MLB The Show 2022 – Test of MLB The Show 22 – Until the end of the dream

The latest from Sony’s Studio San Diego arrived on the mound with one thing in mind: strike out competitors before they even thought they existed. Bet held easily like every year, but does he also make a home run for the average player?

walk of life

The series of MLB The Show is THE baseball game simulation, both for its qualities and also for the simple fact that there hasn’t been another in years. It’s hard to make a name for yourself when the reference game comes out every year with perfect regularity, and what’s more when it holds the official license of Major League Baseball. This is also one reason why MLB « kindly » asked sony please consider the release on other platforms than the Japanese manufacturer’s only since edition 21: for the first time, it was released on consoles Microsoft in addition to the two home consoles from Sony, this to extend the distribution of MLB and reach an even wider audience (and obviously raise even more money in passing, it’s obviously fair game). And this year, a new surprise: the game is also available on the Switchin a version necessarily a little less punchy graphically, but with fairly respectable performance moreover according to the feedback (even if some framerate and graphics defects are noted).

Behind the bat…

…or on the mound…

This year, the star who has the honors of covers and cinematics is the Japanese player of the Los Angeles Angels: Shohei Ohtani (succeeding on the cover of the special edition to no less than the emblematic Jackie Robinson, whom even a peon as I know at least by name). For the record, the young (27) player landed in MLB in 2018 after a few years in the antechamber of the major league and since then has collected awards, records and distinctions despite an absence due to shoulder surgery. A very complete player who can be a pitcher, outfielder or even designated hitter, he is nicknamed  » Shotime “: it was therefore clearly intended to cover the game of the Japanese publisher one day or another. When the game is launched, a cutscene also presents the player and the very long-term plan he had launched years ago to realize his dream of becoming one of the best players on the planet; obviously, given his fame and his abilities, he looks well on his way, anyway. Then, we arrive directly in a match, at the controls of the star of LA, in which we have the opportunity to feel the gameplay of throwing and striking. There’s nothing like getting on your feet before attacking…

STATS!

LOTS of STATS!

Sultans of Swing

The main menu looks succinct until you unroll it and you can then notice that you are spoiled for choice in terms of game modes. It is obviously possible to play games at the volley by choosing the match teams and a whole range of additional options (number of rounds, stadium, weather conditions, etc.); it will also be possible to play legendary matches between emblematic teams of the last decades, all the players having entered the gigantic roster of the game. In addition to the various simple game modes, more complete game modes are also available, starting with  » Road to the show » : this mode consists of creating your character (almost from A to Z) and bringing it from the smallest league to the majors by playing all the matches assigned by the coaches of the teams that have hired you. It is possible to choose the role of the player – I chose to do a closer : a pitcher tasked with finishing games, called in the final inning(s) to relieve the lead pitcher and manhandle tired opposing hitters. So I was able to chain games to just pitch over and over again one or two innings per game, but of course you can also do a batter, a starting pitcher, an on base or outfielder, or even several roles , all at your convenience.

Strike out!

Guests in a mess

Obviously it is a very complete mode, because it has been widely tested in previous episodes, so we are entitled to many cutscenes in the form of podcasts mixing advice from a (real) baseball player in the minor league, advice psychological, career analyses… With the contest of old or current glories of the game like Joe Mauer, Cliff Floyd or Ken Griffey Jr, the podcast evolves dynamically according to your performance in what is the career mode of the game. According to the archetype (pitcher / batter / outfielder) chosen, you can take ages to climb from Double-A to MLB and fine-tune your player’s (many) statistics while enjoying the game’s fine-grained gameplay. great fun to play.

The mode Diamond Dynasty focuses on the collectible card game representing current or past players of the game’s teams: you start with 10 decks to « open » virtually to start your collection and the goal of the mode is then to build a suitable roster to build a team. It is possible to buy and sell (with Stubsthe in-game currency) cards on a dedicated marketplace and thus complete your dream team to then play games, accumulate Stubsaccumulate cards, make transactions with other players… Of course, there is no small profit and it is obviously possible to buy Stubs with hard and stumbling change on your store prefer…

Brothers in Arms

The following two modes, March to October and Franchise, are modes dedicated to teams. The first puts you in the shoes of the players of the selected team in the key moments of the games of the season leading the team to glory and the World Series. The mode Franchise extends the management of a team from A to Z… Fortunately, it comes with options to manage more or less things: for beginners (like me), you can choose to only take care of the management of the lineup, rotations during matches and player injuries. But we can also manage the identification of talented players to sign them with the team, even for the most motivated take care of the total management of the team through the staff itself, the contracts, the negotiations between teams, the entire locker room… So many options that will delight baseball team owner simulation fans.

Managing a team offers a lot of flexibility

With obviously the management of the roster

But to return to the virtual practice of this sport, we still have plenty of other choices of games. In addition to the quick games already mentioned to have a little match on the go, MLB The Show 22 presents weekly challenges to win physical prizes (autographs, etc.) or digital goodies; one can also compete in home run derbies against other opponents online. Obviously, the game is not stingy with a good competition between players from all over the world and an overall ranking of players during online matches under the sign of crossplay: players from all platforms can therefore cross bats to determine who is the strongest… But also team up in 3v3 or 2v2 co-op games! And in addition to crossplay, MLB The Show 22 is also cross-progressive: it is thus possible to find its full profile even by changing platforms. As long as you unite all the console supports, you might as well do it well after all.

Really lots of STATS!

With challenges to increase your STATS even more!

Your Latest Trick

Did I mention the STATS?

For an enlightened baseball fan and especially for fans of the American League, MLB The Show 22 aims straight at the heart. Ultra complete with game modes galore, big names and options in every nook and cranny, and between a small quick game and total management of an MLB team, the game is clearly more than generous, with the pleasure to be able to play co-op offline and online, crossplay and cross-progression. However, does the game only have qualities? Is it for an (almost) neophyte like me? One of the first big downsides of the game is the lack of translation. I fully understand that it is complicated to translate the thousands of lines of texts, podcasts and comments entirely into English; and the game is aimed primarily at the American public. But even if you know how to speak English properly, the profusion of technical terms sometimes (often) makes it difficult to understand everything you can / must manage, and above all, ESPECIALLY, the cyclopean mass of statistics in every way. When you don’t know, it’s simple: you understand absolutely nothing about what you’re increasing, what you’re training, what you read on the screen. And there, unfortunately, no help.

So if you decide to attack career or team game modes, you will have to invest time to learn at least the basics of all the statistics tables that will be presented, and believe me, there are LOTS of them. In the absence of everything know, it will still be advisable to have at least a few notions in the rules of the game before considering the purchase – that said, I think that if you buy it, it is most often with full knowledge of the facts… While quibbling, I will also regret the repetitiveness of the comments in the matches, even if we mainly focus on the game itself.

For the rest, it’s all good (except as far as I’m concerned the virtual currency that you can buy with real currency, but you have to keep the business running my good sir) and with a quick game or two you quickly assimilate the perfectly calibrated gameplay of all the compartments of the game. And so, in addition to great baseball fans, an average player will be able to take pleasure in handling the bat or putting on the gloves.

But hey, if you want to buy some, huh…

Test carried out by Bardiel Wyld on playstation5 from a version provided by the publisher.