The usual method of creating a
sports game nowadays is to update the rosters, fix a few of last year’s mistakes
and then call it good. Thankfully, the developers of MLB ‘08: The Show did none
of that as they strongly improved over last year’s iteration with fixing
technical issues, including a lot of replay value and lots of stats to compare
and contrast players.
If you’re a fan of a highly in-depth
franchise mode, then you’ll feel right at home with MLB ‘08. This is personally
my favorite portion of the game due to my love in stat tracking and MLB ‘08 has
tons of it. Starting off, you’ll be able to go through spring training
evaluating your players and getting ready for the season-long chase for the
pennant. When you are ready to advance to the season, you’ll have the ability to
work on two of your farm teams to call up players that are doing great and
demote others that aren’t so hot. Also in your power is to hire all the
management, from scouts to the farm director to further the development of your
players.
Outside of trading, signing,
releasing, and drafting players, gamers will be able to set ticket prices,
upgrade your team’s stadium with new seats or the field itself, work on
promoting your players in the press, signing advertisers and even making
decisions on which corporations are able to put their ads up on your empty signs
in your stadium. There’s a lot to be managed here, so if you have the time to
dedicate into your own franchise, MLB ‘08 for sure treats you right.
Beyond of playing the multi-year Franchise Mode, gamers will have the chance to
play in a single game, a season, the Manager Mode, or jump right into the “Road
to the Show.” Road to the Show is a game mode that allows gamers to create their
own player and try to bring him up through spring training and become a starter
on the opening-day roster. When you finally hit the field with your
up-and-coming star, you’ll notice that there have been improvements made with
the base-running to see where the ball was hit if you were on base and looking
to advance. The Road to the Show is the heart of the game and should attract
many new fans to the series if they have always wanted to start from the bottom
and earn your way to the top.
In terms of gameplay, players will
be able to see a lot of new tricks when playing the game. When they are ready to
pitch from the mound, they’ll see the addition of a cursor to indicate how the
pitch will be thrown. This essentially deals with the breaking point of the ball
and is a lot more intricate than you may have expected. Knowing when and how the
ball will cross the plate is great when trying to strike out your opposition.
If you don’t feel comfortable with
throwing a certain way against your opponent – and also how to bat against a
particular pitcher – then don’t worry since Sony has provided the ability to
check out your opponent’s tendencies beforehand to think about how you want to
pitch or bat. Just beware if you are playing against a friend who’ll stretch out
the game with overanalyzing every pitch he wants to throw to you even though
he’s down 12-0 in the game; this is where the game will become tedious.
Visually speaking, Sony is pinching
out as much as it can with MLB ’08: The Show on the PS2. The game runs great
without any real framerate problems. On top of that, the players in the game are
realistic looking for the power the PS2 is able to put out. I’d dare to say that
this can compete with the first generation of MLB games on the next-gen systems
with graphics. The graphics overall are an improvement over last year with the
technical issues that were fixed.
Overall, MLB ‘08 has solid
commentating and a great online experience. While both are neither dramatically
improved, they both hold constant from last year’s edition with quality.
Review Scoring Details for MLB 08: The Show |
Gameplay: 9.0
The game modes within MLB ‘08 are very attracting with the amount of
stat-tracking and depth they have included. You could easily spend an entire
month, or better yet, the rest of the year playing the Franchise Mode that is
included.
Graphics: 8.5
Not running into as many technical issues as last year, the graphics are a
fine improvement.
Sound: 8.0
The soundtrack isn’t that enticing as it could’ve been since the same song
played three times while playing for an hour. With the short list of licensed
songs, players may find themselves muting through the menus.
Difficulty: Medium
Depending on your history with baseball games, this’ll either be easy to get
the hang of if you know your way around the PS2 controller with MLB games or
very hard if you’re a newcomer.
Concept: 8.5
The Road to the Show mode is incredibly exciting to play through as a rookie
and earn your position as a starter.
Multiplayer: 8.0
There’s enough here to entertain your friends with a solid MLB experience.
The online is basically the same as last year, but having the ability to join a
league and trash-talk online is still intriguing as ever.
Overall: 8.4
MLB ‘08: The Show is catered towards the stat freaks out there (me included)
and it’ll grab a hold of you and never let go. It’s an addiction that may put
you in rehab as the franchise has so much going on with team managing and focus
on the players. MLB ‘08: The Show is definitely an incredibly worthwhile game of
your time and attention.
