|
Baseball matters.
It’s the American
pastime, and the
popularity of the
sport will rise
again, especially
with labor problems
in the football
world. What happens
to Madden if there’s
a lockout? It
doesn’t really
matter in March. In
March it’s about the
rebirth of nature in
spring. It’s about
crisp throws to
first and strong
pops to center. It’s
also about dual
analog hitting and
analog fielding and
pitching with
MLB
11: The Show
from Sony and only
for Playstation
systems.
MLB
11: The Show
is the best baseball
game that I’ve ever
played and I used to
play
All-Star Baseball
incessantly ten
years ago. With
The
Show
I’m hooked like I’ve
never been hooked
before. I’m not just
obsessed with trying
to hit a home-run
over and over
again…. The Show is
tough. It’s tough
just like baseball
should be. It’s not
just the most fun
I’ve had with a
baseball game; it’s
the most realistic
and best baseball
game I’ve played.
(I’d like to
apologize to
RBI
Baseball
and
Bases
Loaded
for the loss.)
This
game’s gameplay is
why it’s great. It
begins at the plate
too. Batting is a
#$@#$. It’s tough.
You use the right
analog stick to time
the pitcher and
swing the bat. When
the pitcher starts
into his wind up,
you pull back on the
stick to start your
timing, and then
when it’s the
perfect time, you
push forward on the
stick to swing. The
timing is tough to
master from batter
to batter and
pitcher to pitcher.
Not only is the
timing of your right
stick hard to
master, you’ve got
to find the location
of the pitch with
your left stick
while you’re
swinging with your
right. It’s a great
system. It’s not
completely original,
but it’s a great
system. The true
innovative gameplay
feature is analog
fielding. Players
vary how they’ll
respond to balls hit
their way with
different ratings,
but it’s an actual
challenge out in the
field with analog
fielding. You react
to the ball and once
you get it, you have
to throw it to the
desired base. Sounds
easy? Well it’s not
THAT easy. You push
the right stick
towards the base-
the longer you hold
it, the harder the
throw. If you have
terrible ratings,
the throw’s not
going to be accurate
if you hold the
stick longer. If you
have decent ratings
then the throw will
be spot in. Fielding
in
MLB
11: The Show
is the best system
that’s out there.
Pitching with
MLB
11: The Show
is a different
element altogether.
It uses the right
stick for analog
control with
pitching too, but it
doesn’t use it
effectively. The
idea of analog
control in pitching
is simple. You
choose your pitch
and your location
and then you push
down on the analog
stick to do your
wind up. At the
perfect time, you
push your stick
forward to pitch.
Its fun to do the
first few times, but
it’s a flawed
system. Fielding is
tough and so is
batting with analog
control. Pitching
might be too tough.
The
gameplay is awesome
with
MLB
11: The Show.
You’ll want to pick
up a controller and
jump into franchise
mode right away.
Unfortunately,
developers are
running out of ideas
with franchise modes
across all sports
and it’s a problem
with
MLB
11: The Show.
It’s a great mode
sure, but it’s
fairly standard and
run of the mill. The
same goes for the
one-player
development Road to
the Show mode. It’s
a decent mode, but I
don’t think it’s
worth the time to
put in to complete
the mode when the
gameplay you can
play with a
franchise game or
against a friend on
the same console
will be so
worthwhile.
MLB
11: The Show
is impressive. It’s
a fantastic baseball
game that has
quality gameplay.
The game modes
aren’t amazing but
it’s a small quip
compared to the
fantastic gameplay.
This is a title to
pick up for any
baseball fan with a
PS3 and one that
they’ll play
throughout 2011.
|