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

[GrandMaster B]

Quote: Originally Posted by noda11

Negatives -after the ball is hit I found it hard to see where the ball was. Especially pop ups and fly balls.

I also noticed this. Surprised this was the first time mentioned.

[bulls23]

Played three games before work today, big things that stick out:

Positives:

-Player models and all around graphics look much beter than last year. Faces are more detailed and body types set the players apart. Really like the NOB font for Texas and hope all teams have the individual lettering this year

-Fielding is a thrill. Like having to work to catch a ball this year which keeps me more involved in the game. Had to practice with the throw meter for poor fielders like the shortstop on Texas (don't know his name)

-Liked being able to choose classic controls for batting in the demo.

-Like the new camera view after hitting a ball.

-Good variety of foul balls, choppers and liners. Hit a few right behind the plate.


Negatives:

-The HUD is the same as last year. Was hoping for more/different style overlays, although the ones shown did provide good information.

-No sliders in the demo. I found the pitching speed too slow for my taste.

[sroz39]

Played two more games before work. Couple of things to add:

- through 5 games, been able to draw 6 walks. This is encouraging on default Pro difficulty. The last walk was my favourite, it was a four pitch walk on Sandoval with runners on 1st and 2nd and two away. I was thinking "if the A.I. is up to snuff, I will get nothing to hit". Sure enough, Webb tried to nibble the whole at-bat. Good to see.

- don't like that at times, on flyballs, the camera loses track of the player I'm controlling. It's only for a split second but it's distracting. Will reserve judgement till the final build.

- saw a great at bat when I was pitching with Sanchez to an A.I. Hamilton. Catcher kept calling for the Slurve down and away. First two pitches were borderline, A.I. took the first one and was way ahead of the second one as he swung and missed. Third pitch was a fastball high and out of the zone, Hamilton took. Fourth pitch, catcher called for the slurve again, same spot. Hamilton adjusted, waited till the ball got deeper in the zone and went the other way with it for a double in the corner. I got pwned but it played out great

One final thought, as I've been thinking about where this game might be going through next year and beyond. Many, including myself, have compared the demo to MVP 2005 and after thinking about this a little longer, this seems to resemble MVP 2004 more. I'm not even going to hold MLB 2K9 against the devs as they got the game dumped on them mid-cycle, but I find 2K10 to be like MVP 2003, where they lay the foundation for a bunch of their ideas. This year's game went in the direction of a lot of fine-tuning of those ideas which made for an enjoyable, if still flawed in spots, kind of game.

I think 2K12 will be the "MVP 2005" for this series, where they flesh everything out, re-build Franchise mode, and everything comes together. Will it be perfect? Well no, because neither was MVP 2005. But thinking back, the similarities are uncanny. MVP 2003 and MLB 2K10, I played and enjoyed both but ultimately went back to play a different baseball game (The Show and WSB 2K3 respectively). I feel like with this year's games, it'll be more of a 50/50 split between the two, similar to me splitting my baseball playing between MVP 2004 and ESPN Baseball. And next year? I'm not going to make any bold predictions here, mainly because I don't see The Show suffering the same collapse that befell MLB 2K5 and I love playing The Show more than any other sports game. But I will say that this series' best days are ahead of them and kudos to the devs on a very promising demo.

[loloben]

Here are my Impressions
Pros
Pitching is good. I.e, I threw a slider with Brandon Webb, and it was very realistic. I could tell it was a perfect slider.
Fielding is much better. The fielding meter is great and when you throw in the red, the ball can go over the 1st baseman's head.
When I was playing, I heard the fans cheering.
It looks exactly like AT&T Park.
The hitting was also good. Seeing Josh Hamilton crush a fastball out of the park looked awesome.
Good Player Models
Cons
I have a little trouble timing the swings
The fielding meter doesn't leave room for error (Could be a pro for some or a con for others)
The animations are still relatively robotic.
A decent amount of floating pitches and pop-ups.
No Commentary!
Overall, this looks good.

[Raskal]

The demo is available now on PSN. Gotta do a search for 2k11.

[BlackBetty15]

Anyone else love the nomar garciaparra sig style for aubrey huff. I about dies when I saw the ol glove wiggle he used to do. I miss that guy....

[Redemption]

Quote: Originally Posted by Eski33

Not a fan. Nothing has changed. The pitching mechanic is ludicrous...

really? I must say, your "review" of the demo lost me right there. Considering 2k has widely been praised as having the best pitching experience (outside of the pinpoint accuracy issues, which will have a slider to correct this year) in any baseball game.

What exactly is ludicrous about it?

[Redemption]

ok, I just played my first game and I did notice a major bug. When your pitchers composure is low and the curser is jumping around, if you back out of the pitch selection and pick the pitch again, the curser is no longer moving. It was most common when I backed out of a fastball and picked it again, but after a few tries on the slurve it did it there too.

That is a major issue imo