Still a good game, but ABSOLUTELY not worth $59.99 for MLB 2k10 owners in the US. Same exact thing, but just recolored from blue-ish to yellow on the main menu. Bad online gaming also makes this game a very average game this year for Baseball fans
First of all, lets clear something up. Yes there are two baseball games available for the xbox 360, the other being The Bigs 2 also made by 2KSports. Thought the two couldn't be more different. The Bigs 2 offers baseball fans a very easy arcade version of the sport, where as MLB2K11 offers fans of the sport the perfect version of baseball, how it should be made.
I'll be honest with you, if your a baseball fan (and I know there not many here in the UK) and I am, this is the best baseball game ever made for the xbox 360 and at present the only baseball game you'll need. If your owner of the PS3 then your've MLB The Show, but for us xbox 360 owners, we've MLB 2K11 and I know its on the PS3 also.
Lets get to the nitty gritty. I'll be brief here. There are no arcade elements in this great game thankfully, pitching is easy and brilliant, batting is again brilliant, fielding is very well done and easy to do, the graphics are sublime, all the 30 MLB stadiums have been beautifully recreated to make you think your actually there. The players are ok graphically, nothing like fifa, but then you have thousands more players in baseball than football. In short if you like baseball and your an xbox 360 owner then this is for you. An absolute must buy. Though a major negative, the availablity is a little on the short side if you wanna purchase this baby here in the UK, amazon currently sell it at shy under £50, which in my eyes is daylight robbery (though its not actually amazon selling it, its a sub shop if you know what I mean), so the place to buy this bad boy is ****, I bought mine from iCyberstore as a guide, they take about two weeks to deliver and it comes from Hong Kong, but don't fear, it does work on UK consoles, oh and it only costs a shy under £30 which I think is perfect, just like the game. Happy gaming!!!
When you aren't throwing your controller in frustration over the pitching controls, you might actually enjoy MLB 2K11. The 2K series offers a quality title and is moving in the right direction with their baseball games, but haven't yet perfected the formula like competitors are starting to do.
As much as I liked about Major League Baseball 2K11 (playing online and playing through My Player), I found even more that I didn't like (commentary, menus, bugs and glitches, frustrating AI). I enjoy the promise of the MLB integration, whether it's the updated scores every time I log into the game or the DRPS affecting my in-game roster and stats. But ultimately, MLB 2K11 is its own worst enemy, keeping it from being a great sports game and, once again, second fiddle to the MLB: The Show franchise.
It's just that missing level of polish that's more like an entire coat of paint they left off that holds this game back. 2K Sports knows how to make quality sports games, so I can't figure out why MLB 2K can't get its act together. But at this point it's going to take a concerted effort to put out a complete product before the series even approaches relevancy.
MLB 2k11 may not of undergone an entire facelift from last year's game, however, for this reason I find it to be one of the top games currently on shelves. The new Dynamic Player Ratings will give the player a greater feel for the game for the game will be in tune with what trends are occurring in the MLB Season. Gameplay itself has also become much more realistic. No longer can you paint the strike zone with a pitcher who's rating is poor, and bullpen pitchers cannot go through extremely long outings to close a game. The only drawback (a slight one) is that the commentary is not emotional and exciting enough. The lines are well written and give great insight to the game/situation, however, often does the tone of voice detract from the exciting of a bases loaded jam or striking out the side. All things considered, this game continues to improve and make great strides to make improvements. This game is not perfect, but it is great, and worth all the money and hours you invest in it.
Pitching is a blast. My experience so far is a bit short and mixed. Started with an online match with a relative overseas and it was unplayable, we quit after 3 innings. Too much pitching lag. Granted we were halfway across the globe from each other. (US and Singapore). Then I started a "my player" career. It's pretty fun and should be rewarded as I see it through. Seems identicle to "Road to the Show" mode in Sony's PS3 game. Then I drafted a franchise and started the season only to have the game lock up on me and freeze my Xbox. Techsupport has not responded to me in 6 days on that issue. Then I started a franchise with the Cincinnati Reds and had a good time setting the team up and playing the frist game. I lost, Prince Fielder hit 2 3-run HRs off me. Then I played a game of the "MLB Today" mode, CWS vs. CLV opening day. That was fun too, I won on Konerko and Dunn HRs and Buerrle was lights out. So like I said, very mixed. 2 bad experiences, 2 good experiences and a bad tech support experience. I won't comment on graphics/stutter and minor bugs. They are well documented in the MLB2K forums and likely will be fixed with a future patch. .
This is a fun game but ultimately way too many bugs and glitches. The pitching is pretty much the same as 2k10 which is actually NOT an improvement over 2K9. In my opinion, the game make it far to difficult to throw a decent pitch, particularly cutters or two seam fastballs. Hitting is okay if sporadic. I can't seem to get the directional hitting to work at all. The player animations are good if uninspired and the anonuncers are actually of the best parts of the game. The defensive animations are a big improvement over earlier years but you still have WAY TOO MANY GLITCHES with catching EASY pop ups or throwing to a base. I am holding out hope that 2K will fix these issues with a patch or two. Other than the glitches and bugs (one that really grinds my gears is when you're getting ready for an online game and the song that is play starts over 3 or 4 times), this is an improvement over 2k10 but I miss the smooth pitching and hitting from 2k9. Overall this game gets a low 7 until they patch this thing up. AND THEY BETTER PATCH IT !!
Glitchy, Graphics not all that great (this is a 360 game??), boring and takes too long to progress. MyPlayer for example takes painfully long to progress anywhere even if you are "killing it". Overall disapointed. The online is not bad, I had a lot of fun with that, but its hard to convince any of my friends to pick up a baseball game so its actually not all that great in perspective. I am used to The Show for the ps2 and this game is a lot more challenging but in a bad frustrating way. Overall do not get this game if you are critical of graphical errors and glitches, and make sure you have a lot of time on your hands and really really love baseball, but even then the time you put into does not reward you back as well as it should. NBA 2k11 is an A+ this is a D+ just barely getting by, but the potential is there.
Minor League 2K11. This game makes so many errors there's no way it would make it to the Majors! Injured players sometimes sit on the field, and never move. Rob a homer, it's an out AND the points are awarded! Freezes constantly, if I try to play a second game without restarting my system it will guarantee a freeze up. When you need to get rid of the ball quickly, such as a double play or throwing out a runner from the outfield, your guys take their sweet time like they are all Manny Ramirez. Turning doubles into triples is easy because the AI cutoff man will hold the ball if you start running from second before he gets it. Stealing bases is stupidly hard. Shadows look terrible, players look ok. I want so bad to like this game, but every game something pops up to ruin it for me. I would rather lose every single game of the season with a great game than win all of them with silly senseless bugs.
The game is so bad I almost want to trade in my 360 and all 15 games JUST to get a PS3 with The Show 11, and if it wasn't for Gamestop giving next to nothing for a 360 I would do it.