Just played through the marketplace demo a couple of times. I have to say I am kind of dissapointed.
-The presentation isnt all that great, the stadium and background graphics are OK but really stand out in contrast next to the awesome player models. The commentary is boring, and the crowd noise doesnt really fit the situations.
-As far as the gameplay goes, it is really complicated. The pitching mechanics seem pretty solid, and it feels like there is plenty of depth there.
-Hitting feels off though. Its hard to control the Batters Eye, really hard to see the pitches coming, and the timing takes awile to get used too. Perhaps with enough practice it'll be a deep rewarding system, but the jury is still out.
-Fielding feels kind of loose, maybe some additional camera angles in the full game will be available to fix it but in the demo the default angle felt too shallow and it makes it hard to get a feel for whats going on on the rest of field.
On the plus side, though it is extremley complicated it looks as though if the player puts in enough time and practice there could be a very deep, and nuanced baseball game in MLB 2k7. The player models and animations (outside of some fielding issues that seem to pop up in every baseball game) are outstanding, and the music is good. The stadium sound effects are put to good use, but the lame broadcast presenation, never really make it feel like the big game its supposed to be (the demo is supposed to be the last 3 innings of the 06 NLCS). Sports games never really get the feel of a big game right, and I was hoping that would change with this supposed Next Gen offering. We'll see what happens with the full version, and I am anxious to read the gamespot review later today.
-The presentation isnt all that great, the stadium and background graphics are OK but really stand out in contrast next to the awesome player models. The commentary is boring, and the crowd noise doesnt really fit the situations.raymond187
I thought the same on the stadium, crowd, etc. Flat, badly rendered, not at all lifelike. But, hmmm, I'll take it. We only notice it more in a baseball game because it's not as frenzied as all the other sports.
-As far as the gameplay goes, it is really complicated. The pitching mechanics seem pretty solid, and it feels like there is plenty of depth there.raymond187
I like the fairly simple pitching and somewhat more complex batting. Sure beats the "move the 'bat cursor' around the strike zone and only if you put it over where the ball is thrown will you get a solid hit" system that baseball vids have had for years.
-Hitting feels off though. Its hard to control the Batters Eye, really hard to see the pitches coming, and the timing takes awile to get used too. Perhaps with enough practice it'll be a deep rewarding system, but the jury is still out.raymond187
I thought the batter's eye was slightly amusing, since you had about 1/2 a second to try to see where he was throwing. That's not particularly good. Bat timing was freaking maddening at times, when a full pull-back and push-forward didn't even make the guy move. Otherwise the Normal/Power Hit/Contact Hit choice of swings was fairly realistic, I thought.
-Fielding feels kind of loose, maybe some additional camera angles in the full game will be available to fix it but in the demo the default angle felt too shallow and it makes it hard to get a feel for whats going on on the rest of field.raymond187
This was the only part I didn't like. No one has ever seen the outfield go into action from a catcher's POV unless they're either A) a catcher or B) sitting behind home. Very unnatural to be running for balls when they appear to be dropping a few feet in front of your fielders because of the perspective.
-Sports games never really get the feel of a big game right, and I was hoping that would change with this supposed Next Gen offering.raymond187
We'll see. FIFA 07 is a nice, fluid sort of game, the kind where technical aspects don't meddle with the flow of the play. I'm hoping MLB 2K7 will have the same sort of ease of play and make it a game of fun rather than a test of technical mastery.
I agree for the most part, but you will really enjoy the swing stick and batting once you get used to it! Comin off of a summer full of 2k6 (don't make fun of me for that... I play baseball and can't get enough of baseball!) I was really good at the swing stick... hit 4 homers in my first run on the demo! lol, I'm used to the harder difficulties!
I have the game and I love it. The swing stick is smoother than lastyear, the graphics are better, camera angles are better, the menu for franchise is better and franchise has some added depth with ticket prices and profit being a focus along with just winning. Overall, MUCH better than lastyear, and really fun.
This game is great! MLB 2K6 was junk! It was alright at first but then all the bugs totally got to me! This game though, MLB 2K7, is AWESOME! I have the game and I can't tell you how fun it is. It's the best game since MVP 05 (which I think is/was the best video game baseball game ever). The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is very good, and the presentation is INSANE!!! They do a lot of cool ingame things that make you really feel like you are watching a baseball game. For example, my bro made a sick catch with Coco Crisp (Bos) and then hit a homer. So the next time he (Coco) came up it went to a cut scene that popped up his face and said third inning, it then went on to show him make the sick catch and hit the homer. It was a really cool touch. This is a great game that any baseball fan will love!
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