Baseball is,
at once, the most complex of games to play and the easiest to
understand. After all, you throw, hit and run. But the anomalies of the game can
make it more complex than chess at times. And then you throw in the element of
chance. The ball hits a pebble; a fraction of a second in terms of swinging can
result in either a home run or a lazy pop fly; the release point on a throw will
either result in a baserunner stealing second or being gunned down.
It is
definitely a challenge. Couple that with the fact that developers can’t rest on
laurels from year to year but are challenged to take an existing franchise to
the next level and you begin to understand the complexities involved in
developing a game. In short, it is no easy task.
MLB 08: The
Show is the next iteration in the SCEA franchise’s history. It is, without a
doubt, the most visceral baseball experience to hit the PlayStation 3 console.
But while the game mechanics are rather tight, and the graphics are – for the
most part – superb, the game has some failings when it comes to the immersion of
the career mode that are glaring.
Before all
that, though, the pluses to the title are many. The sliding mechanics, using the
SIXAXIS, have been improved and, as a batter, you can hit the pause button at
any time to analyze the batter-pitcher matchup. You can also check out pitcher
tendencies as well as the batter’s hot and cold zones. The fielding mechanics
have also received a bit of a boost with outfielders getting a better jump (pun
intended) on robbing home runs from flies that would otherwise barely clear the
wall.
Hitting has
an improved achievements system that makes for more compelling gameplay. In the
past, if an objective was given in the game, it was either fail or succeed. With
the 08 version, a positive result is rewarded whether you accomplished the task
or not. Case in point: A hit and run is called, runner takes off for second,
batter swings and misses, but the runner gets to second on a steal. Goal is
failed but rather than get negative points for failing the task, since the
overall intent was to get the runner to second, you are rewarded for the
positive outcome.
The game
also features the exhibition, season and franchise modes. Connect and you can
receive updated rosters to make the experience more closely mirror what is
happening in the real world of professional baseball. You can save a game at any
point now, making it easier to resume from a specific place in the game.
More than
merely mimicking batting stances or on-field mannerisms, the players in The Show
’08 look like their big-league counterparts. And should you decide to create
your own player for a run in the career mode, the customization options are very
deep. You can spend a good hour tweaking everything from brow bone protrusion to
the angle on the corner of the mouth.
MLB 08
features a host of new features. There is the new Progressive Batting
Performance that will reward players with contract incentives should they
perform well. An indicator comes along to show if the batter is performing well,
or heading into (or mired in) a slump.
Sliding
mechanics are deeper. You can use the SIXAXIS, but in reality, the right analog
stick provides many options that give a more realistic flavor to the game. You
can move the thumbstick left and then down to execute a hook slide. There are
several variants and while they won’t always avoid the tag, it just feels much
better and looks more realistic.
A facelift
has been given to Road to the Show, the career mode and cornerstone of this
title. Players are given specific goals as far as training is concerned (with
some on-field incentives), and that really puts the onus on the players to
perform well if they wish to receive promotions. Typically, a new career player
is relegated to Double-A ball, but with the right training, can be elevated to
the next level, although the AI is not as sharp in this aspect as it could have
been. All tasks need to really be attempted, and if you miss more than one, you
might not receive a promotion. The promotions are moving up to the next level
(like from AA to AAA, or maybe from being a bench player to an everyday
starter).
The career
mode really put the bite on the game’s AI and, sad to say, it committed quite a
number of errors.
A career
player was created, tried out for the Cards and despite having a pretty good
spring training, was relegated to AA as a bench player. The game does fast
forward to the career player’s next event, but some of these seem rather silly.
Runner on first, one out. The call is for a double play, so you scoot in to
double-play depth for quick turns. The batter either takes a strike or bunts
with the runner advancing and the only play is for the third baseman or pitcher
to attempt to throw out the runner at first. That doesn’t exactly involve the
second baseman, but you just know that if you didn’t scoot in, something else
would have happened. In fact, if the batter takes a strike and the whole
instance is a wash, the game may reset the exact same situation, but instead of
the batter having a 1-0 or 0-1 count stepping up to the plate, the count resets
to 0-0 as well.
That is
not smart baseball …
The AI can
be way off at times. If it happened once, it was dismissed; if it happened
consistently, well, it’s being written about.
-
The hit
and run is on. The career player sends a frozen rope over the second baseman’s
head. He jumps but can’t quite reach it. The runner was off with the pitch and
was two-thirds of the way to second. Because the second baseman jumped up to
try to get the line drive, he turns around and runs back to first and stands
on the bag, with the batter. The centerfielder, meantime, has come up with the
ball and throws it into second for the force out. The batter is not credited
with a hit, but rather with a fielder’s choice – and the goal fails.
-
The
catcher on the created player’s team couldn’t throw out his grandmother trying
to steal second in a walker, and yet the pitching staff doesn’t hold a single
runner close to first.
-
Runners on
first and second in a time game with one out. The second baseman is holding
the runner at second. Hello? Rather than hold the runner, the infield should
be straightaway at double-play depth to try to get out of the inning. Of
course, with the second baseman shaded over near the bag, the batter sends
what would have been an easier grounder through the infield hold on the right
side.
-
Club AI is
not so much ‘artificial intelligence’ as it feels like ‘animated idiots.’ An
option popped up at the end of a play session to move up from AA, but as it
was the end of the play session (at that time), the game was not advanced. The
next time the game was launched, there was no offer, and the career player
needed “more seasoning” at the double-A level. It was mid-August and the
career player was hitting .580 with 213 hits, 146 RBI, 34 doubles, five
triples, 40 home runs and 56 stolen bases. Additionally he was ranked 1/40 in
the league, and 1/5 in the organization. He was in the AA All-star game and
took a pitcher out of the park. His backup is elevated to AAA, but not him.
Despite leading the league in batting average, HRs, triples, RBIs and hits,
and finishing in the top five in doubles and stolen bases, he finishes the
year at AA because he needs more “seasoning.” The second season was started
and there is no training camp with the big league team; rather he starts with
second season with the AA club. It took an injury to a triple-A player (poor
Skip Schumacher) to get him promoted.
Home
field advantage … what home field advantage?
Ok, so there
might not be many licensed stadiums that could have been used but what is here
is way off in terms of reality. Both Springfield and Memphis (the AA and AAA
clubs in the Cardinals’ organization) use Blue River Stadium, with the Gotham
skyline behind it. Gotham is New York City (Washington Irving coined the phrase
in a series of sketches called Salmagundi), and the Blue River is located in
Johnson County (Kansas City), Mo. Springfield is in the southwest part of
Missouri, Kansas City is in the northwest part of the state and Memphis is in
Tennessee.
And it gets
worse. The Arkansas teams play their home games in desert country in either the
southwest or at the foot of the Rockies. The Ozarks run through Arkansas, not
the Rockies.
These might
be little things but they definitely detract from any sort of immersion.
What game
are you watching? Or talking about?
While
generally well done, when the play-by-play or commentary misses, it really
misses. Matt Vasgersian handles the play-by-play and he does it well. Dave
Campbell and Rex Hudler are the commentators and while Campbell’s queued remarks
can be off-target, Hudler’s sometimes misses the game entirely. Campbell might
laud the great play a second baseman made in going to his right to pick up the
ball and firing it first. Unfortunately, the play he is describing went the
other direction. The career player is standing on second after an RBI double.
Batter steps in, and is plunked on the helmet by a pitch too high and too tight.
Campbell “can’t understand why there was no advance there” by the baserunner.
Uhmm, maybe because it’s a dead ball and runners can’t advance? Hudler,
meantime, opens his comments by talking about how AA separates the pretenders
from the contenders and as the camera isolates on the career player, Hudler
talks about how he is going to have to step it up a notch if he wants to make it
to the next level. The career player, at the time, was batting .441 with 7
dingers, 20 stolen bases, 12 doubles and was fourth in the league in RBIs while
batting in the No. 3 slot. It was just over a month into the season and the
player was riding a 15-game hitting streak. Step it up?
Generally,
though, the audio is handled well and the ambient sounds are solid. The music is
also a nice blend, featuring old favorites – like Foghat’s Slow Ride or ZZ Top –
and some new favorites, like No More Kings’ Sweep the Leg.
Game-time
jitters …
It does not
happen often, but occasionally the camera has a few spasms when viewing the
baserunner from behind first or third base. They pass quickly, though, and the
camera is serviceable for the most part. You can control the look-around (to a
certain extent) with the analog stick, but don’t expect to wheel around and grab
a look at the scoreboard during the game. The camera won’t rotate that far.
There are
other graphical glitches that pop up, albeit rarely. Relegated to the minors, a
game was in the late innings when the opposing team decided to go with a double
switch – a pinch runner and pinch hitter. Luis Hernandez stepped in to bat, but
he really didn’t. Or maybe it was his ghost that was striding up to the plate.
In any regard, no one appeared and the game hung up. It was simply a matter of
going into the menu and exiting the game (simulating to the end) to cure this,
but it was a bit annoying.
While the
faces of the major leaguers are well done, expect clones at the minor league
level. This is purely cosmetic, though, and the animations are really well done.
The beach
ball, bounding around the stands, may be immune to the game’s shading and
lighting touches, but the nuances are wonderful. Get a base knock and as you hit
and round first, you will see the scoreboard change to reflect it. There are a
few clipping moments, but that is generally allowed in favor of better game
flow. On occasion, though, throwing a runner out at first to end an inning might
see the first baseman strangely throw the ball over his shoulder at the dugout
and then respond like it was an overthrow.
However, the
graphics generally sparkle in this game, and throwing the game up against its
major rival (the 2K8) really shows off the realism and details that the SCEA
team has invested in making this the best-looking baseball game on the market.
Bottom of
the 9th …
Online is
more robust with the SportsConnect Online User Tracking (or SCOUT) that enables
players to set and store game preferences on the MLB server and use them to look
for Quick Matches with other online players with similar settings.
What it
basically boils down to is this – baseball may seem simple, but it can be a
nightmare to render out with all its nuances. The team at SCEA did a very good
job in creating a challenging and compelling game. Sure, there are a few errors
and while they may detract from the immersion, they really don’t spoil the
enjoyment. Try coming into the game as a pinch hitter in the 9th,
trailing by a run, with the bases juiced and two out, and sending a bomb over
the left-centerfield wall for a game-winning grand slam. The feeling that runs
through you, and the grin on your face, should tell you just what a joy this
game can be. And that’s what MLB ’08 brings to the table, more grins and just a
few grimaces.
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Gameplay: 8.0
There are some AI
issues but the control scheme is very good. Expect load times galore, but the
game you get to play is worth the small time spent waiting for the loads.
Graphics: 8.8
The character
creation is robust. Sure, there are a lot of clones at the minor league levels,
but the MLB players look very close to their real-world counterparts. The
animations are also first quality and the game has big-league speed.
Sound: 8.2
The play-by-play
can be hit or miss; when it is on, it is delightful, but when it misses it can
be irritating and annoying. The musical score is also very nice.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 8.0
Deep stat
tracking and better UI make for a deeper and more thoughtful game. The
improvements are obvious – the game just needs to work on a few more things.
Multiplayer: 8.5
A nice
multiplayer mode here for fans who don’t want to contend with the CPU. Sony’s
online support for this game is first-rate.
Overall: 8.0
The Show is a lot
of fun. It is intuitive and the presentation is, indeed, Major League. Some of
the failings, though, are particularly irritating to a fan of the sport (close
to being a purist, but not quite) – especially one used to analyzing the game
from a newspaper sports’ editor’s perspective. The game has a high replay value
and the career mode is deep, frustrating, invigorating, irritating and
satisfying – all at the same time. The good of this game does outweigh the bad,
but the game still has a ways to go to make it – hands down – more than a
pennant contender. It may win the crown this year, but it has its work cut out
for it.
