Sony’s San Diego Studio hit the ball out of the park with this year’s iteration of their Major League Baseball game.

Whilst baseball may lack the continuous on-pitch action of football (soccer), it’s a darn sight more accessible than NFL. That being said, despite playing The Show over the past few years, I never really got into it. Not like I do with Madden NFL.

This year, however, MLB The Show 20 seems to have really stepped up to the plate. The visuals and presentation are as good, if not better that the polished effort the EA puts in to its sports titles. Matching the experience that you’d get from watching a game at home is, for me, what makes a modern sports title. Of course, gameplay is paramount, but it’s the ambience, the atmosphere that, just like in real life, draws you into a sporting event.

Whilst the gameplay was there in the past, now the graphics match the game’s technical prowess. The game’s lighting does seem to have been tweaked giving the game an almost photoreal TV-style look.

Both the major league players and, a first for this year, the minor league players, as well, are included in the game. By and large, player likenesses are improved from previous years, and included for the first time in the case of the minor league players.

At the start of the game, MLB The Show 20 gives players the opportunity to select the presentation style, from quick to the full MLB TV-style. There’s also controls for batting and pitching to be selected. Players get to try out each control method before selecting. My preference is always for analogue controls, as whilst it does take some getting used to, there’s more finesse and its closer to the skills required in real life.

On the mound, pitchers need to select their pitch type and aim. The accuracy is via a swing timer, similar to those sometimes used in golf games. With analogue controls, the right stick needs to be pulled towards the player and pushed forwards, as straight as possible.

Batters need to time their hits and the direction, with the analogue controls, in which they flick the right stick away from them. More powerful shots can be made by pulling the stick towards you before swinging away. Baseball may be a relatively sedentary game compared to soccer, but The Show delivers that same rush as at the Madden games. A good hit that sends the ball flying really makes the game.

The Show is a complex game that seeks to incorporate all aspects of baseball into its gameplay. At the same time, though, it is an easy game to pick up and play. Gameplay is not limited just to pitching and batting. Whilst batters will automatically run between bases, players still have the control to push them if required. Similarly, on the field, players control the team catching and throwing the ball to bases. Throws can be pre-loaded to quickly pass the ball.

The Show 20 features a massive amount of modes befitting such a prestigious sports title. Players can jump into a game with Play Now, enjoy running a team in Franchise Mode and taking a player from the minors to the Major League in Road to The Show.

Diamond Dynasty offers players the MLB version of the popular sports sim collectable card game mode. Players can make up their dream line-up via earning, buy, selling and trading Topps baseball cards. March to October allows players to enjoy playing their teams key games of the season, allowing them to support their team even if they don’t have the time to play the full 2020 season.

With 2020’s Major League Baseball suspended for at least another month, MLB The Show 20 is the only way to experience the 2020 MLB season at the moment. With incredible TV-style visuals, as well as exciting and accessible gameplay, The Show 20 provides a good substitute whilst we wait for the real thing.

The post MLB The Show 20 (PlayStation 4) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

MLB the Show has been a staple franchise for Sony since first debuting in 2006. The series has achieved much praise over the years from critics and fans alike. With the MLB season starting back up, Sony has released their latest entry into the series with MLB The Show 18.

Full disclosure, I don’t follow baseball and I have never played a MLB video game before. In that way, I expect most gamers outside of the baseball heartland of North America and Japan would be very much in the same boat as me. It is at the end of the day a sports game though and having played countless sports games over the years, I was keen to jump in and see what all the hype is all about.

The basic structure of MLB The Show 18 is very similar to most sports games in terms of gameplay modes. In Road to the Show you play as a player building your way up from zero to major league star. Franchise allows you to take the role of General Manager of a team. It also has its microtransaction charged card collecting mode called Diamond Dynasty.

The progression system in Road to the Show is very well done. Your attributes increase naturally as you perform well in certain areas which makes progression feel organic. In addition to this organic growth, you are given a choice of training sessions which focus on increasing particular attributes. These two systems achieve a great balance of allowing for customisation but also allowing for natural progression of your character.

While there isn’t a story per-se like some sporting franchises have taken to over the last few years, there is a narrative built around your characters progression which takes place through various cutscenes. These cutscenes feel impersonal and just don’t integrate well into the experience. The cutscenes feature dialogue choices which generally feel meaningless to the point where it doesn’t even impact the immediate response you receive.

The Franchise mode offers a very streamlined experience thanks to a great user interface. Managing the various aspects of your team is simple yet still offers a lot of depth. There is an option to toggle between manual and auto manage for the various managerial responsibilities you have which means you don’t have to get bogged down in any task you find too cumbersome.

Whether you are playing as an individual player in Road to the Show or as the whole team in Franchise, the game proves to be a lot fun. While this is partly due to baseball being a game suited to play as either, credit has to go to the developers as well for building a solid experience around both options.

As a newcomer to the series, the control scheme can take a little while to master. Thankfully the game features one of the most comprehensive varieties in control schemes I have come across which feature various levels of automation to cater to all types of players. If you are new to the franchise, you will need to spend some time at the start trialing out the different control schemes to find one to suit you.

Even with all these different options, I still found batting very difficult initially. Batting relies on a mixture of timing and predicting where the pitch will end up. While undoubtedly this is difficult in real life, I found this particularly difficult to judge on a 2D screen. Even after many hours with the game, I still found myself wildly inconsistent.

Manually fielding is awkward which can lead to some infuriating situations. Getting fielders moving in the right direction straight away and quickly being able to transition from picking up the ball to throwing it to the right person can be very difficult. In the end, I found myself enjoying the game much more when I set fielding to automatic.

For me, pitching by far is the easiest and most enjoyable part of the game. This is where the game relies heavily on player choice and strategy. There is a weird timing mini-game where you can adjust your speed and accuracy which takes a while to get used to however this can be switched off if you aren’t enjoying it.

The commentary in the game feels very organic. The lines of dialogue feel very relevant and customised to what is happening. This is partly due to a heavy reliance on talking about statistics of individual players that game and commentary around pitching on the previous play. The commentators also deliver their lines exceptionally well.

Graphically, the game looks fantastic thanks to a high level of detail in everything from the individual players and the environment. Animations are also very well done, particularly when it comes to different player stances.

Overall, MLB The Show 18 offers a great experience to baseball fans. The control system, particularly for batting, can take a while to master however once you get the hang of things, there is a lot of fun to be had in the various game modes.

The post MLB The Show 18 (PlayStation 4) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Now, I’m not much of a sports fan, but I’m very partial to sports games. I learnt the rules of American Football so that I could get my head around Madden NFL 15. So when I was asked to take a look at Sony’s Baseball game MLB 15: The Show on the PlayStation Vita, I couldn’t resist it.

As you are no doubt aware, Baseball is a game of two aspects: batting and pitching. Unlike most other sports games, it lacks that continuously switching dynamic from attack to defence, instead, one side throws the ball and the other hits it. And, to be honest, this more structured and sedate gameplay does rather lend itself to mobile gaming.

SCE San Diego Studio have managed to pack a fully featured Baseball sports sim into the tiny Vita. All the modes that you’d expect in its full-sized console counterpart are included. First there’s your one-off Exhibition The Show Live, where you can either pick your own game or one for a number of the real-life MLB season fixtures.

The Franchise mode gets you in control a team for the season, whereas Home Run Derby allows you to compete in the popular Baseball playoff competition. There’s also Postseason games, Practice and the individual player-focused mode, Road to the Show. There’s plenty here for everyone.

The game’s batting and pitching mechanic seems very good; I say that as someone that doesn’t follow Baseball at all. It’s all about adjusting the trajectory of the hit and the aim of the pitch via a box in front of the batter. No matter if you are batting or pitching, the camera remains behind the plate.

To pitch you select your throw, adjust your aim and pitch using an accuracy meter similar to those in golf games; the closer to the mark on the meter, the better the pitch. As the batter, you aim your bat with the right stick and carefully time your swing with the X button to hit with speed or the square button for contact.

When pitching, a long hit puts you in control of the closest fielder to the struck ball so that you can attempt to catch the batter out or pick up and throw the ball to a base to stop a runner. The game gives you a real sense of achievement with that perfect hit and home run, or catching out a batter.

The gameplay is remarkably accessible, allowing players to learn the ropes on the rookie difficulty before delving in a bit deeper as the game opens up. That’s exactly what you need in a sports game that you may not be very familiar with.

The game looks absolutely smashing on the Vita’s little screen, with no visible graphical compromise. All the player animations and the game’s overall presentation is exactly as you’d expect on one of the bigger consoles. With a cracking soundtrack and some decent commentary, again, the Vita version holds its own, giving players an audio feast.

MLB 15: The Show is a perfect sports game for on the go, and thus a perfect Vita game. Baseball’s game mechanics make it a great for a quick pick up and play. The uncompromising visuals and game modes make this a superb sports sim for when you are out and about. This is a game I can see myself playing for a long time to come.

The post MLB 15: The Show PlayStation Vita Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.