in too many hits and far too many doubles and triples initially. The cpu still swings for contact too much so you have to really boost their power and probably drop the contact. Errors are rare compared to the demo and you have to jack them up significantly. I'm a slider guy so this doesn't bother me much but the game needs work.

All in all the game is a big improvement over last year despite these issues. Pitcher control is MUCH better due to the slider which makes it a lot more sim and interesting (you actually walk guys this year). That and the variable strike zone add a lot. Hitting is the biggest improvement imo. Far more hit variety and I find myself enjoying this area so much more than 2K10. Fielding is a lot better because we do get errors, I do see the difference between good and bad defenders and I like the multiple camera angles. But this area still needs work. The user will NEVER commit a throwing error unless he lets his meter get in the red. Unrealistic. Even casual throws should go bad once in awhile. The outfield circle makes it harder to catch for bad outfielders which is a great idea but on routine popups it should be more forgiving. I've dropped at least 4 routine fly balls because I couldn't see that spot (two in my last full game that just about blew it for me and cost Valverde the save). Part of the problem is that your player often obstructs the view of the landing spot and you can't see it. It's gotten so bad that I'm just going to switch to a different outfielder now on those plays after I run over to the general area.

2K11 is a much more polished 2K10 and it is a lot better than it despite the bugs and goofy AI things. It's still a blast to play.

[BlackBetty15]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

They had something good with the player models in 2K7 I wish they kept building off that. But on the 360 the player models are better than the player models in 2K10 in my opinion.

I agree sompletely! The customization options for players was amazing as well.

[Flaxseed Oil]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

Usually, games get more and more boring the more I play them, but I really find a lot of replay value in 2k11.

I havn't really seen any big bugs.

I am kind of disappointed the free agency thing wasn't fixed, and I've seen some strange line-ups, but overall the game is fun and the controls are solid. Graphics are great in daygames, and eh in night games.

But overall, this was a solid purchase and I am back on the 2k bandwagon for the first time since 2k8.

[bigfnjoe96]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

You will see/get errors from the User. It's all tied into pre-loading your throws. The more you practice pre-loading your throws, the more likely you'll see errors.

[DJ]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

After almost two weeks I'm still really happy with the game but some of the issues are annoying. The bugs in the game reek of your typical 2K quality controls or lack of them.

The cpu doesn't handle their pitching staff that well and base running AI still needs work. Fatigue and injuries are flat out broken in franchise mode. There is NO fatigue when you actually play a game. Afterwards everyone is rested so you have to go by the honour code. Injuries happen WAY too much when you play. With the slider at 40 I lost Zumuya for the year in game one. Scherzer went out 2-4 weeks in game two. Dropped slider to 30. No injuries in game three. Game four Valverde lost for 2-4 months but his ghost remains on the field when I try to sub him out (known glitch). So I use the in game save and reboot the game to remove the ghost. This works but after the game Valverde is 100% healthy! Good for me. Note that none of the pitchers were even close to their pitch count. Maybe halfway to their max. Game 5, Will Rhymes gets hurt in the first inning but at least it looks minor and that's with the slider now dropped to 10. I may turn injuries off altogether if I don't see some of this stuff toned down. Plus franchise mode still lacks player options as you or the cpu can send veterans down to the minors which can't happen in real life other than rehab assignments.

I think the game itself is very good and you can create a very sim like environment. But I have found myself tweaking sliders a lot as the game is not tuned that well out of the box imo. Outfielders are too slow and base runners too fast resulting in too many hits and far too many doubles and triples initially. The cpu still swings for contact too much so you have to really boost their power and probably drop the contact. Errors are rare compared to the demo and you have to jack them up significantly. I'm a slider guy so this doesn't bother me much but the game needs work.

All in all the game is a big improvement over last year despite these issues. Pitcher control is MUCH better due to the slider which makes it a lot more sim and interesting (you actually walk guys this year). That and the variable strike zone add a lot. Hitting is the biggest improvement imo. Far more hit variety and I find myself enjoying this area so much more than 2K10. Fielding is a lot better because we do get errors, I do see the difference between good and bad defenders and I like the multiple camera angles. But this area still needs work. The user will NEVER commit a throwing error unless he lets his meter get in the red. Unrealistic. Even casual throws should go bad once in awhile. The outfield circle makes it harder to catch for bad outfielders which is a great idea but on routine popups it should be more forgiving. I've dropped at least 4 routine fly balls because I couldn't see that spot (two in my last full game that just about blew it for me and cost Valverde the save). Part of the problem is that your player often obstructs the view of the landing spot and you can't see it. It's gotten so bad that I'm just going to switch to a different outfielder now on those plays after I run over to the general area.

2K11 is a much more polished 2K10 and it is a lot better than it despite the bugs and goofy AI things. It's still a blast to play.

Man, those injuries are nuts. Rudy, do you know if 2K's patch is going to address any of the issues you bring up?

[bigfnjoe96]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

Man, those injuries are nuts. Rudy, do you know if 2K's patch is going to address any of the issues you bring up?

The Injury Frequency & Franchise Fatigue have been brought to 2k's attention. As per Ronnie2k it's being looked into.

[BSUFAN]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

I flubbed the dub ( came too far in and misjudged the ball ) with Matt Holiday on a fly ball and it went over his head for a triple , which was cool kinda but was able to rally and win the game. The errors which I have seen can come on about on any play but usually at first base, no one ever drops a foul ball or misplays the ball and there seems to be alot of foul balls behind homeplate, maybe its because they changed the batting to make you pay for missing a pitch, now I could deal with that but it seems like alot at least for me. I am finding I like the realism of these things in the game it just takes a while to adjust to something happening. I hope we get another patch soon. I am going to say its very fun playing and I am enjoying this game very much so I am recommending it to any baseball fan , having said that ( it would have been nice to have some of these things fixed before I spent $ 60.00 ).

[rudyjuly2]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

The Injury Frequency & Franchise Fatigue have been brought to 2k's attention. As per Ronnie2k it's being looked into.

That's good. I do agree with the other poster above about cpu generated lineups. They can be really goofy at times. NY had Jeter batting 8th the entire time I played them. They wanted me to bat Victor Martinez lead off as well.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

That's good. I do agree with the other poster above about cpu generated lineups. They can be really goofy at times. NY had Jeter batting 8th the entire time I played them. They wanted me to bat Victor Martinez lead off as well.

In my The Show franchise it also throws Jeter at 8th also.
He's actually deserving of that in my franchise... Hope he turns it around.

[Spanky]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

A few quick, early impressions after playing just two 6-inning spring games without downloading the first patch or touching the sliders:

--Haven't seen anything real silly so far, which is a good sign when you're dealing with this title's sordid history.

--Didn't play 2k10. Pitching even more fun than 2k9 because it's more challenging. Like how the pitch won't always go where you expect it to and you don't have pinpoint control. No complaints whatsoever.

--Still trying to get timing down on hitting, as I'm striking out a lot. Hit a couple of HRs with Brewers. Hope this is an aberration but both shots, by Hart and Fielder, were opposite field, as I'm having trouble pulling the ball. I like how it's easier to read/react to pitch than before, but that doesn't mean it's easier to hit.

--Fielding is night and day better than 2k9. People have mentioned pitcher not covering at first, but I had Grienke rush over and cover when Fielder bobbled grounder for a 3-1 out. It was cool. Trying to get your outfielder to get in that little yellow circle sometimes leads to funky animations.

--Graphics are fine, not award-winning, but acceptable. I really like the look of the uniforms and I'm guessing the regular stadiums (I've only played in spring training parks) are fine.

--One thing that hasn't changed with this title is the unnatural and less-than-fluid, often times herky-jerky animations. I've learned to accept it, but this game could really take a huge leap forward if they fixed that.

--No idea yet on CPU logic, which is said to be a disaster.

--In summary, after playing only 12 innings, I think I'm safe in giving a thumbs up to the fun factor in this game, which really, is what it's all about. I mean, my gaming time is limited (I got the game on Tuesday) and have a lot of great titles to choose from (NCAA Football, NHL10, Madden 10, NBA2k10) and I'm looking forward to playing MLB 2k11 again in a couple of days when I get a chance. I'm also looking forward to playing this game while having a second TV next to it and watching real games or SportsCenter this summer, when I have more time off. Hopefully, that feeling doesn't change.

[Cardot]

Re: Official MLB 2k11 - Impressions Thread

2K11 is a much more polished 2K10 and it is a lot better than it despite the bugs and goofy AI things. It's still a blast to play.

Thanks for the impressions Rudy & everyone else. Would you mind listing out some of your favorite improvements from 2K10? It sounds like reduced pinpoint pitching, hit variety and errors are the big ones. Anything else come to mind?