MLB 10: The Show Review

Short Version: MLB 10: The Show is taking its rightful place at the top of the list when it comes to baseball games. If you’re a baseball fan with a PS3, MLB 10: The Show is a must have.

Game Rant reviews MLB 10: The Show

The king is dead, long live the king. Sony’s MLB 10: The Show has done what no other game has been able to do – top EA Sports’ MVP Baseball 2005, at least in my eyes.

When Major League Baseball sold the 3rd party rights to 2K, EA had to discontinue its MVP Baseball series.

Since then, 2K and Sony have been battling it out to become the “King of the Hill” in terms of baseball games. Once EA was out of the race, the remaining competitors were deadlocked in mediocrity.

MLB 2K7 took the lead, but quickly gave it up to MLB 08 the following year. Since then, 2K has been on a downward turn and The Show has been gaining momentum. Both games have still been living in the shadows of MVP Baseball 05.

However, this year Sony blew the doors off with their release of MLB 10: The Show.

MLB 09: The Show was a great game, and this year’s release added a few more features and polish. The new title surpasses every baseball game that has been made. The most noticeable additions being the Home Run Derby and the MLB Futures Game during All Star Weekend. These additions are a fun distraction from the bread and butter of the Franchise and Road To The Show modes.

This game is more evolutionary then revolutionary, but in no way is that a knock on it. MLB 09 laid a solid foundation on which to MLB 10. What really puts this game over its predecessors are the small, but super important, additions that have been made. Outfielders are now more likely to smoothly pick up a rolling ball and go straight into the throw animation – where as last year most outfielders would take a knee to field a grounder, which would let runners take extra bases. Another big thing that stood out to me was the vast amount of new check swing animations. I know these seem like very insignificant things, but these little improvements go a long way in making the title more life-like and organic.

Another small change that makes a huge difference is the ability to throw up to eight warm-up pitches with a reliever before he comes into the game. I can’t tell you how many times, in previous baseball titles, I would bring a pitcher out of the bullpen not knowing how his windup works, resulting in my pitcher either hitting a batter, throwing a wild pitch, or letting up a home run on the first pitch in a clutch situation. Now, with the practice pitches, you’ll know the windup up and break of the pitches ahead of time – which is a huge help.

Additionally, this year the designers added a bunch of new pitcher windup and batting stance animations, which are spot on.

The standout one for me is Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson. his windup is a little unorthodox, but Sony has captured it perfectly in the game – which you can see by comparing the videos below:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsU0Tm3inE0

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzZOMBocmRs

Recommendation: MLB 10: The Show is an amazing game that has truly raised the level of realism in baseball titles. I even heard a woman in the crowd yell “Alex, will you marry me?” while A-Rod was batting.

Like I said, MLB 10 is an evolutionary upgrade over MLB 09. That shouldn’t stop you from running out to pick up a copy so long as you have a Sony system: PS3, PSP, or PS2. The changes that were made may seem small, but these tiny improvements were all that was needed.

This is easily the greatest baseball game of all time. Sadly, if you’re not on a Sony console, it looks like you’re stuck with MLB 2K10, which is a decent title but still a far cry from what MLB 10: The Show has become.

If you love baseball, have $60, and a PS3, run, don’t walk to the store to get MLB 10: The Show.

What do you guys think of the MLB 10: The Show? Think it’ll surpass your favorite baseball title?

MLB 10: The Show is available now on the PS3, PSP, and PS2.