Review
MLB 10: The Show
By Mike Croft - May 15th, 2010
My nephew was staying over for several days and he was interested in taking me on in some console-based baseball; I figured we would just go rent this year’s edition of Electronic Arts MLB game. That should tell you just how long it has been since I have played a non-Madden sports game: EA hasn’t made a MLB game since 2005.
Currently, your 2010 MLB licensed game choices are either: MLB 2K10 from 2K Sports (available on all consoles), or MLB 10: The Show from Sony (available for PS3, PS2, and PSP). A very quick internet search seemed to show that 2K10 was a little stale and The Show was aptly named. So the choice was made to rent MLB 10: The Show for the PS3.
We made a good choice. From the very start the game looks and sounds gorgeous. There are several features that are not specifically game related that immediately sold me on the game: a cool video of all the awesome plays from the MLB 2009 season is shown during the initial load; scores from actual live games scroll along the bottom of the screen and you are able to drill into the box score info for each game as well (an excellent feature for a fantasy baseball junkie like myself); weekly roster updates are also released, including players who have been moved to the disabled list as well as rookies coming up from the minors or players being sent back.
There are a ton of gameplay modes available. For starters there exists the typical, one off exhibition game; or you can ramp it up to a full season with teams (play or sim). Another available option has you playing in manager mode: you make decisions about how the players play (ie: bunt here, steal that base, etc.) and let the computer follow your instructions. There is also the very detailed franchise mode, where player salaries become an issue and you need to manage your minor league teams as well. Season and Franchise modes can be played with default, custom or current rosters; you can even do a full fantasy draft and pick your players from the entire pool of players (against 29 computer control managers). The game also has options for a Home Run Derby, All Star Game and Rivalry Mode (where 2 teams play a fixed number of games against each other). The online component appears to be very engrossing as well. I wish I had the time to start a league, run a fantasy draft and play out the whole season…if you have the time, it is possible.
In my opinion the best mode of play is the one the game is named after. Road To The Show allows you to create a player, get drafted into the minor league system and play out your entire career from the players perspective. You can skip around to only the ‘events’ that involve your player or if you are really tough, you can play through every minute of everything. There are 3 basic aspects for players: Pitcher, Fielder or Catcher (much like fielder but you are essentially involved in every play, and influence which pitches your pitcher throws).
I love the look and feel of base running from the player’s perspective so I first tried to create a speedy, contact hitting outfielder; I soon discovered that I was terrible at both hitting and stealing bases. So I changed my strategy a little; I am currently playing as a pitcher which I find a little easier to grasp. I started out as middle reliever, after a couple of months I got an occasional spot start and have finally made it to the starting rotation of the Double-A team. One day I will make it to the big leagues.
MLB 10: The Show is easily the best Baseball game I have ever played on any platform. It can easily be mistaken as a live baseball game to random passers-by. The control scheme is intuitive, and also very detailed. Nothing that I can see has been missed in the collection of play modes, providing infinite replay. After I returned my rental I ended up buying the game. If you haven’t given a baseball game a try in a while, like me, I recommend you give this one a try.
MLB 10: The Show is currently available in North America.
