MLB 14 The Show: First Impression

2014-04-03-1239542TITLE: MLB 14 The Show
Language: English
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Format: PSVita, PS3, PS4
Type: Game
Genre: Sports Sim

This is actually the first “The Show” game I have played. In previous years I have stuck to the MLB 2K series, but sadly that series is no more. At first I thought I could just do away with baseball games as I already play a ton of FIFA and Hotshot gulf to get my virtual jock fill, but I think its a good thing to see what I was missing all this time from the grass on the other side of the pitch. I got MLB 14 The Show on the release date, actually stayed up all night downloading it on the vita. (Just a quick side note with relevance. Sony needs to fix the PSVita’s Wifi settings in a future update. The only way i was able to download the game was to manually keep my Vita awake or it would go into sleep, switch off the wifi and pause my download. Yes there is a setting to leave wifi on during sleep but that doesn’t work for some reason or the other. FIX IT SONY!). That aside I was able to get the game installed properly by the 2nd and able to boot it up on my Vita. At the Start screen i was greeted with a strangely long loading time. At first I thought my Vita had frozen due to some form of corruption during the download (this happens a lot with Vita digital downloads), but after pressing the PlayStation button and returning to the game it was ready to play. there were two options to choose; Beginner and Expert settings. I choose the Expert setting as I was of the impression it would not be that different from 2K’s games. I was wrong of course. I ended to having to quite my first game in the Exhibition mode due to my inability to throw the ball properly, Bat, catch and a whole lot of other things that are needed to win a game. I returned again to try it later that day and though I was quite a competent pitcher, that was only half the match and I would get creamed the second a player got a simi-decent hit on the ball. After having my arse handed to me a few times I reluctantly through in the towel and deleted my save data to start over as a beginner. As a beginner the adventure began

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Just getting started

As a beginner all you the player have to focus on is either the batter or pitcher. the AI handles the fielders. It does a great job of that allowing you the player to learn each position at a time and when you are ready, or it thinks you are ready they will suggest you change difficulties. This was a feature available in the 2k games as well so i felt at home with it. The pitching in both games is the same and as I usually build a Pitcher in my career playthough in MLB 2K I was soon striking out whole teams with scores like 3 & 0. The batting is also quite manageable in easy mode, not as much as pitching though.

I won’t call the Menu system good or bad but rather adequate. It has all the modes you would expect from a modern sports game. As of this moment i have not played all the modes yet. I have played Exhibition and Road to the show so far. The other modes are Franchise, PostSeason, Home Run Derby, and Practice (ok i played this one too so make that 3 modes I’ve played so far). Road to the show is the main mode to in the game for me. I was able to create a player, as a teen now getting his break and trying to get into the majors. There was even a great Draft system that occurred after you play about 3 games in pre-season.

Menu Layout
Menu Layout

The Show on Vita supports a mixture of touch and button controls. It makes it quite comfortable to choose your playing style depending on if you are a casual player or hardcore. stick to the sticks and button controls as they feel the most comfortable to me. The game also has very low audio so make sure you have those headphones at the ready if you want to follow the action, not that it’s that exciting to listen to as 2K was. 2K ‘s commentators were informative calling out hints, stats and more important information for each player that stepped up to the plate or pitcher that stood on the mound. This give the game an authentic feeling as if you were watching a real game on ESPN. The Show commentators say the occasional lines but they seem not to want to talk unless its just a short sentence like “oh and he was struck out the last time he was at the plate”. Frak! i already know that. Tell me stuff like how he did in his last match or if he’s weak against my changeup.

The graphics department is also a bit of a department where the Vita version seems lacking. I don’t know why though as the Vita has some nice power and the Ps3/4 versions look gorgeous. Now don’t miss understand this is not an ugly game. The Pitch looks good and player models move and look great. The problem is when you get up close. They look ugly up close and this is extended into character creation. As the looks are limited so too are the customizations to your player’s looks. Heads come prefab with just a handful of choices and no detailed custom features. I was able to make a close enough version of me as I could for the Road to the Show mode, but i would have loved to at least get get my hair style of nothing more. 🙁
The game also suffers from a small playlist. You’ll probably listen to all of them in while you set up your settings alone like I did. The musical selection is small but you will find some gems that make can be listened to on loop like: Sir Sly – Gold, and Jake Bugg – Slumville Sunrise.

Long loading times, lower than expected Graphics, limited customization, small playlist. All that aside this is a great Baseball game for the go. After each home run I celebrated just as I use to when I played 2K’s MLB flavor on my PC and isn’t that what matters most, the Fun Factor?

Qudduws Campbell

That messy hair bloke: Romantic, Food lover, Gamer, Sports Fan, Manga Reader, Tech Head, Podcaster... Pretty much do a bit of everything.

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