‘MLB The Show 18’ Review: “Out Looking”

In 2013, I chose the PlayStation 4 over the Xbox One based solely on the fact that I am a huge baseball fan. Sony had MLB The Show, while Microsoft unfortunately had no MLB video game. Since then, I’ve also brought an Xbox One S, and now almost every game I buy is for Xbox—except for The Show.

 

Before I get to everything wrong with this year’s game, let’s go through the hits. First of all, the gameplay as a whole is much improved. Fielding is noticeably cleaner, and the in-game characters play much more like their real-life counterparts. The transition of the ball from glove to hand, particularly for infielders, has caused a lot less frustration in terms of lackadaisical plays causing a runner to beat out a throw.

 

In terms of hitting, the ball takes a more realistic path when struck, which allows for more variety, including deep-corner triples and no-man’s-land singles. Also, the new swing indicator does a better job showing why a ball was (or wasn’t) hit, so gamers can adjust from pitch-to-pitch. The new camera angles have been a nice addition, too, but they aren’t really for me personally.

 

One of my favorite changes in this year’s game is the overall atmosphere at the stadium. Fans have personality according to their city (ex: Dodgers fans might show up to games late), and they will react according to what’s happening on the field (ex: leaving when their team is getting blown out). Plus, rain delays have finally been included, and if a game goes long enough, the sun will actually begin to rise again, which is pretty cool.

 

Finally, the player-progression system in Road to the Show has changed, and as someone who doesn’t spend money on stubs to improve my player, I’d say it’s a significant improvement. Now, if you want to improve your ratings, you’ll need to perform on the virtual diamond, and the archetype you choose to begin the mode will cap your ratings in each category. In other words, there will be no more superhuman CAPs; for a simulation baseball game, I think that’s a good thing.

 

Now to the bad, which there is a lot of. The biggest swing-and-miss from San Diego Studios in The Show 18 is the removal of online franchise. Despite being a barebones mode, people absolutely loved creating a league with their friends or fellow gamers and competing to win a World Series against each other.

 

And it’s not even just that they took out the mode, but also that they didn’t even announce it until this month, which is a pretty unethical thing to do. I bet a lot of people that might not be active on social media didn’t even know about it until they brought the game and realized online franchise was not longer an option.

 

Furthermore, the main reason for taking out the mode was to improve the overall stability of the servers. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t help. You can literally check any tweet from the game’s Twitter account to see justified attacks in the replies—almost all of which have to do with the awful servers.

 

Like many others, I have barely been able to play Diamond Dynasty. When I do finally stay connected long enough to get in a game, I usually either get kicked or finish the game and have it not count. It’s been frustrating enough that I’m seriously considering trying to return The Show if I can get a full refund.

 

I’ve honestly spent most of my time looking at cards and mission in DD, and while I like the overall setup much more than Madden‘s Ultimate Team or NBA 2K’s MyTeam, I am not at all a fan of the new ratings with legends having attributes in the triple-digits. San Diego Studios should have tweaked the ratings to account for the all-time greats, but it should have made everyone go down, not up. I don’t see why legends should have much higher ratings than Mike Trout, who is a living legend.

 

So, with Diamond Dynasty being a flop due to the servers (despite the removal of online franchise), what am I supposed to do? I’m definitely waiting until user-created rosters that include minor leaguers are finished to start my franchise, and I’d like to do the same for Road to the Show.

 

I feel like a lot would be solved if the company shelled out whatever money/resources needed to acquire the rights to minor-leaguers, especially since many of them probably wouldn’t even need financial compensation, as being in a video game is compensation in and of itself. That would allow me and other big baseball fans to play RTTS and franchise from the start with the real-life farm systems in the game at launch.

 

I could go on and on about the other flaws in MLB The Show 18, from disjointed commentary (despite adding Mark DeRosa to the booth) to having no significant franchise improvements to unethical practices by the company in general, but it’s really not worth any more time than I’ve given it.

 

Adding a batting stance creator and a few more hairstyles simply isn’t enough. After the disappointment of MLB The Show 18, I don’t see the need to own a PS4 at all anymore.

 

Verdict: “Out looking.” — ‘MLB The Show 18’ has improved gameplay, but the server issues are still blatant, and the main game modes have stayed stagnant or regressed, which could be the start of a downfall for the franchise.

 

Score: 6.8