Game Reviews

And it wasn't until I looked a bit closer that significant imperfections started to show. Stadium crowds, for example, look almost 8-bit in some ballparks, which is incredibly jarring compared to the convincing player models. Second, the returning three-man commentary crew doesn’t sound particularly connected to what’s happening on your virtual field. They just sit back reciting obviously canned lines that convey the same level of natural emotional reaction to your on-field antics as Siri reading last night's box scores. And I saw a number of instances of player clipping, where a baserunner would momentarily merge with a fielder - a clear violation of both MLB regulations and molecular physics.

Occasionally, that problem extends beyond illusion-shattering and into gameplay-breaking, such as the time I witnessed Diamondbacks centerfielder Adam Eaton go through the outfield wall like the ghost of the Kool-Aid Man in an effort to run down a deep fly ball that ended up (correctly) bouncing off the fence. What should’ve been a double went for an extra base because my outfielder was stuck outside of the gameplay space.

Errors like those, of course, only rarely interfere with the rock-solid gameplay that's earned this series great scores for the past three years. Pitching feels great however you like to control your throws, whether it’s pure analog, simple button press, or the Pulse Pitching added last year. The latter is my method of choice; the timing minigame based on a pitcher’s real-life control and in-game fatigue adds an extra element of skill to throwing. Same goes for hitting: variety is laudable, with a fair mix of broken bats, dribblers, simple groundouts, line drives, popups, and homers that happen whether you pick buttons, zone-based, or (my preference, because it feels the most like a real swing) pure analog. Even fielding is fun, thanks to MVP Baseball 2005-style throwing meters that let you make slow, easy tosses or risk a quick zinger to first if you’re rushed.

Perhaps worth the purchase purely on its own is the returning Road to the Show mode. Satisfaction is delivered in 5 to 10-minute bursts when you recreate yourself (or chosen stand-in) as a minor leaguer in the farm system of your favorite team, choose your position (I always fancied myself a second baseman), and play out your at-bats and fielding opportunities. New this year is the much appreciated ability to press L1 in order to pick up your third-base coach when running the base paths and hitting R1 to track the ball. Working on my multi-week goals – and of course ultimately reaching the majors – was a massive incentive to keep playing. Sure, you can sim Road to the Show games, but they go quick enough that you probably won’t want to.