MLB 09: The Show (PS3) Preview
Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 02.10.2009
Hands-On: Time to hit one out of the park as I go hands-on with the PSN demo!
It is that time of the year again! Baseball is just around the corner and so is Sony's MLB 09: The Show. I got to play several hours of the demo released this past week on the Playstation Network and here are my thoughts.
The first thing that comes to mind is how awesome the graphics look. I shamelessly admit to not playing any baseball games since I sold my PS2, so seeing The Show on PS3 for the first time made my jaw drop. Not only do the players look realistic, but they animate amazingly well. Things like running the bases and making a catch in the field look almost photorealistic. They also added a lot of cool animations during warm-ups and such, including players talking and patting each other on the back. The crowd can be seen jumping up and down during homers. In other words, it really captures the atmosphere of real baseball.
The gameplay mechanics are very similar to previous versions. You still can guess the pitch and pitch location for an added power boost. You have two types of swings, regular and power. Pitching is done with the same meter that determines speed and location. If you have played any past version you will feel right at home.
The demo allows you to play 4 innings of baseball between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Rosters are updated, which means the Phillies don't have Pat Burrell and instead they have Raul Ibanez. At first I had a few problems getting the timing down and lost 4-0 to the Rays after the four innings. I allowed a 3-run bomb by Evan Longoria in the second inning and failed to score. In my second game I found Ryan Howard's sweet spot and was winning 5-1 when the demo concluded, including 2 HR's by Howard and one by Utley. The only run the Rays produced was a solo shot by Carlos Pena in the very first inning. All the way through the games where exciting and the presentation was fantastic. I think this game has the best announcers I have ever heard as they constantly reminded us of things that happened last season and even talked about the strengths and weaknesses of players.
My only gripe with the demo is that it didn't allow me to try many of the new features, including the ability of creating, editing and saving action replays. They where mentioned in screens that popped up between innings, but there was no way to try them in the demo.
MLB 09: The Show looks like the baseball game to get this season. Stay tuned for more info on the game as the release date approaches.
