MLB 10: The Show takes video baseball deep

No baseball video game series in recent memory has more accurately captured the beauty of America’s favorite pastime like Sony’s “MLB: The Show.”

Ever since its inception in 2006, “MLB: The Show” has consistently been a must have game for any baseball fan that owns a Playstation console. The series’ 5th installment, “MLB 10: The Show,” is no exception and improves upon its predecessors in almost every aspect of the game from presentation to online play.

Newcomers to the series will quickly realize that the game is first and foremost a simulation, which means that the game can be extremely complex if you want it to be. You can spend hours digging through menus in franchise mode, setting stadium ticket prices and managing every aspect of an MLB franchise.

However, despite the tremendous depth offered by “The Show,” newcomers have the ability to adjust the difficulty in the game, allowing users to ease themselves into the game rather than be frustrated by the intrinsic difficulty of baseball.

“MLB: The Show’s flagship mode, called “Road to The Show,” allows users to create their own player and work their way up through a team’s minor league system eventually reaching the big leagues.

RTTS mode has seen minor improvements since last year’s game. Pitchers and fielders now have training exercises that can be completed on off days during the season to help improve your player’s abilities. Also new to RTTS mode is the ability to call the game if your created player is a catcher.

As with the previous games in the series, “The Show’s” visuals do not disappoint. Sony San Diego did an incredible job capturing all the visual intricacies that often make you feel like you’re watching a TV broadcast rather than playing a game. All pitchers have their wind ups perfectly animated and the same goes for batter’s stances in the box. Little player rituals and signals are also a part of the presentation. The Red Sox’s slugger David Ortiz will spit in his hands and slap them together before each pitch and closer Brian Wilson crosses his hands and points to the sky when he saves a game for the Giants.

Gameplay in MLB 10: The Show remains solid as the same mechanics for pitching, fielding and batting remain from the previous installment. Pitchers can now throw three types of pickoffs: casual, quick or deceptive with each type bringing its own risks and rewards.

The Home Run Derby makes its return in this year’s game and improvements have been made to the online multiplayer mode, hoping to alleviate the time-delay issues that have plagued recent iterations in the series and made online play almost unbearable.

Matt Vasgersian, Dave Campbell and Rex Hudler return as the games commentators and while they do a good job as always, some of their dialogue and banter is getting stale. They still make the same remarks they did years ago. Hopefully next year’s edition of the show would do good to refresh the commentator’s dialogue.

Also as with any annual sports game, The Show still has its share of glitches and bugs. Don’t guess outside fastball with a left-handed hitter at the plate and a runner on third or you will be caught trying to steal home. Announcers still make mistakes naming players especially in the minor leagues and “Road to the Show.”

Overall, MLB 10: The Show is an excellent game and offers a far better experience than its main competitor MLB 2k. That game suffered another disappointing year in 2010 and leaves gamers without a Playstation without any other option. The Show is exclusive to Sony consoles.

With top notch presentation, gameplay and a level of depth that true baseball fans can appreciate, MLB 10: The Show offers a baseball experience that you simply can’t get anywhere else. Whether you want to manage your favorite teams in franchise mode, move your created player up through the minor league system to the big leagues or just jump into an exhibition game with your friends, MLB 10: The Show offers something for every level of fan.