The big ticket item this year is the introduction of "pure analog" controls. Similar to the 2K Sports baseball franchise, the new control scheme is meant to imitate the actions of the on-screen athletes through movement of the analog sticks rather than the basic button press system of old.
Analog pitching has the player selecting a pitch and a location. Then, instead of the meter-based system from previous games, you pull down on the right analog stick until reaching the yellow bar that represents a perfect release point. Once you reach the bar, you push up in the direction you want the ball to go to.
As a result, you have a far greater impact on the success (or failure) of the pitch, which was previously decided based on the rating of the pitcher.
Analog hitting is similar to pitching in that you pull the right stick down, then up again. The big difference with hitting however, is that you have to time when you start to pull back carefully. If you pull the stick back and hold it there for a few seconds before pushing forward, the contact you make will be far weaker than if you do it in one smooth motion. This means you have to watch the pitcher's delivery and decide when the time to start your swing is right.
Compared to pressing the X button to swing, analog hitting is far more tactile, and there is a greater sense of gratification when you square a ball up on the barrel and hear the beefy thud of the bat, as opposed to the puny click that resonates when you make contact on the handle of the bat.
The weakest of the three is analog fielding. When a fielder catches the ball, you push the right stick in the direction of the corresponding base. The more accurate your motion is, the more accurate the fielder's throw will be. If you hold the stick down longer, the throw will be harder. The problem is that the fielder will make an errant throw far too often, even if you make a perfect motion with the stick. This makes the system feel unreliable and too often you'll be hoping the fielder makes a decent throw regardless of how well you completed the motion.
The Show features all the basic modes such as exhibition, season, and franchise, as well as their trademark mode Road to the Show, where you create your own prospect and guide them to the bigs. In this mode, you play exclusively as your athlete from their perspective. The big improvement to Road to the Show this year is that you are constantly being rewarded for your actions the field, as opposed to previous iterations which only rewarded you for completing appointed goals.
MLB 11 The Show's biggest issue is the computer opponent's intelligence. The computer refuses to swing at anything outside of the strike zone, regardless of how well you throw a pitch. Too often I've had the computer in an 0-2 count and it refused to chase perfectly executed curveballs and sliders that a real major leaguer would have. This adds a level of frustration where you should have been rewarded for working ahead in the count and using your pitcher's out-pitch, only to have the computer act as if it knows what's coming. Another oddity is that some of the real life player models have heads that don't match the proportions of their bodies. For a baseball simulator, seeing a major leaguer who looks like they've had their head shrunk by a witch doctor can take you out of the experience quickly.
MLB 11 The Show looks great. The constant improvements to the lighting and stadiums draw you into the experience, and the majority of the player animations are smooth. The game requires a large install when you first start it up, however, and even then, load times are exceptionally long. One last small gripe is that The Show's soundtrack has to be one of the worst in any game, but you can easily turn it off so no harm done.
MLB 11 The Show manages to replenish a stagnant franchise with a solid new control scheme to compliment the game's stellar looks and large list of modes. If you've been out of the game for a while or are new to The Show, now's the time to grab a bat and take a few cuts.
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