Video Game Review: MLB 14 The Show

When I put my new (for me) copy of MLB 14 The Show into my PS3 for the first time (it won't hit shelves for the PS4 for about another month), the first thing I saw was... a screen prompting me to download and install the latest updates, which took upwards of 20 minutes. It's loading times like these that make me nostalgic for All-Star Baseball 2001, the crowning achievement of baseball video gaming in the cartridge (i.e. no waiting) era. As it turns out, the default hitting mode makes the gameplay feel a lot like a clunkier version of that same game, but more on that later. First, I should mention the second thing I saw (and the first thing I heard) - an intricate opening movie showcasing gameplay footage highlight reels of the six major award winners from 2013 (Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP, one for each league) set to the song "Rival" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

This opening title sequence gave me a lot of emotions to digest. First was disappointment, in that the polygonal character models and choppy swing animations still remind me too much of the early 2000's PS1 version of the same series (remember when it was Andruw Jones on the box art instead of Miguel Cabrera?). Then admiration, for the sheer level of detail in aspects such as stadium design, uniform variety (Jose Fernandez was shown in no fewer than four distinct jersey styles) and even stitching (the D in Detroit never looked so fancy). Then quizzicalness, as I was trying to figure out what the title song was. The only knowledge I have of BRMC is their song from Batman: Arkham City - The Album. Although it's nice that they have a video game track record, it's a decidedly less baseball-centric theme song than "Tessie" from EA's MVP Baseball 2005, the gold standard of both baseball video games and baseball video game soundtracks, in my (admittedly somewhat limited) opinion.

How little has changed from 2001 to 2013, except the aspect ratio and pixel count...

As it turns out, I was digesting these emotions long enough after the movie was over for the game to launch into demo mode, before I even selected a preferred difficulty level (my choices were Beginner or Experienced). As fate would have it, the two teams that the AI chose to pit against each other were two teams to which I have an extra special attachment: the Oakland Athletics (personal) and the New York Yankees (family). The initial introduction of the teams and stadium by play by play caller Matt Vasgersian was just as impressive and detailed (in its own way) as the intricate uniform stitching - they've even got the names and likenesses of the base coaches! Watching the gameplay itself is very reminiscent of watching a regular MLB game, especially in the pacing - I counted an average of about 15 seconds between pitches, but at least in the early innings, these seconds were filled not only with player animations (batters stepping out of the box, pitchers wandering around the mound) but also fun infographics about the matchup/weather/etc. Changing the mode to "Fast Play" reduces the between pitch time by about 10 seconds, making the proceedings feel slightly more like the old days of baseball gaming.

I only got through watching one full inning of the game before I was tempted to hit the Select button on my controller to join in the game. Somehow it knew to put me in control of the A's, my favorite team in all the major leagues (maybe this was because they were the home team). However, there was something notably out of date about the pitcher I was to control - it was Jarrod Parker, who WAS slated to be Oakland's Opening Day starter, until he went down for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery (the second of his career) which was announced on March 17. His presence at the top of the rotation brings up two interesting questions about how the game: 1) what date were the default rosters finalized and 2) how it handles injuries to key players. In a game that lets you control a dynasty for multiple years, it doesn't seem right to leave players out of the game entirely just because they're slated to miss one season, but I have to believe that if the programmers knew about Parker's injury, they would have moved him out of the Opening Day slot. More research is needed to find this out - it's only been a couple hours of gameplay after all.

Parker faced a Yankees starting lineup that was accurate, to a man, to my projected lineup for them (which was the same as ESPN's AL preview, but slightly different than Sports Illustrated's - but only in Brett Gardner's spot in the batting order). The only notable change for the A's lineup (not including batting order) was probably due to the presence of left handed pitcher CC Sabathia on the mound - they have Nate Freiman in there as the DH, as if this were still 2013 and the Rule 5 pick had to stay on the major league roster all season. In reality, Freiman started the year in the minors, but I don't begrudge the game this inconsistency. After all, there was no way to predict Daric Barton's hot spring (that sounds like a late night Skinemax TV show, doesn't it?) or that the A's would carry TWO left-handed hitting first basemen on their roster in this day of platoons.

The pitching interface no longer follows EA's model of holding down the button corresponding to the pitch you want until it fills up a power meter, and then releasing/re-pressing it just at the right moment. Instead, you only need a single button press, corresponding to the smallest point on a rapidly expanding and contracting circle, like shooting free throws in old timey basketball video games. I walked a couple batters, but also struck out two, in my first inning of work. Coming up to the plate, I was surprised to see a moveable target in the strike zone, presumably representing where I wanted to swing. This is the same setup as the All-Star Baseball's of the late 90's, but with one extremely important difference - in the old N64 classics, they showed you where the ball was heading, giving you a point of reference for your own target. In this system, you just have to guess. I ended up hitting a home run in my first ever at bat - a lined shot from Yoenis Cespedes that literally hit off the right field foul pole - but my next three batters proceeded to strike out swinging. Then when I gave up a home run to Jacoby Ellsbury in the next inning, I knew it was time to leave this gameplay stuff for the birds and try out a little roster construction.

The layout of the roster management section is insanely in-depth. You can sort players not only by position, league (you can/must set lineups for all levels all the way down to A-ball), and overall rating, but by advanced statistics such as RC and WAR, salary, and how many option years that player has remaining. I knew right away that my All-Acquired exhibition series is not only going to look awesome to watch, but the teams will also be super fun to put together with this new and improved user interface. I'm still in the dark as far as when the rosters were finalized judging by the top two players in the Free Agent category: Johan Santana didn't sign with the Orioles until March 4, which makes sense, but Chris Getz caught on with the Blue Jays back on January 20. Could it be that there are just some inconsistencies when it comes to non-roster invitees? Or maybe not even baseball video game programmers pay as much attention to the MLB transactions column as I do...

While I might be done with trying to actually play the baseball aspect of the game (I'm not the first to complain about the offensive woes of this series), the overall experience looks like a lot of fun. I'm definitely looking forward to hours of roster tinkering and to getting more familiar with the songs on the soundtrack, and to using the game as a simulation engine to preview alternate realities. It would have been nice to experience the game in the full graphical splendor of the PS4, but knowing me, I won't get around to buying a baseball game for that system until the PS5 is released.