The MLB 2K11 demo is available now. Add it to your download queue right here.
Please play a few games and post your impressions here.
*UPDATE: PS3 demo is available now.
Quote:
"Begin your quest for perfection on the baseball diamond with the Major League Baseball 2K11 demo, available now for download. Play a three inning game with the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers at AT&T Park and get an early taste of 2K11’s Revamped Fielding System and improved Total Control Pitching & Hitting. Perfect YOUR game with Major League Baseball 2K11, in stores March 8!"
Got to pitch to one batter before I had to rush to the airport to drop off my friend. In three pitches, I noticed quite a bit:
- The four-seam fastball seemed "floaty," almost as if it was even increasing in height. It could be just because slowing down the pitch speed only brings it to slow motion as opposed to acting like a slower pitch, so I'm sure a sped up one looks natural.
- The two-seam fastball (and probably the cutter as well), like last year, uses pinpoint control as opposed to breakpoint control. It might be because they're fastballs so we should assume the pitchers know how to pinpoint what they're going to do with it, but I always seem to forget that when I'm actually selecting the pitch. I think they should all be breakpoint pitches (where the four-seamer is just straight anyway so there is no effect). I forget how the sinker reacts to this.
- Fly balls look to be a sweet challenge this year, the third pitch was a sky-high fly ball to Burrell and I almost wasn't sure what to do for a while. Thankfully he locked onto the ball landing area before the cursor popped up (which was in the center). I wonder how line drives are going to appear for this, or how tough they will be to catch.
- The meter popped up rather instantly for me when I wanted to pre-load a throw, so it gave me a nice surprise. I think it would be nice if we could recalibrate our throw if we have time to do so before we catch the ball though.
- Love that RTP is integrated back into the game! I'm sure there will be some staleness to the actual camera cuts but it allows for nice presentation flow overall. I love the commentary in the game so playing retail would be nice with RTP like in 2K9. Hopefully it has been a little more smoothed out this time around.
- All the pitching cameras are supposed to be broadcast cams, so it irked me when the Giants cam had so much grass behind the mound. Everything seemed higher than it should have been (as in, the camera felt too low position-wise). It probably doesn't help that the score overlay sticks so far down. Why not just have it fill out the top border of the screen? It would be better for hitting as well since, as some of you know I hate the default hitting camera, that doesn't feel too "low" as well and I can actually see the batter a little bit.
- The game looks smoother and cleaner for PS3 than 2K10 did, plain and simple. I'm going to have to play it more to be sure, but that's how it appears.
So that was in three pitches of gameplay. I'll need to obviously reserve judgment and play more, but it looks like some things were definitely worked on this year. I'm sure the 2K head scratchers will pop up sooner or later though (like the one hop throws to first base mentioned earlier).
Does nobody see the huge jagged edges on EVERY player and shadow model???????
It's ridiculous, they are obvious to anyone using a large plasma or any HDTV
This along with the framerate inconsistency and the jarring animations make this a no buy for me....This is ESPECIALLY frustrating considering I haven't bought a baseball game since 2k7 ARGHHHHHH
Does nobody see the huge jagged edges on EVERY player and shadow model???????
It's ridiculous, they are obvious to anyone using a large plasma or any HDTV
This along with the framerate inconsistency and the jarring animations make this a no buy for me....This is ESPECIALLY frustrating considering I haven't bought a baseball game since 2k7 ARGHHHHHH
I'm on a 61" HDTV and not really noticing it. Since jaggie shadows have nothing to do with the actual gameplay it hasn't stood out for me, but I could imagine if that's all you look at it could be a problem. The framerate issue is only on fouls and popups for me but doesn't affect how the game plays at all, so again, for me it's not an issue but everyone is different. But it has been reported that those that have played a later build did not notice the issues the demo has.
It’s disappointing that 2K Sports released such a limited demo. This is what they usually do but releasing a demo without difficulty options, camera options, slider options and no commentary doesn’t allow you to get a true feel for how the game will be. The commentary is one of the best things about the game (based on 2K10) and yet people aren’t able to experience it. At least I knew that going into the demo. Overall I’m happy with my demo experience although how I really feel about the game won’t be known until I have the full copy and can adjust things the way I like. The demo is just too easy on the default settings. I played 5 games and won 4 (blew one totally with some bad defensive decisions in the 3rd) and hit 8 HRs while giving up no HRs while pitching.
The game looks pretty good to me although it looks very similar to 2K10 as well. The colours and lighting both look very good. The two things that seem better are that the game is smoother and the player models are better, the legs specifically. I didn’t think the player models were that much different from the videos but playing the game they do look significantly better.
I did notice the frame rate hiccup at times and it wasn’t a big deal. It probably won’t be in the retail version so I don’t think it’s a big deal. I also noticed the HR glitch where I hit a 407 foot HR with Josh Hamilton to dead CF and it was ruled a HR and an out. I hope that isn’t something we’ll see in the retail copy.
PITCHING
This was the strength of 2K10. I loved gesture pitching but as fun as it was, it was too easy to hit your spots and that hurt the long term value of the game as you rarely walked anyone. The demo on Pro seemed about the same as 2K10 with pitching made as difficult as I could make it (still too easy to hit your spots). But with the pitch control slider in 2K11 I really think pitching will be fantastic this year. I did notice that the pitch speed seemed slow compared to the batting camera for some reason but I adjusted quickly (I have played some 2K10 lately and it’s slow compared to that as well). The cpu didn’t seem overly swing happy and I did strike out two guys looking. The variable strike zone is a refreshing change from the huge strike zone in 2K10.
BATTING
This was an area I considered below average in 2K10 and quite frankly needed quite a bit of work. I see the biggest improvement in 2K11 here. The bat off the ball physics is great and maybe the best I’ve seen. The hit variety is much improved as you see pop ups around home, balls finding their way between infielders (rare in 2K10) and the feel is just really good. I see significant improvement here. I’m not a huge fan of the camera angle following the hit. I think it makes for a smooth transition to the fielders after the hit and it also seems realistic as though you were actually at the plate. But the camera doesn’t follow the height of the ball on hits to the outfield and it can make it hard to see exactly where the ball is. When you hit a HR the beauty of following the ball out of the ballpark is lost. While I have grown to like the camera more I would most likely switch back to the normal angle of 2K10 if I could.
The developers said they toned down the opposite field power but I really didn’t see that. I hit eight HRs with two of them pulled, three to CF and three to the opposite field. The jury is still out on this.
The cpu never hit a single HR against me. It was on pro but there was too big a gap between a contact swing and power swing last year. I played with cpu power at 100 last year to help the cpu hit for more power and I can only hope that the cpu isn’t a singles machine in 2K11. Again, the jury is still out for me in this area.
FIELDING
I was stunned when initially executing a simple throw to first base. The meter moved quicker than I expected and if that meter reaches the red zone look out! The ball will be in the dirt (saw a couple nice scoops by the 1B) or off the mark. I was disappointed that two of my throws early on pulled the first basement off the bag and neither play was recorded as an error. In five games I never saw a booted ball until my final game when I smoked a line drive at Aubrey Huff who muffed it and I was safe (they did give him an error). I consider that a good thing as I was worried the new emphasis on bobbles might be overdone but sliders can fix this anyways. I really felt Josh Hamilton being slow in the OF and you can see the difference between the fielders. I would have liked if the fielding camera was still zoomed out some more like 2K9’s camera but I can live with it.
Rocket arms are gone but did it go too far? I think the arm strength relative to the base running speed is fine. I saw double plays and no overall concerns. However some infield throws can look too slow depending on how you execute the meter and the arc on the ball can look weird since most throws in MLB don’t have an arc to first base. This may just be related to user error with the throwing meter in the field.
OVERALL
I am happy with the demo. It is an upgraded version of 2K10 where the changes made should significantly upgrade it for 2K11. Unfortunately without any options to play with we won’t know exactly how upgraded 2K11 will be but I’m buying it day one anyways.
(Probably not gonna tell you anything others have not already said)
*Graphics look like crap on the PS3. Simple as that.
*Tons of lag on pop ups. Hopefully not in final version.
*The camera angle that they have for hitting sucks. Am I missing something? Is there anywhere I can change this? I am sure the final game will have that option, but this angle is almost unplayable. Heck, in this angle, at bat, it looks like the first baseman is close enough to shake your hand. lol
* As mentioned, the player shadows look horrible, but I can live with that.
Only one inning so far, will be back after I play more.
(Probably not gonna tell you anything others have not already said)
*Graphics look like crap on the PS3. Simple as that.
*Tons of lag on pop ups. Hopefully not in final version.
*The camera angle that they have for hitting sucks. Am I missing something? Is there anywhere I can change this? I am sure the final game will have that option, but this angle is almost unplayable. Heck, in this angle, at bat, it looks like the first baseman is close enough to shake your hand. lol
* As mentioned, the player shadows look horrible, but I can live with that.
Only one inning so far, will be back after I play more.
Not to start an argument, but how many pop ups could you have seen in just one inning of play?
(Probably not gonna tell you anything others have not already said)
*Graphics look like crap on the PS3. Simple as that.
*Tons of lag on pop ups. Hopefully not in final version.
*The camera angle that they have for hitting sucks. Am I missing something? Is there anywhere I can change this? I am sure the final game will have that option, but this angle is almost unplayable. Heck, in this angle, at bat, it looks like the first baseman is close enough to shake your hand. lol
* As mentioned, the player shadows look horrible, but I can live with that.
Only one inning so far, will be back after I play more.
I'll disagree and I think the graphics are pretty decent. I won't call them awesome or anything but I think they are better than people are giving them credit for.
I love the batting camera angle as it helps me see the pitch a lot better. But if you don't like it there are different camera angles in the game and you can adjust the height and zoom as you like. Too bad they didn't give us the option of changing this although someone said there may be a trick on the 360 to adjust this.
The PS3 version looks nothing like last years (and that is almost a bad thing), and nothing like the 360 video I have seen. Reminds me of some PS2 baseball games, but with slightly better graphics... And I am being serious. Last years game looked TONS better IMO.
First game ended in a 0-0 tie, 2 hits a piece. Classic controls since the analog controls on this game are horrible (especially pitching... No real baseball motion involved what so ever).
Player movement doesn't look realistic at all. Running, walking... Awful
The fans in the stands are a plus. Look much better when a ball is hit into the stands than some other games I wont mention.
Pretty sure I am gonna pass on this one. Didn't have very high hopes going in, and they made it clear that the developers didn't either.
Sent this video I put together to Ronnie2k and SteveOS; kinda interesting that while the pitch's trajectory changes, the time it takes a 92mph fastball and the 78mph curveball are the exact same. Doesn't really "feel" like you're pitching imo - feels generic.
The PS3 version looks nothing like last years (and that is almost a bad thing),
When is the last time you played the PS3 version of 2K10? I played it right before the demo. The games look almost identical other than the improved player models in 2K11 imo.
I am really impressed with the demo. You can tell VC put a lot of work in. I love the new camera when you put the ball in play.
Pitching is just fun as hell. Love the variable strike zones.
Animations look nice to me, you can tell they added quite a few.
Love the fielding, and throwing. I love having to get on my horse to get to a ball. It makes it feel challenging, and sometimes I don't know whether I will get there or not. I like that.
Hitting seems the same, but its pretty well done anyway. I am able to draw walks.
Did notice some frame rate issues with pop ups and foul balls.
I wish ground balls were hit a little more slowly in the infield so I had a chance to get in front of the ball instead of reaching for it.
Couple of questions though. Does anyone know how to change to get control of your outfielder when it first gives you control of an infielder?
And does anyone know if there will be other fielding cameras. I wish the default cam was a little higher.
Think what you want. Just because I like the Show, and didn't have high opes for this game doesn't mean my opinion doesn't mean anything. Besides, with all the negative reviews, I don't think mine are out of line.
I took the time to download, and play 3 games so far. I have said that the 360 version looks better in video than the PS3 version, and that my gripes are about this version.
Just because some people enjoy inferior games doesn't mean they need to get all bent out of shape and start accusing people of trolling when they give it a bad review.
The PS3 version looks nothing like last years (and that is almost a bad thing), and nothing like the 360 video I have seen. Reminds me of some PS2 baseball games, but with slightly better graphics... And I am being serious. Last years game looked TONS better IMO.
Game ended in a 0-0 tie, 2 hits a piece. Classic controls since the analog controls on this game are horrible (especially pitching... No real baseball motion involved what so ever).
Player movement doesn't look realistic at all. Running, walking... Awful
The fans in the stands are a plus. Look much better when a ball is hit into the stands than some other games I wont mention.
Pretty sure I am gonna pass on this one. Didn't have very high hopes going in, and they made it clear that the developers didn't either.
For the record, it's impossible to implement "real baseball motion" on a video game controller. And since it was the only baseball game up until this year to even have analog controls, it's obvious they are just not for you since they are done as good as can be done given the circumstances. That "other" game (which I do love and always buy day one) failed big time on trying to do analog this year, so it's no easy feat.