MLB 15 The Show Review (PS4)

[jsquigg]

This game doesn't do many things great? Is the reviewer on crack? It's reviews like this that cause games to constantly revamp things and fix what isn't broken. The all new lighting is great. The all around game play is probably the best in next gen sports. They tweaked analog hitting and I get that that ticks people off. The presentation isn't mind blowingly perfect so I guess that could always be better. But to complain about petty stuff is ridiculous. The advantage of The Show is that they had a solid base and so far they haven't overhauled anything, but have consistently built off of that base as well as adding several options. I'll take that any day over games that constantly wipe the slate clean every few years only to change the fundamental way their games play, yet it seems reviewers reward games that go from crap to average more than games that maintain excellence. End rant.

[ty5oke]

Commentary needs to be more dynamic. They seem to only have one-liners for certain players and hardly use the players real names when it comes to describing the action on the field.

Still not very happy with progression/regression in franchise mode. Gameplay is as solid as ever though and keeps me playing the game every year. Hope they add some more immersion aspects to offline franchise, radio show was a nice start. More stat overlays\discussions during a franchise game about the current year or previous years would be nice.

[DukesofHazzard]

They also need to add waaaaay more mlb all time records and team all time records. Also having a top 100 in each of the all time categories like all time homerun leaders would be fantastic. Baseball is americas past time and all time records is a huge part of that.

[Bobhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by tabarnes19

I never understand the phrase "take big risks to move forward. " There isn't a whole lot that I would want to change to enjoy the game. There is a saying that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Changing some of the game engines radically could destroy what we love about the game. I'm hoping that they continue to add refinements and build the game modes to the next levels.

But you can take big risks without changing the game engine, by, for example, reinventing game modes, or trying something completely different as far as presentation goes.

To be clear, I'm not of the opinion that The Show hasn't done this already (Diamond Dynasty anyone? Seems like they took a pretty big risk there)...

But there certainly is a lot of room for "new" without alienating the sport or the fans.

[BenGerman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ronoko

It's surprising to me this game currently stands at 75 at metacritic, but it's still early. I don't see how anyone can play this with all it has to offer and come away thinking it's not at least in the 80s.

It's because most gaming websites don't have writers who understand sports. They frequently rate Madden higher than The Show.

Edit: Also, thanks for the kind words, guys.

[tabarnes19_SDS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bobhead

But you can take big risks without changing the game engine, by, for example, reinventing game modes, or trying something completely different as far as presentation goes. To be clear, I'm not of the opinion that The Show hasn't done this already (Diamond Dynasty anyone? Seems like they took a pretty big risk there)... But there certainly is a lot of room for "new" without alienating the sport or the fans.

I'm not disagreeing with you on expanding game modes. I just do not want to see the game play changed to add gimmicky approaches that please the change for change sake crowd.

I'm hoping for the year where franchise mode gets the resources to make the next big jump. I believe it was 09 that the franchise mode took a huge leap with waiver trades, rule 5, etc. I want the next leap as well. Expand on what's there and add new things and take franchise mode to another level.

[Mad dog 31]

Quote: Originally Posted by ajblithe20

I still laugh when people talk about the commentary being boring and stale. I play countless hours of The Show, NBA 2k, Madden, and NHL every year and it's all the same. All of the commentary in these games gets old rather quickly. I think it's just extremely difficult to get enough lines in and make it dynamic enough to sound like real commentary. To me, the only way commentary in these games can be bad is if the commentators they use sound really irritating. Gus Johnson annoyed me to no end when he was in Madden ("and he's down... AT THE 19!!"). As for other things mentioned... I love the way they make a lot of steady improvements every year. Each year is always a lot better than the last. I'm hoping the next thing they focus on (aside from game modes, which I think are always improving) is improving the player models. Uniforms/body types/faces/animations (which are getting better). They already added in new skin tones so they may start heading in this direction. MLB 15 will definitely be my go to game until the end of summer at the earliest... just a fantastic baseball sim

This is a perfect synopsis of what makes The Show awesome.

[majestic]

Quote: Originally Posted by ajblithe20

Player models are the one thing that still seriously lacks in The Show. Not sure that re-doing them could break any other parts of the game though. It might not even be risky other than using time and resources for that instead of improving something else.

Totally agree on the player models. They are good, but in a game that has so many other details so realistic, it can be jarring to see a plastic or cartoonish-looking face, or a neck that warps oddly when the head turns, or the way a pitcher's hair doesn't move when he lifts the cap too-smoothly off his head. These are all tiny details, but it's a testament to how good this game is with all the other little details that these moments stick out.

And let's be honest, as amazing as the crowds and the stadiums look, when we're playing the game we spend most of our time staring at the players. If they take a big step forward with the realism of the player models --- without breaking anything else --- it will have a huge impact on our experience of the game.

It may seem to be ungrateful to ask for more from a game that already looks so great, but games like NBA2K and EA's UFC have raised the bar for how realistic humans can look in a next-gen sports game; in this area, MLB:The Show is still lagging a little behind.