There's an important preface to this review - namely that fact that I'm British. Here, Baseball ranks just below lawn bowls and hitting your head against the wall as sports we're interested in. It literally has no presence here whatsoever, the game isn't played on any level above enthusiatic amateur, and TV coverage is non-existant. The only reason I'm a fan of the sport is that I've got relatives over in Canada, and thus whenever I'm over there I take the opportunity to see the Blue Jays play as much as possible. Nevertheless, without access to the regular reports, highlights and analysis that are available in North America, I'd call myself a casual fan at best. Bear that in mind as you read the review. Also, since this game isn't available in Europe, this is a review of an imported NA copy.


MLB09 The Show review - Playstation 3



It's been a long time since a demo sold me on a game, but after Samit's super-gushing review I felt I needed to give this one a go, so I logged onto my US PSN account and downloaded the demo. A couple of hours and a few playthroughs later and I had an order ready to go. It's a testament to MLB09 that so much of what makes it great can be showed of in such a short space of time.

Let's start with the presentation, which is simply extraordinary. Graphically it's up there with the best. All of the players are instantly recognisable, uniforms are super accurate and stadiums are highly impressive recreations. There's a fantastic lighting model and some great graphical flourishes, such as the splinters which go flying when a player breaks a bat, or the way baserunners get progressively more dusty as they make more slides. It's complemented by superb animation, every pitcher having their distinct throwing style recreated, and outfielders in possession of a vast library of dives, catches, throws and tags to make the play move together organically. My only criticism is that the skyboxes outside of the stadiums can look a little patchy, but you won't really see them too much anyway. Sound is also a highlight, the commentary team sounding very natural, while the crowd will cheer and boo enthusiastically (certain players are greeted much more excitedly, for better or worse) and the stadia sound effects will sound out over certain plays.



In terms of playing, MLB09 feels pretty rock solid. Batting remains as simple as it ever has been in baseball games - press X to hit - but features like an instant swing analysis, which lets you see exactly where the last pitch was, your contact and how early or late you were make it an enjoyable tactical experience. Pitching is excellent, different pitchers noticeably pitching in different styles, while a power meter controls speed and breaking. If you've got a Dualshock there's excellent use of rumble, getting stronger as you move further out of the strike zone, and the array of different pitches and pitchers is huge, with each club having its full bullpen to draw on. Fielding keeps it simple, with each base assigned a facebutton, but this means that you'll always know hwere to throw, and plays and outs quickly become intuitive. Fielding is also enhanced with options to dive for balls or jump at the wall to deny home runs or fouls. There's an in-depth defensive menu to position the fielders, and far more tactical depth than I could ever hope to go into.

There's plenty of different modes to try out in, as your basic single game exhibition is joined by a dedicated league mode. Even more in depth is Franchise, which apart from playing on the field also hands you total control over every aspect of the club - drafts, salaries, trades - you name it, it's in there. There's also Road to the Show, in which you guide a single player throughout his entire career, from starting off at AA teams all the way up to the big leagues. It's a fascinating mode, and great fun to play, although the sheer number of games involved can be wearying. Elsewhere, online works much as you'd expect, the games I played being steady and mostly lag free. One thing I'd definitely like to see in a lot more games is the 'Friendly quit' option, which allows you to forfeit the match if you have to leave for any reason, making things a lot more civil and providing far fewer accusations of ragequitting.



Beyond these back of the box bullet points though, it's in the details where MLB09 really shines. There's tons of little tweaks that make the game special, I'll throw out just a few. The fact that each side has their full roster of uniforms to choose from, including vintage kits. The ability to import music into the game to use as walkup tracks. The fact you can record your own chants over headset and put them into the gmae. The way the commentators have recorded so much commentary that they have a unique comment for nearly every player on the field. The ability to take your own screenshots, and replay and exports as an MP4 any play in the game. The list goes on, but the point is this is a game saturated in detail, right down to the way the pitchers hold the ball, or the dimensions of each park. What matters even more though, is that even without those wonderful touches, MLB09 would still be a rock solid, super fun game. They're just the icing on a particularly tasty cake.

[9]

P.S. Also, Samit, if you read this, I hope you enjoyed last night's game :-D