MLB 10: The Show

As the winter weather dies down and spring peaks its head around the corner, you can be assured that eight months of 100 mph fastballs and 400 ft walk-offs are on their way. Along with rumors of the latest players mentioned in the Mitchell report comes a new version of Sony's popular MLB: The Show series. Touting an abundance of game modes to play through and features to toy around with, the 2010 release is safely the best entrance to the series so far. But just how much does MLB 10: The Show do to improve upon its predecessor?

There's honestly not a lot of new stuff to do here. All the modes from 09 have made a reappearance, with some subtle changes here and there. Even the gameplay remains virtually untouched. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though. The Show has been running on a solid engine and the modes have been substantial, so MLB 10 is still an excellent game of baseball at its core. It's definitely the smoothest game of baseball around, with hitting, pitching, and fielding all about as good as you could wish. When you step up to the plate, things are kept as simple as they need to be. Pressing a button handles your swing, and rotating the analog stick can change the trajectory when the leather meets the wood. It takes some patience to know when the right time to take a whiff is, but it's extremely realistic.

On the defensive side, pitching feels near perfect. Probably the most enjoyable aspect of the gameplay for me, facing off against a batter and feeling the intimidation either from you on an inexperienced hitter, or what you feel praying this slugger doesn't go yard on you. Selecting your pitch and matching the on screen meter to get the right timing just feels the way you would hope. Fielding is also top notch. Chasing down loose balls, snagging pop-ups, or turning a 6-4-3 double play, there really aren't any flaws. My only complain could be that sometimes fancy animations distract from accomplishing a task, like tossing the ball to the first basemen on time, occasionally.

Road to the Show, the game's defining mode which lets you create and control one player on the mission to take them from AA to the big leagues, returns almost untouched. However, if you aim on playing as a catcher, the fourth installment in this mode may interest you. You now have the option to play each game pitch by pitch, advising your pitcher on what he should throw. Sure it may seem a little boring, and it was to me, but hardcore fans who want to feel like they're suited up behind the mask, calling the shots, will surely get a kick out of it. Building up your attributes to get onto a MLB team's roster is hard work and will eat up a lot of your clock. If you stick with it, RTTS is as addicting as ever, and if you earn enough training points to see yourself become a MLB legend, it feels like a major accomplishment.

Much of what makes MLB The Show such a fun game, and on a higher pedestal than other baseball games, is all the unpretentious details that went into the game. It starts out with the high powered graphics, which can hang with some of the biggest power-houses on the PS3, showcasing terrific detail in player faces, animations, and the way players interact with objects such as the field. Boy do those fields look good, too. The stadiums are represented down to every last feature, and even many of the minor league stadiums are included and they look almost as good as the major league ballparks. I've been to Louisville Slugger Field (home of the AAA Louisville Bats), and the field represented in the game feels very much like what it does in person, which is impressive considering it's something most people won't even end up noticing.

But it goes beyond the visuals. MLB 10: The Show is full of small features that make the game continue to suck you in, even when you aren't out on the field. As in 09, you can use a headset or USB microphone to record cheers or taunts to be shouted out by the crowd when a specific batter walks up to the plate. Even something small like being able to use your own music from the Playstation 3's HDD to make a custom soundtrack for the menus or for a batter walk-up, plays a role in pushing The Show to that next level, since so many games still aren't taking advantage of this capability.

As much as the offline modes (Road to the Show and Franchise) haven't changed, the biggest reason for investing in the new release would be for online functionality. As much as we are involved in multiplayer gaming this generation, it was disappointing when the best baseball game last year was almost unbearable to play online. I'm happy to report that it has been fixed, sort of. There's still lag online, but it isn't hindering the entire game in most cases, like it was in last year's version. If you can get over the bugs, online play will offer a nice alternative to playing against the computer (although the AI is almost like a human), especially if you can find a good online league to join with a few of your buddies.

If you're an avid fan of Major League Baseball, you're no doubt going to enjoy MLB 10: The Show. It just depends on how much you value the game whether or not it's worth full asking price. It's more or less the same game as last year, with small additions like a Home Run Derby, but some people don't mind that. A lot of what keeps MLB 10: The Show from being truly great is only to be blamed on the game of baseball's transition to video games. For many of us, playing 162 games in a season and going through 9 innings per game can become too demanding (since they can't be changed in RTTS and certain online modes). This game has the ability to turn anyone into a baseball fan, but only a big-time baseball fan will get the most out of the game.

Logan Smithson, Noobfeed