MLB The Show 17 HR Derby Yastrzemski Mattingly Ripken Jr Longoria Medwick Lee Ramirez Helton PS4
3MLB The Show 17 HR Derby Yastrzemski Mattingly Ripken Jr Longoria Medwick Lee Ramirez Helton PS4
#mlbtheshow #mlbtheshow17 #ps4
What ign says
“The one constant through all the years...has been baseball.” Or, to frame James Earl Jones’s Field of Dreams quote in another way, baseball is a game that stubbornly sticks to tradition. New rules like pitch clocks aren’t rushed into practice without years of deliberation. With the sport itself remaining relatively static, it’s hard to fault MLB The Show 17 for maintaining its deliberate march toward perfection.
Yet, last year, the game took its biggest step this generation, with major additions to the career mode and a total revamp of its card-based Diamond Dynasty. For a series that seems to constantly tweak and not rebuild features, these changes were a big deal. Certainly, I thought, a second year of huge upgrades would be asking too much.
However, I was surprised to find that MLB The Show 17 does, in fact, take major strides to make the game more authentic and, in turn, more fun.
Hits and Highlights
The expectations are set high early, with a surprisingly good opening video; it’s definitely worth watching at least once. From there, the menus have been given a fresh look. They continue to be easy to navigate and put the stuff used most often right up front.
In-game, lighting has been improved, which is especially notable after the attention it has received over the past few years. Day games are especially vibrant. I continue to be impressed by the MLB The Show 17’s ability to communicate the time of day and year based solely on changes in the sky and lighting.
The game is full of new animations, which do more than look nice. They have a definite impact on how you and the AI play the game. For instance, infielders read the runners in order to put an appropriate amount of velocity on their throws. No longer will you see a runner beat out a throw because the fielder casually took too long.
In the outfield, defenders don’t take robotically precise routes to the ball anymore. I’ve seen outfielders get a poor jump on a fly ball, then compensate and make a great catch. I’ve also witnessed a fielder close in too quickly to the ball, only to watch it skip to the wall for extra bases. These animations are very subtle sometimes, but noticeable if you’ve been a regular fan of the series.
Add to these new animations a large increase in hit variety, and you’ve got a very authentic looking and playing baseball game. Sony touted a big jump in the number of different types of hits you can get, and they didn’t exaggerate. Floating line drives, spinning grounders, and wind-blown fly balls look and act very realistically. My favorite type of hits to watch are bloop singles that fall just out of reach of any fielder. I don’t recall seeing this type of hit in past versions of The Show.
New MLB Network broadcast elements also increase the game’s authenticity. One particularly neat aspect is Showtrack, a stat-driven overlay that appears on some replays. For example, I hit a long home run and was treated with an illustration of the path of the ball, exit velocity, hang time, and distance. It looks exactly like something you’d see on TV. If there’s one complaint regarding the presentation of MLB The Show 17, it’s that the transitions reveal some framerate issues. To be fair, these are the only performance hiccups I’ve seen so far, playing on a regular PS4 and standard HDTV.
The MLB Network stuff also brings new commentary, thanks to on-air personalities Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac. Initially, I felt that there wasn’t a lot of connection between long-time announcer Matt Vasgersian and the new guys. Their lines seemed to exist in a vacuum. But the more I’ve played, the more I noticed conversational exchanges between the three. Vasgersian still dominates as the play-by-play guy, but both Plesac and Reynolds offer timely and accurate information. There seems to be a new focus on explaining batters’ past performance against each pitcher, which is neat.
Unfortunately, repetitive lines of dialogue continue to creep in. In fact, during one game Harold Reynolds described both starting pitchers by using the same exact lines. With a limited amount recorded content, repetition is something that will likely be more noticeable the more I play. Still, this is probably the best team of broadcasters The Show has had, thanks to their fresh and interesting dialogue. The three-man crew ably brings the feel of real TV baseball onto the PS4.
Mode Trip
The three main modes of play return: Road to the Show, Franchise, and Diamond Dynasty. Added to the mix is the new Retro Mode, an attempt to replicate old 16-bit baseball games like Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball. While I loved those old games, this mode falls flat for me. For one thing, splash screens, text, sound effects, and music are delivered with old-school charm, while the players and animations are still current gen.