MLB THE SHOW 18
Baseball veteran sings when it’s swinging
Ten years ago OPM explained with absolute sincerity that MLB The Show’s closeness to perfection made it difficult to improve upon as it notched 10/10 scorelines four years in a row. While time hasn’t been kind to PS3 contemporaries such as FIFA 07, those ancestral bat-swingers still hold their own – making it difficult for Sony San Diego to innovate without chipping at the series’ foundations. It’s the curse of the movie sequel director, translated to sports gaming. Intriguingly, the developer adopts a less-ismore approach in many areas of The Show 18, presumably aware that the die-hard fan will buy it anyway, yet the casual needs a touch more attention. The ever-brilliant franchise mode is therefore streamlined so that its depth remains, but in a more navigable manner, large panels directing you to the next fixture, or key dates like the draft. And matches within the mode can now be approached in five different ways, from on-field gameplay to text-based management sim to pixellated, two-button retro mode.
Those matches play out in a manner which looks and feels authentic. Batting, pitching, and fielding are simple from a pick-up-and-play perspective, but multiple control schemes enable you to tailor the action to your liking – and challenge level – as you learn. There are few experiences more satisfying in sports gaming than learning your batter’s hot and cold zones (denoted by red and blue squares), waiting for the right pitch (a fastball ‘down and in’, for instance), and dispatching a home run with a perfectly timed swing. The same is true of your first nohitter – the baseball equivalent of a clean sheet.
RUTH LESS?
While many facets have been streamlined, it’d be wrong to describe MLB 18 as dumbeddown. Diamond Dynasty, for instance, is the baseball answer to Ultimate Team, but for an even more specialist fanbase: you still earn digital currency and cards by winning matches and trading, but the best on offer – such as Babe Ruth – can only be gained via weeks of grinding. There are few pay-to- win shortcuts here, and while that’s a commendable move where integrity is concerned, it’ll turn off players looking to fast-track their way to the elite.
Not that the dedicated will care, nor should they. Of more concern is the content removed from this year’s game. Two big features – online franchise and season mode – are axed, and while neither shared the popularity of offline franchise or Diamond Dynasty, giving users less to do is a curious design decision. Season mode is an especially noteworthy cut as it let you play a campaign of fewer than 162 games and/or use classic rosters. The Show’s improved user-friendliness should make it more attractive to new fans, but sacrificing old favourites risks alienating its long-term audience.
VERDICT
“THE ELITE, SUCH AS BABE RUTH, CAN ONLY BE GAINED VIA WEEKS OF GRINDING.”
This PS4 exclusive still merits Hall Of Fame consideration, but with nothing truly original it will feel underwhelming to the hardcores. For casual players, it’s a must-buy. Ben Wilson