Welcome to another year, and of course a few more sports games. Baseball has always been fairly interesting when it comes to games because they seem to be fairly easy to create. They are generally the first games made for devises like the PSP, which try and set themselves apart from all the rest. The different games are separated by slight graphical differences with moderately different controls with the same old game, but that can also be said of games from a previous year. That is not a bad thing at all though, but the problem comes with innovation. It is difficult to innovate on actual sports though, since you need to follow their game plan. What it breaks down to generally though are the controls and the extras.
I will note before I continue as well that I generally stay away from putting 50 or so hours into sports games. For me it becomes a bit boring just playing the same game over and over again against different teams. There is nothing wrong with most sports games, but I feel that they are lacking the pick-up and play aspect and a bit of originality. Developers have tried to solve this problem by adding career modes, which do a fairly good job at lengthening the gameplay.
But the days of RBI baseball are gone (Other than with Wii Sports), which I loved back in the day. In its place is a complex system that requires you to line up your shots to connect with the balls, or put lots of thought in where you want to put your pitches. It is making the sport a little too difficult for the newbie to get into, but if you are a fan of the sport you have probably played the games in the past. This game caters a bit more towards the amateurs though than some of the other baseball games, which makes it a bit easier to dip your feet into. Of course the game still has plenty of the in depth features, but it gives you hints on what to do and when.
Pitching is fairly simple to get into. You are able to choose what type of pitch you want, and where you wish to position it in front of the batter. If you like you can also choose to aim at the batter, which can be a little amusing at times. The computer also helps you pick out the best pitch for the situation, which you can choose to follow or go with something else. If you follow what it suggests, it does a fairly good job of keeping your pitches varied and keeping batters guessing. Batting is pretty normal, where you just hit the X button when you want to swing. This is a little different than the analog stick revolution undergoing in the videogame world, but it makes it a bit more classic.
When trying to catch hits, things are pretty straightforward. The game puts you in control of the closest character and lets you do the dirty work. The ball will fall in the centre of a baseball that appears on screen, and it is your job to line it up properly. After catching it, if you want to throw it to a base after you catch it you can just hit the corresponding button on the controller, which mimics the diamond. This part of the game is quite straight forward, and something that anyone can get into easily.
Graphically the game follows what you would normally see. Characters look fairly nice and the presentation of the field gets the job done. There are a few other options like playing at night or in the day, and they also look fairly good. Mind you it is nothing fantastic or earth shattering, but it accomplishes the general ambiance that you would like to see on television. Sound wise is also quite straightforward, though a bit dry. The announcers Dave Campbell, Rex Hudler, and Matt Vasgersian push things forward similar to what you would hear on television, but often their interest in the game seems a bit lacking. I would have loved to see them overreact to some of the pitches, or even when a batter gets winged with a pitch. It almost sounds like they are all automated, but they do a good job with the basics of the game.
In the end, it is a good baseball game and one of the better ones out there. It is fairly easy to get into, which means you can have some fun early on in the game. Despite the robust career mode you can enter, playing a specific character from the early days into becoming a professional in the major leagues, the game can get a bit boring for those that do not fully give their heart to baseball. The career mode also has a few game altering objectives before each game, like forcing groundballs or getting ahead early on, but other than that it is pretty straightforward. It is a great baseball game to end a system with, since it displays the best action elements that have been stitched together over these many years. Online play is pretty good so long as you find someone with a good connection to play with. I am rating it more so for the average player, rather than the hardcore fanatic, but the fanatic will find much more enjoyment. Wrapping up, Captain Gordon gives MLB 07 The Show a B.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? CaptainGordonEdward@Gmail.com
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