MLB 14: The Show

9.0 Overall Score
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics : 9/10
Sound: 8/10

pitcher/batter battle | player lock | ball park atmosphere | user community | lots of game modes | vita connectivity

long load times | glitchey online | announcing has a sameness to it

Game Info

GAME NAME: MLB 14: The Show

DEVELOPER(S): SCE San Diego Studio

PUBLISHER(S): Sony

PLATFORM(S): PS3, PS4, PS Vita

GENRE(S): Sports

RELEASE DATE(S): May 6, 2014

detroit

The late great broadcaster Ernie Harwell would begin the first game of Detroit Tigers spring training with this stanza:

For, lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of the singing of birds is come, 

And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

A long baseball-less winter is finally over. Welcome back to the boys of summer.

 

MLB-14-the-show-field

We Playstation gamers have been spoiled entirely with the greatness of MLB: The Show for quite some time now. This year’s iteration marks the debut of the series on Playstation 4. It is not without it’s hiccups, such as long load times and unreliable online play. When the game is moving, though, it hums like a well oiled machine. It’s been over a month of patience waiting for the new fancy box to get what the PS3 has enjoyed since March. The wait was worth it. This game is packed with tons of options and modes.

MLB-14-the-show-pitch

The pitching and batting mechanics allow for Right stick enthusiasts and us old school button pushers to be well represented. The user has tons of options here when it comes to picking the right control scheme for you. This is the bones of any baseball game and really where it will either shine or die. Timing truly is everything here. The Show has done a great job at the plate and on the mound. Quick menus allow the player to access information, bullpen warmups, and defensive adjustments on the fly. Every batter and pitcher has their own quirks and skill levels. The Show does a great job representing the difference between a Cy Young level pitcher and a back of the rotation number 5. Presentation wise this game is stunning. The player animations, ball parks atmospheres, and player details are simply amazing on the PS4. Leave your controller alone long enough on the mound and the game cuts to scenes happening around the ballpark like a mascot jumping on the dugout or a shortstop kicking dirt around. The amount of batting stances, pitching wind-ups, and delivery styles is incredible. Just picking a batting stance in the Road To The Show was a labor of love for me. Opposing crowds will rattle an under performing pitcher and and chants from the bleachers range from the generic “MVP” to more specific “Lets Go Fish!”.

MLB-14-the-show-slide

Game Modes are plentiful and vary from the fast distractions like a Home Run Derby (Giancarlo Stanton all the way!) and the uber immersive Franchise. You can lose your time in a variety of ways here depending on your play style. Road To The Show returns and keeps you coming back in an RPG like “just one more level-up”  way. Having a Vita for cross-play in this mode is great giving the user the chance to continue their career on the go, send your save file to the cloud, and then pick it up on your PS4. This isn’t a new feature but still welcome as it’s one of my favorite ways to enjoy MLB. Online, unfortunately is a space where The Show doesn’t have it’s big boy pants on. Long load times and glitchy gameplay make playing a game rough especially on batters where every split second counts. I’m sure the developers will continue to work on this but online play doesn’t hold a candle to playing a friend in the same house yet.

The Recommendation

In all MLB 14: The Show represents the best version of digital baseball I’ve yet played in my life. The gameplay is impressively deep. The presentation is great. The only thing keeping this baseball nerd from giving it an even higher score is it’s lack of online consistency and excessive load times. If you’re a baseball fan and looking to play a sports game on your PS4 this is a must purchase.

 

 

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Author: Dante View all posts by
Living in Detroit by way of Miami. I try to play as many videogames, read as many books, and consume as much football basketball and baseball as I can without my head exploding. Looking forward to: Zelda, South Park, Horizon, Mass Effect, Red Dead, and Mario Odyssey.

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