MLB 09: The Show Game Review - Playstation 3

OUR RATING:

EXCELLENT

TANGIBLES:

Gameplay:		9
Visuals:		10
Audio:		10
Value:		9
Quality:		8

Why you should buy it: Spring is here and you’re itching for a great baseball game.

Why you should rent it: You find the game of baseball boring.

UNIQUE RATING:

SUGGESTION:

Buy It

MLB 09: The Show

Written by: Chris Selogy | Tags: MLB 09: The Show, Playstation 3

March 3,2009 - With opening day still about a month away, it’s that exciting time when the baseball games are out to give us our baseball fix before the real action starts in a few weeks. Sony’s MLB 09: The Show continues to build upon a great foundation with this year’s entry with tweaks to the online leagues, franchise mode, and other areas. Is it enough for MLB 09 to top its predecessor?

The franchise mode had the biggest additions to any of the offline modes in MLB 09. These included more hardcore features like new contract options, the 40-man rosters, and a calendar-style setup for the off-season that fleshes out the mode for the really hardcore baseball fans. Though these additions mainly just add extraneous stuff that will have to be changed to CPU control for those that just want to play with a team and focus on the core franchise experience. Road to the Show mode gets these same tweaks along with the much-needed ability to edit your player after the initial player creation step. There is also the new batting practice mode that your coach can have you attend that lets you focus on whatever part of your batting skills you want, like power swings, bunts, and discipline to spot pitches that are balls or strikes.

The gameplay has also received some nice tweaks in MLB 09. Batting and pitching still rely on button presses and not analog sticks like MLB 2K9, but they work well here. Road to the Show has gain a new baserunning mechanic using the left analog stick that is unfortunately the only option for that mode, which requires a more active experience as you push up to keep running forward and down to running back. It’s a neat idea in practice, but in reality it is clunky and sometimes unresponsive as telling your player to run back keeps him running forward and vice versa to create a frustrating experience at times. Better branching animations for everyone on the field makes ground balls and fly balls more dynamic and entertaining since infielders can fumble an easy grab and make most of the same mistakes that their real-life counterparts run into all the time.

The online leagues have definitely gotten a much-needed revamping in MLB 09 with flex scheduling and fantasy drafts to spice up the action this year, which add more customization and freedom to what was a clunky, dreadful experience at times in past games. Also new to the online features include the ability to submit custom rosters for everyone to enjoy and a better means to enjoy the live MLB games that you can follow online. The main issue with online play as a whole last year was the persistent lag issues that made MLB 08 one of the work online games on the PS3 and MLB 09 doesn’t change much at all. Lag causes pitching, batting, and even fielding to be a pain in the ass so that games can be more of a fight with the lag and not the other player, though rumors of a week 1 patch to fix these issues could be out soon after launch. If you were the kind of person that only cares about online play in your sports games, it seems like MLB 09 will not fulfill that need this year.

Though MLB 08 seemed to look great last year, MLB 09 showed how last year’s players looked a bit lifeless and plain with the extra coat of polish that the developers did to this year’s visuals. Stadiums look great with crowds that get out of the seat and come back, toss beach balls around, and add a nice sense of atmosphere to the game. The clunky animations of last year’s fielders have been remedied with better branching animations so they move more fluidly and realistic, as they should. The great trio of announcers returns once again to another great season of witty playcalling, observations, and chatter that made them the best sports game announcers for the past few years. The custom playlist feature from last year has been greatly expanded to allow for nearly five times more songs for your rotation and there’s now a ton of options for custom chants and music clips you can use for batter/closer intros.

While not a lot has been changed drastically from last year’s game, MLB 09: The Show doesn’t mess with the great foundation and just focuses on fleshing everything out to go after the small things that can make good sports games great ones. Online play is the main weakness if the patch fails to fix the lag issues here that may make many gamers stick with the single-player content, which is thankfully immense. If you’ve got a PS3 and are looking a great baseball game, you’ll do yourself a great disservice if you don’t pick up MLB 09 this year.

The Rule 5 draft that takes place each December is designed to prevent any one team from stockpiling too many young players without playing them, which started in 1959. Notable picks include Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, Bobby Bonilla, and Johan Santana.