The baseball season started in the USA on March 20th and there are fans of the sport in this country too. As a “non-fan”, I also wanted to take the test and try something different. I played the last MLB The Show on the PlayStation 3 and was already impressed back then. MLB The Show is developed by San Diego Studios, part of Sony.
Anyone who knows the predecessors will not find any fundamental changes in mechanics etc., but mainly improvements that further round off the game. But what is it like now? Is it worth buying for someone who knows nothing or very little about baseball?
The game is something for everyone because it can be flexibly adapted to your own taste. It offers different play styles (casual, simulation, competitive) and different control methods for throwing, hitting, running or catching. You can get in surprisingly quickly, but you should familiarize yourself with the baseball rules beforehand. Without it, the whole thing logically makes little sense. However, anyone who doesn’t speak English will have a problem because, as is typical for baseball, the entire game takes place in the language. There are no German subtitles or a soundtrack.
When playing, I have so far concentrated on the career mode, where you can take on the “Road to the Show” as either a man or a woman. You can of course customize the player to your own taste or add your scanned face. The position can be selected, I wanted to be a batter.
Of course you don’t do the same thing all the time. As a batter you hit the ball and logically have to make the journey from one base to another. Ideally, you just hit a home run and comfortably run the whole way through. If you have the right timing, you can do this relatively quickly in the simplest mode. I also work as a center fielder, which means that when the opponent hits, you are the one who stands centrally in the field and has to ensure that the ball is caught and transported to the base relatively quickly.
Now you start in the MLB Combine – a talent screening – where you make your first attempts and are scouted. Depending on how good you are, you will be included in a team’s draft. During the entire story you are accompanied by an excellent atmosphere and in between there are also clips from the MLB Network. This is a TV channel that brings you more or less news-style information about what’s happening. In between you also have to deal with your agent and can come across as either modest or arrogant. We already know this from titles like NHL 24 and Co. The principle is, to a certain extent, the same.
Then you have to work your way up through a junior league to the major league. Here you can also simulate and you don’t have to play everything. In between, you can also improve the skills of your alter ego using various training exercises. There is always interaction with your agent or the manager. Here too, a lot of well-known things from NHL etc. are brought up. The entire story alternates between the same parts and repetition quickly sets in. Still, I like the story a lot.
In addition to “The Road to the Show,” there are also online modes. Diamond Dynasty is, in a sense, a ranked trading card game reminiscent of Ultimate Team. If you prefer to act as a manager, you can put your skills to the test in franchise mode. Squad management, transfers, contracts, determining coaching staff and more give a lot of room for variety. There is also a normal season mode or storyline mode, in which you can relive various moments of sport, be it the story of Derek Jeter (legend of the New York Yankees) or the history of baseball.
All in all, I’m very impressed with the game so far and am enjoying it more than I originally expected. It offers a lot of flexibility and is rounded off by good graphics and an even better atmosphere. Occasionally there is repetition, but that’s just a problem with sports games.
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2024-04-07 10:40:41
#MLB #Show #played
