Major League Baseball 2K11 Review (360)

[ambizytl]

Quote: Originally Posted by Celtic34

I completely disagree with this review. This game and NBA 2k11 if you look at the graphics are identical. NBA 2k11 gets a great review and is heralded as the best basketball game ever because there is no competition. They are using the same graphics engine. 2k is designing a multiplat game and is relegated to what both the xbox 360 and ps3 can do. The 360 hardware is simply not capable of doing what the show is doing on the ps3 which is specifically designed for it. If you look at both games the show and 2k, they are nearly identical, minus the player models and shading are "dumbed down". 2k has added a little more as far as control and options as far as mlb today and a deeper franchise mode, smoother online play, where the show has sharper graphics and is a bit more polished. But whatever. I simply don't think some of the people reviewing these games have any idea what developers are relegated too when designing them. 2k11 is simply a multiplat title. If you look at NBA 2k11 vs the Show you will see the same lack of detail in the graphics and animations in comparison. There were also various framerate issues when nba 2k11 was first released due to it being released on multiple platforms which a patch eventually fixed. Play both games and tell me they are that different in theory. But this game gets a 7? Please... Fanboyism at it's finest. Someone needs to take their Show goggles off. This review just strikes me as someone who loves the show and thinks it's better so they are going to nitpick the heck out of this game. NBA 2k11 has no competition and is your favorite game and you are a fanboy, so you are going to say how awesome it is. In my opinion 2k has released a baseball game that rivals their NBA game and a baseball game that rivals the show with just less in the graphics department and AI in spots. They are relegated to designing this game for the hardware at hand where the Show is at an advantage being a single platform game. All in all there isn't a huge difference between the two minus surface stuff. It's just true and you know it. This review just doesn't depict how good this game actually is. You seem to be focusing on the negative. Will the Show lose 3 points because their online play is still laggy? That's a much bigger deal to me then graphics that look a little pasty. The Show has these great graphics but they sort of forgot that would be hard to get to work online too well. So much for the show being so incredibly balanced. Online play is sort of a big deal these days. How about what this game gets right? The main factors they most definately do. Add in MLB today, GAMEPLAY, improved animations, improved commentary, improved control on both sides, a deeper franchise mode, and this game is an 8.5 in my book. Where the show is about a 9 due to its graphics and polish. The gap is shrinking.

I completely agree with you on this, and I also rate it 8.5, which I did in a post prior to this review.

[Boilerbuzz]

Quote: Originally Posted by Celtic34

I completely disagree with this review. This game and NBA 2k11 if you look at the graphics are identical. NBA 2k11 gets a great review and is heralded as the best basketball game ever because there is no competition. They are using the same graphics engine. 2k is designing a multiplat game and is relegated to what both the xbox 360 and ps3 can do. The 360 hardware is simply not capable of doing what the show is doing on the ps3 which is specifically designed for it.

I'm not going to respond to the rest your post. But THIS statement, I'm sure, many people think is valid. And it's not. Sure, I would bet the underlying engine is the same. But MLB is a game played primarily outdoors while NBA is exclusively indoor. That's a SIGNIFICANT difference. Hell, just start with HDR and shadowing that has to be different. And it's not just about the engine - the ART is huge and these games could not have shared the same art direction.

What I DO agree with though is that being a multiplatform title, you're going to pay a price in overall graphical polish across all skus.

So with that said, I certainly appreciated the big strides in cleaner gameplay in MLB 2K11. But I can't look at the game for too long if it's not on a PC with the settings cranked up. I have no problem with this review.

[sportyguyfl31]

give the game around a 8.

I love the presentation...and letting the entire game just play out..

It's really fun, I like watching the cutscenes.

It's good for my franchise mode fix.

[peigone]

Quote: Originally Posted by Celtic34

I completely disagree with this review... improved animations

Can I have your disk? Because the animations in my game are flat-out horrid. Example: When my batter gets thrown out at first, instead of running through the bag, he simply stops 7-8 feet in front of first base and stares straight ahead into right field with his arms hanging at his sides. That's last gen animation programming, and it's terrible.

[Kernel Pie]

I love this game and will play it all summer, but even I can admit that the graphics, cut-scenes, and animations deserve a solid minus 2 demerit in my opinion. Baserunning is horrid, swings on replays are cringe-worthy, cut-scenes of pitchers are moronic, and the list goes on and on. Some animations are good, but on the whole, they are a failure. That puts the highest possible score for this game, at an 8.

The gameplay imo, deserves no demerits at all. Pitching is great, hitting is great, and the fielding is vastly improved. Game outcomes are varied, sliders work well, and the AI is more than acceptable. You can easlily obtain accurate MLB averages with some tweaks here and there--sign of a great gameplay engine.

The sound deserves a .5 demerit imo. Yes, the commentary is the standard for all other sports games and the crowd noise is great. But the one aspect of the sound that is really lacking, is the PA system. The songs are not baseball specific, the announcer screws up names, and there is not enough organ or baseball vibe. They also play "Rearview Mirror" over and over. Maybe this is a petty demerit, but a baseball game without 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame?" or all the other great baseball songs? Gotta do it.

That leaves intangibles, for which I see no demerits at all. MLB today is really fun, the franchise is deep once injuries are patched, and the rosters are updated really well with real-life performance affecting a players performance in game. So no demerits here.

So that leaves my score at 7.5. Could have been an easy 9 if not for the animations and graphics, which are seriously dragging this game behind. Great game though, for people who appreciate gameplay--like me.

[peigone]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kernel Pie

So that leaves my score at 7.5. Could have been an easy 9 if not for the animations and graphics, which are seriously dragging this game behind. Great game though, for people who appreciate gameplay--like me.

Exactly my feelings.

[Garrett67]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kernel Pie

I love this game and will play it all summer, but even I can admit that the graphics, cut-scenes, and animations deserve a solid minus 2 demerit in my opinion. Baserunning is horrid, swings on replays are cringe-worthy, cut-scenes of pitchers are moronic, and the list goes on and on. Some animations are good, but on the whole, they are a failure. That puts the highest possible score for this game, at an 8. The gameplay imo, deserves no demerits at all. Pitching is great, hitting is great, and the fielding is vastly improved. Game outcomes are varied, sliders work well, and the AI is more than acceptable. You can easlily obtain accurate MLB averages with some tweaks here and there--sign of a great gameplay engine. The sound deserves a .5 demerit imo. Yes, the commentary is the standard for all other sports games and the crowd noise is great. But the one aspect of the sound that is really lacking, is the PA system. The songs are not baseball specific, the announcer screws up names, and there is not enough organ or baseball vibe. They also play "Rearview Mirror" over and over. Maybe this is a petty demerit, but a baseball game without 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame?" or all the other great baseball songs? Gotta do it. That leaves intangibles, for which I see no demerits at all. MLB today is really fun, the franchise is deep once injuries are patched, and the rosters are updated really well with real-life performance affecting a players performance in game. So no demerits here. So that leaves my score at 7.5. Could have been an easy 9 if not for the animations and graphics, which are seriously dragging this game behind. Great game though, for people who appreciate gameplay--like me.

Perfect post.. I agree with this totally.

I'm thankful I'm playing on PC with the graphics cranked, otherwise I'd take another tick off the total

[DickDalewood]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kernel Pie

I love this game and will play it all summer, but even I can admit that the graphics, cut-scenes, and animations deserve a solid minus 2 demerit in my opinion. Baserunning is horrid, swings on replays are cringe-worthy, cut-scenes of pitchers are moronic, and the list goes on and on. Some animations are good, but on the whole, they are a failure. That puts the highest possible score for this game, at an 8. The gameplay imo, deserves no demerits at all. Pitching is great, hitting is great, and the fielding is vastly improved. Game outcomes are varied, sliders work well, and the AI is more than acceptable. You can easlily obtain accurate MLB averages with some tweaks here and there--sign of a great gameplay engine. The sound deserves a .5 demerit imo. Yes, the commentary is the standard for all other sports games and the crowd noise is great. But the one aspect of the sound that is really lacking, is the PA system. The songs are not baseball specific, the announcer screws up names, and there is not enough organ or baseball vibe. They also play "Rearview Mirror" over and over. Maybe this is a petty demerit, but a baseball game without 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame?" or all the other great baseball songs? Gotta do it. That leaves intangibles, for which I see no demerits at all. MLB today is really fun, the franchise is deep once injuries are patched, and the rosters are updated really well with real-life performance affecting a players performance in game. So no demerits here. So that leaves my score at 7.5. Could have been an easy 9 if not for the animations and graphics, which are seriously dragging this game behind. Great game though, for people who appreciate gameplay--like me.

I STILL haven't pulled the trigger on picking this up for my number two baseball game this year, but posts like this certainly help me edge closer and closer to making that decision.

Good impressions.