For the past few seasons, the MLB: The Show series has been the class of baseball video games, continually improving on what is already the most authentic baseball game available. By building off the near-perfect foundation of previous years, MLB 10: The Show continues this remarkable upward trend and delivers yet another gem for those baseball fans owning a PlayStation 3.

Gameplay – 9.0

Baseball is all about timing. Determining when to swing at a pitch is more important than deciding whether to swing at all. The importance of timing is exponentially increased when used in a baseball video game. MLB 10: The Show properly factors each aspect of every pitch and generates as authentic a result as if you are actually swinging a bat yourself. Not only does the batter respond perfectly, but the ball off the bat does as well. Pitches thrown on the outside part of the plate will be slapped into the opposite field if hit properly. Inside pitches will be crushed if you can turn on them fast enough. This has been done before, but MLB 10: The Show has mastered it.

In addition to simply slapping at the ball or yanking it down the line, MLB 10: The Show gives you the feeling that you are actually making contact with the pitch when you swing. The collision-detection system is so accurate that while swinging the bat, your mind is already preparing for where the ball will be hit, and the physics engine within MLB 10: The Show complies. This sort of connection between real-life physics and on-screen action is impressive enough for a typical video game, but is astounding for a baseball title.

Pitching in MLB 10: The Show is basically the same as in years past. A meter fills up as the pitch effectiveness rises then violent depletes as you try to pinpoint the accuracy of your pitch to the small bar in the meter. Pitchers also gain and lose confidence in specific pitches throughout the game based on their success (or lack thereof) with each one. The change in confidence will directly impact the size of the “accuracy line”, resulting in increased ease or difficulty to pinpoint your pitches.

Building off of last year’s model, the pitchers in MLB 10: The Show tend to tire at the appropriate time in each game. As the pitch count rises, accuracy and effectiveness dip. This leads to harder hits and more walks, and usually a visit to the mound from the manager. The effect from the increased pitch is incredibly accurate to real life, as pitchers that are constantly throwing “pressure pitches” get worn down much faster than those simply throwing the ball to the catcher.

To enhance the execution of higher pitch counts, batters now see many more pitches, whether by swinging through them or simply taking them. The balance is excellent, however, as CPU pitchers now throw many more pitches far enough out of the strike zone that you can easily lay off them to work the count. Rather than have every pitcher with Greg Maddux-like accuracy where no pitch misses the strike zone by more than two inches, deciding whether or not to swing is actually fair.

The fielding in MLB 10: The Show is relatively unchanged from recent years, with the addition of a few new animations, most notably “bad hops” as the ball skips off a virtual rock and careens of the fielder’s chest. While most of the fielding is incredibly accurate (a pitcher fielding a bunt and throwing off balance will almost assuredly result in an error), the very few hiccups found in MLB 10: The Show occur after the ball is put into play. On very rare occasions, fielders will flat out miss ground balls or line drives, even when position properly. Also, a setback from last year’s game reappears when middle infielders try to flip the ball to second base and end up waiting way too long before softly flipping it sky-high over to their partner. These gameplay “errors” don’t happen often, but definitely raise eyebrows when projected upon the rest of baseball perfection that is MLB 10: The Show.

Taking the entire gameplay package of MLB 10: The Show into account, it remains clear that it is indeed the most realistic baseball game ever made. Every single detail is taken into account, and the extrapolations of the smallest elements over the course of a 9-inning game are remarkable.

Presentation – 10.0

Playing a game of baseball in MLB 10: The Show is simply special, more like a work of art than a video game. Putting aside the fact that the graphics are incredible (both stadium and player models), the overall atmosphere of a baseball game is captured in MLB 10: The Show.

Beginning with last year’s iteration of The Show, Sony has captured the lighting element of day and night baseball games like no other. Night games start with a warm, setting sun casting long shadows across the diamond and finish in the dark of night. This transition is so seamless that as the time passes and the innings get fewer, the game shifts from an after-dinner special to a primetime event unfolding on your television.

During the actual game, cameras have been moved to create a more “broadcast” presentation by default, although they could easily be adjusted to best suit your needs. The most obvious change appears after a ball is hit while the CPU plays defense. The camera shifts to focus more on the ball and the fielder rather than your player running the bases. The change is excellent, and absolutely places the emphasis on the actual game itself.

At the end of every game, online or offline, MLB 10: The Show provides a “Highlight Reel”, with the game’s biggest plays from start to finish. This was also included in last year’s version, and totally recaptures the drama that unfolded during the game. A new feature, based in theory off of the Highlight Reel, is the Movie Maker. Just as it sounds, you are now able to not only save your replays (something that should be included in every sports game), but also include camera cuts to enhance your directing skills. Additionally, you can create one highlight at a time, or make your own highlight reel and save it directly to your PlayStation 3’s dashboard.

The commentary in MLB 10: The Show is excellent, both accurate and timely. The announcers will even draw conclusions from previous plays and reiterate the situation as it unfolds. For example, if you ground into a double play after almost being called out on strikes, the announcers will comment that you should have been out already, but now cost your team two outs instead. While these remarks will get used as often as the situation occurs, the inclusion of condition-specific comments that span more than one pitch is extremely enjoyable.

Game Modes – 9.0

At the forefront of most MLB: The Show fans is the Road to the Show (“RTTS”) mode, an RPG where you try to take your created player through the minor and major leagues to try to become baseball’s next Hall of Fame player. The inspiration to MLB 2K10’s My Player mode, RTTS has been the standard-setter for years, and continues to improve on its innovative foundation.

The most prevalent new adjustment to RTTS is the effect of attributes on your created player. Early in his fledgling career, while still trying to gain crucial experience points, your RTTS character will make a lot of errors and strike out or weakly ground out often. This places an increased emphasis on allocation of experience points, since you won’t be getting too far without any pop in your bat.

To balance out the early struggles of your minor leaguer, MLB 10: The Show takes its improved batting mechanic to RTTS, specifically the ability to get “bloop” hits. The combination of a weaker starting base level and the more forgiving swing system is perfect, and officially turned Road to the Show into the most fun game mode available.

While RTTS has taken subtle, but large steps forward, there are a few issues that hinder it, most notably the baserunning. Baserunning is controlled by the right joystick, where pushing it in the direction of the intended base will make your player run there. The issue lies in the fact that this is tied to the orientation of the camera, rather than simply pushing “right” on the joystick to advance and “left” to retreat.

When your RTTS player is on base, the camera is in a third person view behind him. When the ball is put into play, the camera swings around (with your player’s vision) to where the ball is going initially. Unfortunately, this totally destroys any hope of making your player run to the next base, since you typically can’t find the right direction to run. Often times, this results in your player not knowing where to go and bouncing back and forth in the baseline until you decide to commit to a direction.

Also new to RTTS is the revamped catching position, thanks in large part to the game’s cover athlete Joe Mauer. If you decide to play your career as a catcher, you will actually get to “call the game” (tell your pitcher what pitches to throw). The concept is great, and anybody that wants to spend their time as a virtual catcher will thoroughly enjoy doing so, but with every single defensive pitch being shown, each game is extremely time consuming.

The franchise mode in MLB 10: The Show is fairly basic, and follows virtually the same path as last year’s edition. The biggest improvements to The Show’s franchise come in two forms: the addition of supplemental features like Home Run Derby and the vastly improved online play.

MLB 09: The Show featured online franchise leagues, but they were largely restricted by the amount of lag found on the servers. As explained earlier, timing is of the utmost importance in a baseball video game, and lag renders the entire experience utterly useless. Thankfully, these issues have all been rectified, and the online games play as fluidly as offline once you retrain your timing for the slight response difference.

MLB 10: The Show is not only the most realistic baseball video game ever, it is also one of the best sports games in history. The only small issues are so minute that they only get noticed because the overall product is so good. Above all else, if you own a PlayStation 3 and have any interest in baseball, you must own MLB 10: The Show.

As the old adage wisely states, “baseball is a game of inches.” The slightest tweaks can alter an entire game. MLB 10: The Show exploits each and every one, and brings an importance to every single part of the sport. The fantastic presentation of each stadium packed (or sprinkled) with fans as the night sets in and the pressure mounts is a constant reminder that there is no better game that sets the stage for America’s pastime better than MLB 10: The Show.

Score: 9.5/10

• Pros:
  • Hands down, best baseball game made to date
  • Road to the Show is a truly enjoyable experience on its own
  • Between graphics and overall atmosphere, it is easily the best presented baseball game of all time
  • The physics of the baseball, whether being pitched, hit, or fielded, mirrors real life perfectly
• Cons:
  • Baserunning in Road to the Show is still comical
  • Small graphical glitches, e.g. on rare occasions, the socks on pitchers flicker between stirrups and high socks
• Random Fact:
  • According to Sony, MLB 10: The Show holds more than 81% market share on the PlayStation 3.

MLB 10: The Show was developed by SCE San Diego and Published by Sony and was released on March 2, 2010.