New this year to the game is online and offline co-op - which oddly - is only available in exhibition games. The way it works is that before a game players can choose how to divide up duties. My partner and I alternated innings for pitching and then took turns batting every other player. You can also lock players to the infield or outfield if you want to help with defensive responsibility. If you manage to get on base, trust me - its not as easy as it sounds early on - you’ll be in control of the base runner if you were the player that actually made it to the base.
I think Sony San Diego made the best of this mode they could - I never really felt bored playing co-op despite not always “doing” something. Baseball is really about one specific area of the field at a time, its not as involved as say NHL hockey where player positioning for passes is key, so this makes The Show a lot more chill in co-op. I did have a problem trying to play with random folks online, most seemed to not understand that co-op means on the same team, despite there being a specific match making play list for the two player mode. Of course, the game itself seems to mix up “co-op” for online team play by allowing 2vs1 or 2vs2 in the mode as well.
I do commend a lot of little touches though thrown into the co-op mode. For instance, while my partner preferred to pitch from the batters perspective, I chose to pitch from behind the mound. The game remembered this and automatically altered the camera angle when it was our turn to take the mound.
On top of everything there’s PlayStation Move support in the game’s homerun derby mode as well as 3D support. While I couldn’t try the latter, Home Run Derby is pretty much like you’d expect with the Move if you’ve played Wii Sports. As someone who isn’t a huge baseball fan, I can still appreciate the appeal of MLB: 11 The Show. While the co-op works well, Sony chose to leave it out of the one area I could see people using it the most in - franchise. Its not a deal breaker, but it is a bummer, especially in an otherwise solid package.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Players can set up the game to take turns batting and base running on offense as well as choose positions on defense to control and swap between.This mode is only available exhibition games and NOT for franchises.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.