MLB 07 The Show (PS3)

Ever since I got my PS3 a few weeks ago, I've been renting a few games to check out (stupid $60 price tags). This past week, I felt like checking out a baseball game, and since I heard bad things about MLB2K7 (especially for PS3), I went with MLB 07 The Show. Well, after playing the game for a week, I've come to the conclusion that this is easily the best baseball game I've ever played, and probably the best sports game on the PS3 (and maybe next-gen in general). For reference, while I'm not a diehard fan of baseball games, I've played a lot of them; I played a LOT of MVP 04 (and the series in general, even back when it was called Triple Play), as well as some of the High Heat games. I've mostly avoided the 2K baseball games and the MLB games by Sony (until now of course).

I started a review of sorts in MS Word, but it ballooned to 5 pages and I wasn't even done. You guys know how wordy I can get.
So I guess I'll just give some brief pros and cons about the game (5 each):

Pros:
-Great (and varied) animations, solid 60FPS, best crowd in a sports game, decent stadiums, 1080p support.
-Gameplay seems really balanced, and is intuitive.
-"Road To The Show" Mode is awesome and very addictive.
-The Franchise Mode is easily the deepest and most featured franchise mode in any sports game I've ever played.
-Great use of the MLB license and online connectivity.

Cons:
-Graphics for the player models and fields are lacking. The players are still recognizable (except for the terrifying zombie eyes), but I expect much greater things for a PS3 (or 360) baseball game.
-You can easily exploit the trade AI in the franchise and season modes.
-Could use some more customizable options when creating players.
-No HR Derby, or any other game modes that allow for quick-and-easy play.
-Controlling multiple baserunnners isn't as easy as it should be IMO

I didn't play this game online, so I can't comment on that aspect. FWIW, it did seem to have a lot of nice features. Also, this is all based on the PS3 version. I have no idea how similar the PS2 and PSP versions are. I'm guessing they should be very solid as well since the fundamentals about this game are what I like best and not something like the visuals or the SIXAXIS controls.

So if you want a good baseball game (or just a good game on the PS3 I guess), definitely check this game out. I can expand on the various aspects of the game if anybody has questions (EX: why is RTTS awesome?). I guess I could even post what I had originally if people don't mind me going a bit overboard with the number of details.

 

Technically, I believe different teams get different funds when you start a franchise mode, so I think the Yankees would have more money to spend on players (and other things) than the average team (although I could see the gap being not quite as large due for gameplay purposes). I could check that out for sure before I return the game, assuming you're serious (or someone else wants to know).

As for steroids, I haven't seen anything related to it, and I doubt the MLB would allow for it in a baseball game.

It is kind of like the Superstar mode in Madden, although I liked it a lot better (something about Superstar mode didn't click with me).

You create a player, give him a position, some base attributes, and then try to catch on with a team during Spring Training. If you do well, you'll make the team, usually as a AA or AAA guy. When you play games, you only control your player and only play the times where your player is doing something in the game (rest of the game is skipped). I made a pitcher, so I would only control half of the innings (and only about 3 innings during Spring Training). You have goals to achieve at certain points (strike out hitter, induce ground ball, don't let run score, bunt over baserunner, etc.), and those get you training points to improve your skills. Once you get good enough (or your team gets desperate enough), you can get called up to the big leagues, and play for them. You can talk to your manager about being pulled, poor chemistry, contract situation, etc. You can make All-star teams (and play in the game of course), win awards, get contract offers from teams (with goals to meet), get traded/sent down/released/benched, etc. Eventually, the point is to play long enough and well enough to make it to the Hall of Fame, at which point you can retire and make it to Cooperstown (you can retire at any time, but not sure why you would unless you're pretty sure you can make it...unless you're like already 40 I guess).

It is just really addictive trying to make your player as good as he can be, and keep him that way (skills decrease if you don't work on them for a long time). My pitcher started out as a guy with no good stuff, no control, and he could barely go 5-6 innings. Eventually, I got him to be one of the league's best pitchers, although that took a lot of "hard work" and time training him to get that good.

I think the PS2 and PSP have this mode, so if you have one of those, you can give the game a shot and check it out yourself. I guess I'll finish up what I had and post it later. I still need to proof-read it a bit.

 

I don't necessarily disagree with all that (probably agree with it all actually), but I personally have a problem paying $60 for games (or even $40-$50 for PSP/PS2 games), especially since I don't play them online. I tend to like waiting a few months, and get games for half off or so. There are some exceptions of course (Final Fantasy, MGS, The Elder Scrolls, etc.).

I think I just like getting good deals for my stuff. Make games retail for $120, and I'd probably gladly pay $60 for them.

Nope, I took a year off from baseball games last year, so I wasn't all that familar with the game. I had heard some good things about the series, but I didn't know if people were saying it was the best MLB game because it really earned it or if it just won it by default (no EA MLB game, and 2K struggling with their games).

The visuals aren't really that bad (especially since parts of it are next-gen, as are the animations), but yeah, they definitely do leave a lot to be desired. If I end up purchasing a baseball game, which I rarely do, I might see if I can hold out for the next version for a variety of reasons (unless I can get MLB 07 for really cheap by the end of the year...may get both actually). But I'm definitely hooked now.

 

OK, so here's my little review (spoiler tagged in case people don't care to read a long review in this thread). I reference MLB2K7 a few times, which I played a little bit of via the PSN demo.

Spoiler

One of the first things you’ll notice when you boot up the game is that the game makes great use of the MLB license. At any point when you’re navigating the menus, you’ll see that there is a ticker at the bottom of the screen, providing updates to any games going on that day. You can look through the schedule of games to be played that day, as well as check out real-time stats for games being played at that point (balls, strikes, outs, runners on base, etc. Similar to how some websites track games.). Additionally, you can read up on all the major MLB topics, or you can just read the latest reports from your favorite teams with easy-to-navigate menus. While you’re online, you can also download sliders to tweak the game, or upload your own. Additionally, roster updates are done frequently (seems like every week, but I might be wrong…I’ve seen two since I’ve had the game), and are easy to go through. There’s some other stuff online, but most of it pertains to the online elements of the game, which I did not have the ability to check out unfortunately. You can read up on them from other sites I’m sure (Operation Sports or something).

Once you actually start up a game, I guess the first thing you’ll notice are the visuals. They are definitely a bit disappointing, and I’m sure some of you may have already noticed that. They do compare better to MLB2K7 than I thought they would though. The player models could use a lot of work, but they’re done well enough that most players are easily identifiable. Well…except for their eyes. They all have zombie eyes, which are pretty terrifying actually. The lighting is OK, but not as good as MLB2K7 I think, and neither is the grass. The stadiums are pretty good, and the crowds are probably the best in any next-gen sports game.

The smooth frame rate definitely helps; this game is a solid 60FPS, unlike MLB2K7, which is sometimes unplayable thanks to its frame rate (on PS3 anyway). The animation in the game is also really impressive. There is an insane amount of individual animations in the game, and it is obvious when you play the game. They have an animation for almost everything, which makes the game seem fresh and authentic (EX: seems like each double play doesn’t animate the same way, making you wonder if it will be pulled off).

The gameplay is very solid, and probably the best thing about the game. It seems perfectly balanced, IMO, and there aren’t any major flaws with the fielding or anything like that. As mentioned earlier, you can tweak a bunch of options and sliders in case something seems off though. The pitching interface uses a meter system, similar to the later MVP games. It is pretty intuitive, so I’m not really going to explain it too much. Where you aim the ball is where the ball will break, not where it will end up (there's a help system that shows how every pitch breaks if you're not familiar with every pitch). If you don’t know what pitch to throw, your catcher will provide you with a pitch type and location to use. The catcher usually mixes it up pretty well, which is good since you have to mix up you pitches in order to have good command of them all. If you neglect a pitch, or you struggle with it, your pitcher will start to lose command and confidence in that pitch (the opposite is true if you do well with a pitch). So at times, you might want to shake off the catcher and go with something else. The game uses an umpiring system that is different from game-to-game, differing on the umpire behind the plate. Some have huge strike zones, others have strike zones that really benefit the hitters, while some actually have strike zones that are pretty accurate. Just like a real game. One nice touch is that the commentators will mention how unfair a call is (“And the pitch....uh....ball 2 apparently.”). If you don’t like this, you can turn it off, but I think it is a nice touch.

The batting interface uses the simple button commands used in a lot of baseball games (one button for contact, one for power, one for bunt). One analog stick is used to position where you want to swing, while the other is used to determine the type of hit IIRC (like flyball vs groundball). Fairly standard stuff. In addition to this, you have the ability to guess the pitch type and the (approximate) pitch location. Guessing correctly will give you a stat bonus while also giving you an idea of where or what the pitch will be (location tells you exactly where it will end up, for example); of course, if you get both right, you get a huge bonus, and if you guess wrong, you’ll get a slight penalty. Baserunning is pretty standard stuff too AFAIK (take leads, slide a certain way to mess up a double play, run into catcher, etc.), although it could be a little simpler to use (may mistakenly advance the wrong baserunner). Fielding is also pretty standard stuff.

The presentation and commentary in the game is also pretty solid. When you are in the menus, you’ll be listening to the usual soundtrack stuff or you can be listening to some radio calls from big moments in big games during the past season. Unfortunately, this includes Jim Edmonds’ catch on Tal’s Hill against the Astros, so I had to keep hearing that every so often. Kind of a nice touch for baseball fans since it is cool to relive some of these moments (unless you’re an Astros fan like me I guess). During the game, you’ll get your usual stat overlays with current stats, and some stats relevant to certain players (EX: Biggio on the list of hits by active players). There are some cutscenes at random points, some of which are pretty cool. If you’re pitching and you don’t do anything, the game will cut to the umpire checking out the bat of the player at bat (should do this against Sammy Sosa I guess). The team will celebrate certain things, like a run being scored or a big win (IIRC). It could probably handle home runs a bit better though (doesn’t seem like as big of a deal as it should be…at times anyway). Players and managers can argue calls, and sometimes be ejected; I haven’t quite figured out if you can voluntarily do this yourself, although I haven’t spent much time trying (maybe available in manager mode whenever a close call is made). If some of this stuff is too much fluff (mostly the cutscenes and some stat overlays), you can turn on an option to speed up the game (there are a lot of options BTW). The commentary is pretty spot-on, and they usually say unique things during games, although it will eventually get a bit repetitive like all games.

As for game modes, there are several of them. The best, IMO, is the new “Road to the Show” mode, which is sort of similar to the Superstar mode in Madden…only good. You start off creating a player, giving him a position and all that good stuff. One cool thing is that there is a ton of recorded audio in the game (like 2500…thank you Blu-ray), so you should have no problem finding your last name or a nickname that you like. There are also a lot of stances for pitching and batting, probably the same number of unique stances in the game (you can pick stances from a LOT of players), although I’m not for sure. Looks like 225 pitching stances and 397 batting stances. The other customization options are a little light though, so it might be difficult to create a player that looks just like you for example. When you’re done with that, you are given some training points to use for your base stats; if you’re a pitcher, you start off with 3 pitch types (16 pitches in all I think BTW…you can learn two pitches, totaling 5 pitches you can throw in a game). Then it is time for Spring Training. Basically, you pick a team that you think you might have a shot at getting a job with, and if you do well for them, you can sign a contract with that team (otherwise, better luck next year…literally). Rather than playing the whole game (or games), you’ll only control your player and only whenever it is your time to shine, so-to-speak. If you’re a starting pitcher, you’ll only be out there to pitch (or to hit occasionally), and you’re probably not going to be in the game the whole time (especially in Spring Training).

During certain points of the game, you’ll be given a goal that you’ll need to achieve. I only spent time with a pitcher, so my goals were things like getting ahead in the count, inducing ground balls (for double plays), not allowing runs to score, pitching around hitters, striking out hitters (usually the opposing pitcher), or trying to bunt a baserunner across. Probably some more that I left out, and I’m sure there are a lot more for hitters and defensive players. Every goal you achieve will get you some points that you can use to improve your player in various aspects of his abilities. For my pitcher, I usually did some long distance running (for stamina and durability), I worked with the pitching coach to improve my mechanics (helps improve a lot of the basic pitching attributes), and then I would work on specific pitches (you work on the velocity, control, and movement for each pitch). Each training method has primary and secondary skills which will be improved. As a pitcher, you start off with 3 pitches, but you can add two new pitches via this training method, although I wouldn’t recommend doing that until you’re good with your first 3 pitches. There were other options for improving fielding, your contact and power for batting, your baserunning, your ability to bunt, etc., although I didn’t spend too much time with those as a pitcher. If you do not work on a certain aspect of your game for more than 30 days, your skill in that area will start to decrease. It is a really addictive system that really pushes you to perform well in games to improve your skills…so that you can perform well in games.

So once Spring Training is over, you’ll hopefully get a job with a big-league team. I performed well for the Astros, so they stuck me in AAA right away and called me up shortly after since they were having a bad start to the season (just like real life). They ended up calling me up WAY too early since I could barely go 5 innings, and I had no control of my pitches whatsoever. It was really frustrating trying to get outs, even when they sent me back down to AAA. But after a lot of work, I was able to start making All-Star teams (which gets you more training points), and win some awards. During the season, you can interact with the team in a variety of ways. For example, you can ask the manager why he pulled you from your last game, and he may let you go an extra inning or two in the next game. Or he may bench you for complaining. You can also express displeasure about the chemistry, ask to be traded (IIRC), or express interest in resigning with the team when the season is over. After each contract, you’ll get contract offers from different teams, and you can negotiate terms with them. The contract you sign has certain goals that you should achieve while signed, although I’m not sure if they’re really that important. After several years (and lots of saving and reloading after simming games for results that I liked ), my pitcher eventually became the league’s most feared pitcher and a shoe-in for the Hall-of-Fame. At this point, you can retire and move on to Cooperstown.

The other major game mode is the franchise mode, which is easily the deepest and most feature-rich franchise mode I’ve played in any sports game ever. As usual, you pick a team, and each team has certain goals that they should achieve while you’re there. You’re given funds, with which you’ll spend on bettering the team. So what can you do? Well, you can hire your coaching staff (manager, hitting/pitching coach, 1st/3rd base coach, farm system manager). You can hire scouts that will search for players in 4 different regions (3 in the US, 1 international); you can tell your scouts to scout certain prospects, and they’ll get back to you with information on that player. You can spend money trying to improve your team in a certain attribute (16 in all, divided into 4 aspects of the game). Your manager will give you advice on these attributes if you’re not sure what to improve. You can try to improve the rehab process (4 difference aspects to this, manager advice here too).

And then it starts to get a little crazy. Those seats in your stadium? You can set individual prices for every type. Not enough of them? Add some seats then. Don’t forget to make the parking prices outrageous (at least make the celebrities paying for valet parking overpay). Make sure you have plenty of vendors at the ball park (14 different types, and you can install more than one of the same type to help keep lines short), and set the price for these too. Of course, you get feedback from the fans, so you can adjust the prices a bit if they feel you’re screwing them over too much.

You can spend some of this extra money improving the facilities. If the field is in bad condition, there are 7 difference field types to upgrade to that will improve the condition and reduce the risk of injury. You can also improve the training facilities for the players, either rebuying equipment that is in bad condition or buying equipment that the players really need (EX: auto pitcher to improve hitting). This also applies to the rehab equipment, and you can also change the way your team travels (from bus or coach all the way to a team jet; these keep the players happy and well-rested). If some of this is too much money, there are banks available to lend you money at various rates.

If the attendance is low, you can improve your marketing by spending more money in newspaper/magazine/radio/TV ads, or by changing your marketing strategy. The marketing is done on a team and player basis. If that’s not enough, run some promotions for the upcoming game (8 different types of promotion, and you can adjust how many things you give away). You can also sign a deal with a TV station to put your team’s games on TV, although some might require you to reach certain goals before putting you on the air (must win back-to-back World Series to give the Astros their own network). The last thing involving marketing is signing up advertisers to put ads all over your beautiful stadium. As with the TV stations, some of these might require you to meet or maintain certain goals, and the contracts vary in length and money.

There are a lot of feedback menus that show you the feedback of the fans and players on various subjects (the team, the coaches, the facilities, etc.), so you can check those out to help you decide on what things you should or shouldn’t do. If some of this stuff is too complicated, you can have the CPU take care of it. Of course, along with all this stuff, you can play the actual games themselves, setup the different lineups and pitching rotations, do trades, sign players, do a draft, etc. (you’ll be doing this for you MLB team as well as you AA and AAA teams). Basically the season mode stuff IIRC (didn’t spend much time with season since I like the franchise stuff). And speaking of trades, this is one area that the game does seem to suffer in. Put simply, it is WAY too easy to improve your team via a trade (either in the franchise or season mode). Something is really wrong with the trade AI, so you’ll basically have to verify trades that you do yourself if you want it to play fair, rather than relying on the game to realize that a certain trade is stupid for one team. To be fair, I think most sports games have crappy trade AI, but this seems worse than usual. For some reason, I don’t think this affects other teams trading with each other (stars seem to stay put for the most part for example).

BTW, when it comes to playing the games in season or franchise mode, you can actually manage it yourself (bunch of options here), or you can manage it via a Sportscast. This uses a Internet-style play-by-play system, and you can stop it at any time to make moves or give instructions. A lot like the regular manager mode, but with more of a text-based system. Another neat thing about franchise, season, and the RTTS modes is that the game recognizes when a player reaches a certain milestone. For example, if Biggio is at 2999 hits, and you get a hit in a game, there will be a brief pause in the game where the commentators congratulate the player and he waves to the crowd.

Unfortunately, there is no HR Derby or any other modes with quick play like that. Apparently, they were in the regular versions of the game. I never really spend much time with them in past games, so I didn’t consider it much of a loss, but it seems like a major thing to be missing. I wouldn’t think it would be too difficult to have.

There is a profile system in the game that tracks your play, but I didn't really pay much attention to it. This is probably more useful online or when playing with others. You can get points for doing certain things (winning World Series), which you can use to unlock legends (80 players split into two eras), jerseys (older uniforms for all teams in NL or AL), teams of legends (must unlock legends first), and "eggs" (big ball, run really fast, etc.).

I think I mentioned just about everything, and hopefully everything is correct. If I made any major errors, just let me know and I'll try to fix them.