Spent about a half hour messing around with the rosters. Finished my first game. Took almost an hour.
Likes:
Pretty much everything. Gameplay is great, graphics and presentation are fantastic.
Dislikes:
Nothing. There were a few glitches here and there (eg: Cutscenes after an out is made and a player throws the ball but you can still see the ball in their hand, during warmups before the game the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher and the ball doesn't go anywhere near the pitchers glove but he still "catches" it)
The game I played was intense. Cards vs Reds. Took me 3 innings to figure out how to hit. I'm still not used to it yet, it'll take several games for me to get used to it. Pitching is fun. Took me about an inning to get used to that. Part I need to work on is pushing the stick up to the left. Have trouble doing that right now.
First inning: Gave up a solo home run to Votto after getting the first two batters to fly out. 1-0 Reds
Third inning: Gave up a single to Janish, Volquez sacrificed him over, Phillips singled and Janish scored from second. 2-0 Reds
Fourth inning: Start of this inning I still have no hits or walks. After Schumaker led off with a pop out I thought for sure I was doomed with these analog controls. Theriot came up next and somehow hit a solo home run. Pujols followed him with another home run for back to back shots. Tied 2-2
Seventh inning: After Holliday and Berkman both struck out, Rasmus homered to right field. Molina singled, Freese singled, but the pinch hitter Craig struck out to end the inning. 3-2 Cardinals
Eighth inning: Again the first two batters, Schumaker and Theriot, made quick outs. Pujols came to the plate and hit his second home run of the game. Holliday singled but Berkman hit a line drive right to Rolen for the last out. 4-2 Cardinals.
Ninth inning: Of course Ryan Franklin had to make things interesting. Rolen grounded out for the first out and all looked well, but Gomes singled to center, Bruce singled to right and Gomes advanced to third. Tying run on first and 1 out, Hernandez struck out and Janish flied out to right. Cards win 4-2.
Pitching wise, Wainwright was 0-10 on throwing a strike with Curve balls. Curveballs are something I'll need to work on.
Hitting wise, all my runs came from home runs. Don't really know how to react to that. Most of the time I'm an idiot and swing at pitches I can clearly see are balls. Like speedy drivers say they have a lead foot, I like to say I have a lead thumb. Trouble stopping my swing.
There are practice modes for hitting and pitching, two modes I'll definitely be using soon.
All for now. Love this game already. Nice soundtrack too.
They had a limited stock to sell early though, 20 copies and they were down to 7 when we bought ours. Some luck on our part I guess.
