MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

[legend88]

Well, just played my first 2 games and I must say I am impressed with the Demo. Anyone who says it feels just like 10 is either delusional or blind. Of course it still has that Show feel to it, but there are so many subtle improvements that I noticed. It seems like some people want it to feel like a completely different game, its the best baseball game for a reason. Thats the key to making a good game, once you have the formula, stick with it and adjust and fix areas that need improvement and thats what I feel they did.

Analog controls

First let me speak about the new analog controls. I absolutely love the new pitching. It feels like your more in control of where your pitches go, yet its harder to be accurate at the same time. I feel like I will be seeing a lot more user issued walks which has always been a problem for me in the past. With the meter it seemed like the ball would just go to random locations at times, while with analog when you miss, you know why it went to such and such a location. Analog hitting seems to have a much bigger learning curve. I seem to be swinging at too many pitches, will take time to start being more patient. I thought that I would have to swing earlier than buttons because of the pull back, push forward mechanic but it is really not the case. The key is to pull back just before the pitcher releases the ball. Each player has a unique stride so getting the timing down will be more difficult this year, but once you get to know each batter it will become easier. Really makes each player feel unique which I like. In my first game with Analog fielding I made 4 errors in 4 innings on veteran difficulty. I though to myself, I won't be using this. I then realised that I was just rushing my throws to much. The key is to take you time and really focus on making sure you push the analog stick in the right direction. You don't need to jam it all the way. On routine grounders just a slight touch in the right direction is all you need, especially with slower runners. Throwing in no longer something you can do in your sleep, you really need to focus on each and every play.

Gameplay

Overall gameplay feels very similar to last year, but it seems like they tightened up the game in all the right areas. The game seems to run smoother than ever and I have yet to encounter the major issues we had in MLB 10. Have not seen the wall suction issue, easy grounders are no longer getting by the third baseman down the line ect. Ball trajectories off the bat seem to be vastly improved too. For example on an inside out swing you can really notice the ball slicing towards the line even more so than last year. Infielders also seem to take better routes when fielding balls, I even saw the first baseman slide into the bag at 1st to beat out a quick runner which was cool. Pitchers are no longer men on steel on the mound. Lincecum took a comebacker to the face and immediately went to the ground holding his face and rolling around (really awesome). Injuries are turned off in the demo, so I don't know if this would have caused an injury in game, I would imagine so though. Gameplay just feels so much better all around.

Presentation

The game looks better than ever. Everything just feels so crisp and vibrant. Then new lighting is just awesome, love the clouds in the sky especially at dusk. Keeps improving every year.

Commentators

While starting to feel a bit stale, especially with Vasgarsian and Campbell repeating the same lines for the past 5 years, the addition of Karros does seem to add a bit of freshness to the game. I like that we do have some back and forth now between Karros and Vasgersian, though it still sounds like they are in seperate booths. This is by far the weakest part of the game and hopefully we get a complete overhaul next year.

All in all, i'm very impressed by the demo and it will definatively be a day one purchase for me.

[econoodle]

more stuff:

+ love the pregame warmups and seeing the bal being tossed around the infield behind the pitcher!

+ why sony decided to leave out the caera editior in the demo is beyond me, but mad thanks to the poster who found the workaround.
Mixing catcher 5 with wide offset has given me new life at the plate.
I CAN READ PITCHES!!

[dynastynation]

I've played like 4-5 games and I am really loving the analog pitching... I used to struggle in past games throwing a good curveball (they would either end up in the dirt or hang up in the zone) but so far in the demo I have had no problems with that. Also, the hit variety has also been great so far!

[Qb]

Played four games last night, including a back & forth 7 inning nail-biter I won 7-6 in my last game. I finally shut the door after blowing leads in the bottom of the 5th & 6th and I did it after allowing a leadoff triple -- pop-up, hard grounder to SS and play at the plate, K... fist pump.

Where to begin... might as well start with the addition that plays the biggest part in the demo, the analog controls. I went full analog for my first two games. I immediately fell in love with pitching and fielding, but it will take some time & practice to warm up to hitting.

The pitching system is great. I love the accuracy component -- if you miss your release point, the pitch is high or low accordingly; if you miss left/right off your mark, again the pitch reacts likewise. Couple this with the variable effort based on the speed of the upward stroke and maintaining focus on every pitch is vital. Well done.

I think there is so room to play with the user pitching settings to further refine the experience. I certainly wasn't hitting my spots consistently or painting corners, but I threw a lot of strikes as most of my misses were over the plate. Not a knock on the system, but something to explore moving forward with regard to sliders. On the plus side of that, the game I threw the highest percentage of strikes was my last one and I gave up 6 runs and 3 homers. However, mistakes gravitating towards the heart of the plate was based on primarily my input, so I can't argue with the results.

I committed 3 errors in 4 games on the default throwing difficulty (veteran?). Missed the cutoff man the first time I tried that, screwed up my first DP turn by canceling a throw because I tried to pre-load the next throw too soon, and sailed one over 1B on a routine grounder to second. All were user error and I knew exactly what I did and did not repeat it... again, can't argue with that. I also misplayed a fly ball to RF due to wind -- I was using the shadow only -- and couldn't recover to make the play with Cruz (not scored E9). Also, Cruz broke back initially on a sinking liner and the ball fell just in front of him by the time I got moving forward. Nice to see some fielder momentum out there!

As for analog hitting, I didn't give it a fair chance last night. I wasn't very good with it in past games; my main problem is I focus so much on my timing that my pitch recognition and discipline go in the crapper. But I'm not giving up on it and will head to the batting cage with the retail version as I find it difficult to practice it in a game situation.

I went to zone hitting for other two games and once I sucked it up and dropped to veteran, I got back in the swing of things. With only a year of the series under my belt, I'm still weak with PCI placement, in part because I prefer not to see it. I relented, turned it on and immediately improved my pitch tracking/placement. Looking forward to going back up to All-Star eventually so I can experience the improved PCI logic.

Not to short change it by tacking it on at the end, but I'm also excited about the contact swing. Nothing like fighting off a few 0-2 or 1-2 pitches to stay alive and wait for a mistake... should help me cut down on the strikeouts. Also, I used it a few times with runners in scoring position to make sure I put the ball in play and slapped a few seeing-eye singles and a nice flare over over 2B with Freddy Sanchez -- vintage Freddy. Again, well done.

Gotta run, but so to hastily wrap it up, very impressed with the new controls. Looking forward to more time to see the more subtle improvements play out, especially with the fielding. I think this clip summarizes my current state of mind nicely:

[ttinker]

Got one game in last night. Lost 4-0 in 6 innings. I had 7 errors! I should have one it in the bottom of the 4th, but I couldn't remember how to advance runners, then when I did figure it out, I got thrown out at home by the right fielder after tagging up on a standard fly ball. In the top of the 6th, I committed about 4 or 5 errors to gift the Rangers with 4 runs. Oh well, practice will make perfect. Can't wait for March 8th!

I love the analog pitching and will learn to like the hitting (liked the idea in MLB 2k10). Analog fielding will take some getting used to; I'm not even sure what I'm doing when it comes to fielding--I haven't read any instructions yet.

Everything looks great and I love the fact that throws to first that are in the dirt aren't just automatically scooped up. I also saw my first baseman jump up to catch a high throw and come down on the bag before the runner. I may have seen this a time or two last year, but it looked much more natural this go round.

The field looks great, bigger than prior years. Can't wait to see the whole picture 2 tuesdays from now. Only thing I don't really like is Karros in the booth. Like others have said, he sounds like he's somewhere else and his lines are very similar to Rex's, so it seems like the same commentary from Karros that I heard in '10 with a new voice being the only difference.

[ESPNFANAZ]

Played a couple games last night. I left the game on default. One game I did pitching and hitting, the other purely hitting with both teams so I can get practice on analog hitting. First game I got one single and the rest strikeouts with the Giants. Analog pitching was fun and did get the hang of it fairly quickly. The only thing I wish was having another second on the ball indicator, I guess I'll have to act a little faster. Second game I managed to get 4 hits with both teams and one walkoff homerun from Freddy Sanchez. Hitting is not easy and you really have to be patient at the plate and focus on each pitch. Waiting for the right pitch not necessarily hitting anything that looks like could be a strike is key. At first I was a little overwhelmed having to choose contact, regular, or power swing before each pitch, but I can see where certain situations and counts and knowing what kind of batter is at the plate all comes to play when choosing them. Are you hurting yourself if you only use regular swing? I'm guessing so. I do like to play online and usually the pace is much faster than vs AI, the only thing I hope is that online play can be the same pace so you can have time to utilize all the options that is given to you. I tried Camera 5 like you all suggested and did seem like I could read the ball a bit better. Animations and gameplay feels smoother than last year. Overall very happy with the demo and looking forward to March 8th!

[Knight165]

Sorry this is not an impression....
But on the OF'er routes and plays off the wall.
I know Nem is also saying he didn't see them at the event...but I'm fairly certain that I did......an OF'er looking to play a ball off the wall in one spot...and it went somewhere else forcing him to chase it down.(I don't think it was it was me doing it either....I was genuinely surprised.).
I guess I'll know in two weeks...or Russ can tell me I'm not crazy.(I might be though! )

I hope I'M right.

M.K.
Knight165

[Cannoncourt]

overthrew on pick-off to first with tim. out of play. Guy ends up on third?