MLB 15 The Show: Presentation Impressions

Feature Article

Submitted on: 04/06/2015 by Chris Sanner

What once was a strong point of the MLB The Show franchise, the presentation has been a middling aspect of the game which has gone dormant in recent years.

Surprisingly, the lack of innovation charge many will throw at SCEA — no matter how false that really is — could easily be countered with huge advancements in the presentation aspect of the game.

This season, the presentation is getting a couple of new tricks with added lines of commentary as well as a new radio show in the franchise mode.

In-Game Presentation

The general tone of The Show is spot-on, and in all honestly we are probably either a new commentary team and/or complete revamp of the commentary away from a near total experience in-game.

Matt Vasgersian, Eric Karros and Steve Lyons are all back in the booth, and while they have some new lines, I don’t suspect anyone will be convinced the commentary has gotten the work it truly deserves. The commentary in The Show really does need to have a big leap forward, and it’s possible that is going to have to come with a different team in the booth for this aspect of the game to truly shine in the future.

The crowds and sounds in the stadium all seem pretty solid, although crowd swells are a tad underwhelming once in a while. It’s also strange to hear crowd noise from what sounds like a half-empty stadium when the stadiums are full. Regardless, what you get is pretty solid in this department, as I have to resort to nit-picking to find fault with the in-game presentation.

The Radio Show

After hearing a couple dozen versions of The Radio Show, I can say that it is definitely a much better alternative than simply listening to the same songs in the mode menus over and over.

The audio splicing together is really solid and well done, with only a couple of instances where it becomes obvious. The concept plays well together, sounding like a top of the hour update from your local sports talk radio station talking about your fictional The Show universe.

Overall, well done by Sony on the Radio Show. For a more complete take on the Radio Show, check out Glenn Wigmore's thoughts on it here.

Graphics, Lighting, Etc.

The Show remains a pretty game.

The lighting has taken a noticeable step forward, and combined with more realistic skies can create some truly breathtaking and honestly, quite realistic looks of the stadiums in The Show.

The dynamic lighting, accounting for the different modes of cloud cover and different times of the year is one of the prettiest things in sports gaming today. I may be biased, as I find baseball stadiums to be amazing works of art — but The Show offers a lot of cool little touches to each ballpark.

I really do wish there was a way to simply take 3D tours through these things with explanations of all of the little touches and details in each ballpark.

Bottom Line

Overall, the Presentation is truly in good shape. While the commentary improvements aren’t what many were hoping for, I can’t say its bad even still. The radio show and graphical improvements both are excellent additions, as The Show’s presentation continues to simply improve. You may tire of the commentary eventually, but the rest of the package is so good, it’s hard not to give this aspect of the game a thumbs up.

MLB 15 The Show Videos

Member Comments

# 1 jcar0725 @ 04/06/15 11:14 AM

Played a September game in Cleveland last night, and for about a one inning stretch the sky was party cloudy, dark, with a very noticeable shade of RED. It was eye popping and gorgeous. I found myself staring at it. Very cool.

# 2 Buddywalker @ 04/06/15 12:35 PM

I'm missing the automatic highlight videos (replay package with different camera angles) after the game.

All developers should take a look at Fifa 15. When you pause a game in Fifa 15 and do nothing in the menu, they show us after a few seconds the highlights of the game from different camera angles.

In my opinion Fifa 15 has the best replay system in sports game history.

# 3 RoyceDa59 @ 04/06/15 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddywalker


	I'm missing the automatic highlight videos (replay package with different camera angles) after the game. All developers should take a look at Fifa 15. When you pause a game in Fifa 15 and do nothing in the menu, they show us after a few seconds the highlights of the game from different camera angles. In my opinion Fifa 15 has the best replay system in sports game history.

I can agree with this FIFA and their camera angles and replays are really brilliant and immerse you into the game.

# 4 RangersCruz @ 04/06/15 12:57 PM

i miss the old newspaper after every game but radio show is nice

the commentary is the only thing that i dislike in the show series and since they haven't touched on it in like 6 yrs and it takes money & time ..and they're the only baseball game we have i doubt we will see any new team for the commentators they might just add another 5 lines for mlb 16

but apart from the commentary issue the game is the best one yet

# 5 My993C2 @ 04/06/15 01:01 PM

I did kind of a marathon session yesterday playing a whole slew of Opening Day CPU vs CPU games on full presentation Broadcast mode. Now I did not watch every inning of every game, but I had all these games going this because I wanted to see as many Big League stadiums as I could on Opening Day where the presentation was one of the main focuses. Ignoring three things where I believe the current build of MLB 15 comes up short this year (the fact that they removed pick off attempts at 1^st base, they removed the “Runner” HUD windows in CPU vs CPU games as well as in MoM games and they removed most foul ball animations into the crowd). Ignoring this issues, I was thoroughly impressed with the overall presentations in MLB 15 The Show. The Big League stadiums in the game are great, the new lightning graphics enhancements, the new player animations, the new player API and ball physics really bring this game to life. I still have not seen any extra ordinary player emotions in the games but I have seen a couple of walk off game winning home runs and for sure they have been tweaked for the better this year. Now if only SCEA would fix the lack of pitcher pick off issues to 1^st base that plaque the game this year, bring back the “Runners” HUD window (I thought there was a reason why this HUD window could be turned on and off in a config screen) and perhaps show some of the foul balls when in full Broadcast presentation mode I could give the game three thumbs up.

PS: for most of this year I see myself skipping the new Radio Show feature. But I am looking forward to listening to it either late this evening when all my Opening Day games are completed or before I begin the Tuesday games tomorrow, because I execute the Braves and Padres blockbuster trade last night when word got out of the trade. Then during my Dodgers/Padres CPU vs CPU game, Kimbrel was called into a tight 2-1 game and got the save. Curious to hear what the Radio Show has to say about all of this. I’ll be impressed if they mention not only the trade (I am expecting the Radio Show will mention it), but also the fact that Kimbrel got the save for his new team. Now that would be impressive if that is mentioned in the show.

# 6 Zinger @ 04/06/15 01:03 PM

The crowd reactions are quite good but don't vary enough with regard to the state of the game. I was 11-1 up as the away team in the 9th and the home crowd still roared their disapproval when my pitcher got a close call. A large measure of apathy should have set in by that point.

# 7 badmrfrosty7 @ 04/06/15 01:38 PM

We're nit-picky with all elements of this game, I don't understand why presentation always gets a pass.

I think that since the commentary overhaul is such a low/out-of-reach priority, to get it to a point where it's fluid in the sense that the 3-man team sounds like it's in the same booth, I think they could at least provide some different elements that may not be as difficult to implement.

I always felt this could be done through "recaps" or "storylines"-style packages that could cover certain plays, players, etc whether specific to that game or better yet, apply to the ongoing season. But just doing it for games would be a big jump to make each of those experiences feel unique for the player.

I'm a ho for Broadcast presentation so I might be in the minority here, but adding these elements and more analytical breakdowns of at-bats or batting/pitching strategies or replays of certain pitch successes or anything else don't require everyone in the booth, or a complete re-tooling of the play-by-play system but at the same time glorify all the detail put in to the animations and lighting and graphics in general as well as familiarize casual players to the great game of baseball. People already really seem to enjoy the split-screen replays, throw the kitchen sink at that stuff. Give us split-screen of the fielder and the ball coming out of the pitchers hand or split-screen the batter and the fielder as he runs out a great throw.

I keep holding out hope that these things will get further explored in the series, especially as they lay out the groundwork for a new console, but sometimes I worry it's just permanently last on the list when it comes to the yearly improvements.

# 8 zello144 @ 04/06/15 03:20 PM

I think they should take a look at what 2k did with their presentation the gameplay was horrible but the presentation was always solid.

I want to get excited when I start up a game I want to know some storylines, predictions, analysis, news around the league stuff like that.

A new commentary team would be welcome the current team is getting pretty old and we need some new voices in the booth. Maybe have two commentary teams that would switch around one day you get Matty V and Steve the next game you get another team calling the game.

# 9 JKSportsGamer1984 @ 04/06/15 03:40 PM

Frame rate still needs to be ironed out during cutscenes though. While it's definitely improved from last year, it still drops occasionally & it really stands out when it does. Hopefully it can be touched up in a patch. Also, I really wish they would've kept the post game highlight reel. I always looked forward to watching it at the end of games & it's a bummer they removed it.

# 10 RangersCruz @ 04/06/15 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zello144


	I think they should take a look at what 2k did with their presentation the gameplay was horrible but the presentation was always solid. I want to get excited when I start up a game I want to know some storylines, predictions, analysis, news around the league stuff like that. A new commentary team would be welcome the current team is getting pretty old and we need some new voices in the booth. Maybe have two commentary teams that would switch around one day you get Matty V and Steve the next game you get another team calling the game.

Liked how they talked about everything from the past season upcoming season..talking about the pitchers pitches what he should do ect

# 11 BriManG35 @ 04/06/15 11:59 PM

bring back the after game highlights with different camera angles..

# 12 @marcusjiles @ 04/07/15 12:47 AM

At Petco Park, you can see planes in the far distance behind the buildings on approach to KSAN. As a resident San Deigan... that's incredible detail because every 2 min, you see planes coming in lol. Like, if you ever spend any time downtown, you see planes come in.

# 13 THESHAMISASHAME @ 04/07/15 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKSportsGamer1984


	Frame rate still needs to be ironed out during cutscenes though. While it's definitely improved from last year, it still drops occasionally & it really stands out when it does. Hopefully it can be touched up in a patch. Also, I really wish they would've kept the post game highlight reel. I always looked forward to watching it at the end of games & it's a bummer they removed it.

First the game is beautiful and the lighting is near perfect but from there on many parts of the game are getting stale after all these years .

Sadly I now play with the volume off most off the time and listen to baseball podcasts when I play and I also find I play better when its off ? almost distracts me into a slumber and I then lack concentration .

I didnt notice it before but now that I tweaked my sliders a tad Im also having framrate issues from when the ball is fielded and then throw almost like clipping which really wrecks the atmosphere .

Rain was also a issue for me as I couldnt see it but I think it stops and starts during the games and you can only see it ground level when its pouring .

Since gameplay is solid and only tweaked every year to keep things unbalanced from last years game SCEA really needs to keep this game fresh by updated display screens , camera angles , tons of new animations and a whole new announcing team !
I mean listen to any announcing team and go from there or hire four voice actors announcing teams for four different region styles like North , south , east and west dialects .

The announcing never really bothered me that much as its spot on calls but since we lost SOTS the announcing really stands out poorly for me and its not even dialog as thats fine its how its done yuk and really makes me disconnect when I play .

Just so were clear they could make this team calling the game spot on and add one million lines and I still wouldnt listen to it as its a deliver thing and it sounds disconnected like their not even in the same booth reading a script.

UPDATE: For those having Framerate issues on my PS4 under settings I changed my Resolution settings from Auto to 1080p and no more issues !

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