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

[panthers_freak]

Impressions after one game...

Love the variable strike zone. Makes pitching so much better.
CPU pitchers throw more realistic. Played against Colby Lewis, and he was working the zone and pitch count very well.
Also loved the new hitting camera. I hit a moon shot with aubrey huff, and i didnt tag up at 3rd because i assumed it was gone. Borbon proceeded to catch the ball right up against the centerfield wall. This will make things interesting.
Also didnt really notice framerate drop. People may be exaggerating this a bit.

Things I didnt like so much...
When infielders throw the ball, it sort of floats across the diamond.
Saw an ackward animation at first when the 1b tried to field a grounder.
CPU players swing at a lot of pitches early in the count. If they could be a little more patient it would be nice.

Overall, its looking like a buy for me since i never got 2k10.

[JayhawkerStL]

I also want to say that I am not seeing any frame rate issues. I suspect some of the issues may stem from the camera not doing what we expect.

I played six innings and not once did I feel like the game was not playing smoothly.

[Ltrain44]

I don't think we know what difficulty this is on so remember that also when giving impressions. If you think the AI swung at everything maybe it's because it is on "pro".

Impressions

Hitting:

I love the hitting although with the new camera when the ball is hit into play I lose the ball when it is hit into the air but overall I like the feel of it. Maybe that is due to me playing on an SD TV or maybe because its a day game and that is what happens. I also love the new batters view, it makes it a lot easier to determine balls and strikes. Bat sounds are great also.

Pitching:

Nothing to complain about here. I found it more difficult to throw the ball where I wanted to and it would be even more of a challenge in a higher difficulty setting. This is probably on pro. Love the variable strike zone. Pitching overall seems very smooth.

Fielding:

I like the new ball indicator for fly balls, nice touch. The new meter is something I will get used to because it seems to fill up faster than the older one. Also not everyone has a rocket arm, you can really tell they worked on the ball physics when you throw the ball from outfield to a base, it kind of has a sailing effect. Also I saw a nice jump animation that looked really cool and the new tags are great.

Player models are hit and miss. Some look great, some look bland like always. They have had plenty of time to get all the popular players faces correct. They should start working on everyone else. Unless they have to redo them every year, I don't know.

[jeffy777]

In three games, I've only seen 1 bobble, so they don't seem to be overdone, but I'm guessing there will also be games where the defense struggles more than others.

Choppers look nice and fresh.

[panthers_freak]

One more thing, stealing is great this year...

The tagging animations I saw were top notch!

[sroz39]

I had two questions, and please excuse the ignorance

- how do I steal? I didn't steal a whole heck of alot in last year's game but I tried stealing in the demo and just couldn't do it. Looked at the controller screen too and it was of no help.

- for you veterans of the series, what is your contact/power swing ratio? I ask because I used Classic swing in last year's game but would like to use the analog in this year's. Is it a case of using power swing until 2 strikes then doing contact? Or is more like The Show where you mainly use contact until you get a hitter's count like 2-0 or 3-1 and then using power swing? Is it possible to hit homeruns with contact swing?

[roadman]

Gameplay wise, this is the only two setbacks I've seen in one 3 inning game.

1. A pinch runner in the second inning of the game for the CPU.

2. Josh Hamilton laid down a bunt with no outs and a runner on 1st. Weird AI on that one I thought.

I agree about the hop throw from the outfield, it's an eyesore, but not even close to a deal breaker.

[JayhawkerStL]

You steal by by holding the left LT in until you feel a vibration. When you release, the runner takes off. I will click twice to get a two-step a lead, then a hold the third, which makes it a three-step lead.

Personally, I like to go contact most of the time. But I'm pretty sure mot of the people here go with power swing most of the time.

Once we get the full game, you can probably set up sliders to do a you please.