MLB 10: The Show (PS3) Review

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 03.19.2010

Take me out to the ballgame



Title: MLB 10: The Show
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Sony San Diego
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-2
Rated: E for Everyone


I started playing baseball videogames back in the nineties on my PlayStation, the game of choice the Triple Play franchise by EA Sports. When Triple Play was replaced in 2003 by EA Sports new title MVP Baseball, I was not as happy. There was something I didn’t like about the mechanics of the game. I moved on to the 2K Sports series and found myself sitting for hours on end playing in franchise mode, from the minor league games all the way up. It became an addiction, finding minor league players I liked and making sure I played them enough to move them into my starting lineups. One day, to my shock, I found I enjoyed the long term playability of baseball games over my first love: football.

When I play a baseball game, I am very picky concerning what it has to contain. First, I want to be able to play the game and be good at it. I hate games where I win too easily but get frustrated and will put a game down if it is too hard. I decided last year to give MLB: The Show a try and I played it for a short time before putting it on the shelf, never to pick up again. I just couldn’t hit to save my life and if I can’t score any runs, I can’t win any games. If I can’t win any games, I don’t want to waste my time with it.

MLB 10: The Show is just as hard to get hits as its predecessor but I realize the problem might be with me and not the game. After a lifetime of playing football games and shooting for the big play every time out, I have to get used to the fact baseball games are not about having a homerun derby every game but actually developing the talent to read pitches and hold out until the right one flies over the plate.



Straight out of the box, I immediately played a Quick game. I decided I would skip the Rookie setting and go straight to Veteran mode. I decided to play as the New York Yankees, a team I hate, but begrudgingly realize gave me the best chance to win. I also decided to play a Double-A team since that gave me the best chance to get comfortable with the controls against a team with no chance of beating me. On Quick Mode, you can’t choose a pitcher or make lineup changes, going with what the game is already set at.

I have always been a fan of pitching over batting and that doesn’t change here. The pitching uses the meter where you hit the X button to start your windup and hit it again when you get to reach your desired spot in the power meter. Then you have to hit your sweet zone to throw a perfect pitch. I have problems with this sweet zone because I have hit the spot perfectly and my pitcher will still throw an errant pitch. This should never happen. The entire purpose of these controls is for the player to be responsible for throwing the pitch right or poorly and, if you throw it perfectly, it should never bounce in the dirt.

That didn’t hurt my debut performance because I struck out almost a dozen batters and it wasn’t until I went to the bullpen that I faced problems. This didn’t surprise me because I have always prided myself on being a good pitcher in baseball games. I was also excited because this game has a new feature where relief pitchers can take warm-up throws, allowing you to get used to how their pitches break as well as the top speeds you are working with. You don’t have to throw these warm-ups but it comes in handy if you are unfamiliar with the reliever you subbed in.

What killed me was the batting. I have little patience and swing at almost anything. The game has a brilliant AI and if you are like me, and swing at a ball aimed at your head, the computer will throw all kinds of junk at you. The Rookie level is set to have you swing at the pitches, learn to read them and figure out the timing of the swing. If you have not played this franchise, I recommend taking the time in Rookie to learn this important aspect of the game. On harder levels, you have to aim your bat and time your swing, so it is nice to get used to the timing before you start aiming for the locations. My Quick Game went into extra innings and I lost 2-1 while striking out 27 times.

It should be noted here that while I was playing on Veteran mode, there are also harder levels including: All-Star Mode, Hall of Fame Mode and Legend Mode. I will admit I have a long way to go when it comes to the hitting aspect of this game.



Now, I understand I need to practice and that’s alright because there are a lot of great things about the game to keep me interested in the meantime. There is one area that made me want to chunk my controller at the TV. The announcing team is a three man booth including Matt Vasgersian, Dave Campbell, and Rex Hudler. While some games can be made even more fun with a smartass announcer telling you how bad you suck (see: Tiger Woods), Hudler makes me want to turn off the announcers completely. If he tells me one more time that I swing the bat like a caveman swinging a club, I’m going to punt a baby.

But the toughness of the play and the annoyance of the announcers are leveled out by some extraordinary features. MLB 10: The Show has so many features, you might still be playing it when next year’s version is released. The game is as stacked as a porn star in Tiger Woods’ little black book. Unlike the Quick Play, you can also play an exhibition game which allows you to name your starting pitchers and rearrange your batting lineup. There is also a Season Mode but these are all basic features you find in any game. What makes The Show special is its deep franchise mode and famed “The Road to the Show.”

The franchise is what has always been most important to me. For one, I want it to be deep and include Single-A, Double A and Triple A, this game includes all three minor league divisions. You can play all the teams and work to move the players into your MLB lineup when the time is right. It is a dream game for people who love to sim the entire franchise, while still playing all the games you want. The minor league ballparks are not team specific but there are enough variations to keep it fresh. There are also some nice touches, like the Roster Handbook, which allows you to know when it is time to scout for the draft, offer arbitration and look for free agents. This is a deep franchise mode and is as time consuming as any I have played.

There is one major downfall to the Franchise play. The mode, which almost works better as a sim than as a mode to actually play baseball, has a horrible knack for allowing trades that are ridiculous in real life. When you sim a game, you want it as realistic as possible and when a wire notice comes through that Derek Jeter was claimed off waivers by a random team, you are taken completely out of the moment of the game. The Yankees aren’t going to let Jeter hit the waiver wire and this is something that should never happen. The second most important aspect of a sim is the realistic stats and this game has been hit or miss. Derek Jeter entered July with a batting average below .250 but Alex Rodriguez had 10 home runs. Finally, the injury bug seems to strike more often than I have seen in other games, dealing with at least two or three injuries every week.



The main event of this game is “Road to the Show.” Like I said, I am more of a pitching fan in games than a hitter and when you start the show, you decide which position your player will play. You design the look of your player down to the last detail and the computer will even know how to pronounce most common names so you will have your player announced to by name when he comes in. You then decide if he will be a pitcher, where you choose what pitches you want to use, a batter or, for the first time, a working catcher. I prefer to play as the pitcher and flew through the first month in just over an hour since you only play when you are in the lineup.

The new catcher mode is a Godsend for players who like to play the role of batters. Just as in the past, you will sit there forever, bored to tears, when your player only takes three at bats a game and spends the rest of the game standing in the field waiting for a ball to be hit your way. As the catcher, you call the game. You wait behind the plate, tell your pitcher what pitch you think he should throw, where it should end up and then see if he accepts or shakes you off. This means, while you still only get to bat three or four times a game, you are in there doing something the rest of the time other than waiting for the screen to load.

Just as in the past, you start off at a minor league level and work your way up. You have goals to accomplish and you do not want to ignore this part. If you fail to meet goals, such as working on your fielding, you will not get called up very soon. I found that out the hard way that by building my pitching attributes as I played and ignoring the goals the team set for me. There are also nice little touches, such as being able to add in your own music and even adding in crowd taunts and if you have a USB microphone. The “Road to the Show” is, by far, my favorite mode of the game to play and I have invested more time into this than any other section of the game to date. It is a very cool part of the game if you are into the sim aspects more than the game play itself.



There are a few fun games to play including Home Run Derby, a rival’s mode, a chance for up to 30 people to play in both the season and franchise modes, and the opportunity to play an entire season online. I wouldn’t recommend the online mode right now because there are a few glitches including some pretty bad lags on occasion. The pitching mode pauses sometimes, making you screw up your timing. You miss a lot of catches in the field and sometimes a hiccup will cause you to miss an entire shot, screwing up the play. The lags are so bad the game will often be cancelled because of complete frustration.

The rest of the game comes down to the aesthetics. The player models are amazing. Many of them look just like their counterparts and I have only found a few instances where something is off (Josh Hamilton’s tattoos are missing as far as I can tell). The appearance of the stadiums is beautiful and everything detailed immaculately. Sometimes I get distracted when pitching when I notice a woman making her way down a row to her seat or a kid throwing a beach ball in the upper deck. This game’s graphics are breathtaking.

As well as adding music and cheers, you can also create a highlight reel of your player’s best moments, choose to play the game in “real time” and even take part in all the aspects of All Star Weekend (Future’s Game, Home Run Derby and The All Star Game) in Franchise, Season and Road to the Show modes. It is easy to spot problems with this game (glitches online, the announcing) because everything else is virtually perfect. This is a baseball lover’s dream game and is deep enough to keep you playing for a very long time.




Pros

The batting is difficult enough to make baseball purists happy to not have another home run derby game.

The Road to the Show is incredibly addictive and the catcher mode gives hitters more to do than previous versions.

The graphics are the best I have seen.

The Franchise is incredibly deep and holds enough to keep sim lovers occupied.

Home Run Derby has finally come to The Show.

Cons

The Pitching has minor glitches causing even the most perfectly thrown pitch to fly errant.

The announcing is horrendous. Between overly repetitive catch phrases and insults, you want to turn off the game.

The batting interface might be a little too hard for casual gamers to get used to.

Playing a full game takes too long

Online play is horrible

Graphics	10.0	The graphics are amazing. This is the best looking baseball game I have seen.
Gameplay	8.0	The game play is pretty solid, although I do have small complaints here and there (erratic pitching, difficult batting) but it is still a really good game.
Sound	8.0	There are serious problems with the announcers in this game. The game is hard enough and the insults they throw out made me want to turn it off.
Lasting Appeal	10.0	This game is stacked. Between the Franchise mode and the Road to the Show, there is enough here to keep you occupied until next year’s version is released.
Fun Factor	9.0	There is something in this game for everyone and only people who hate baseball will find nothing in this game to like. They need to fix the online mode, though.
Overall	9.5   [  Amazing ]

Screenshots
All 9 MLB 10 The Show Screenshots