Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP

Genre: Sports

Number of Players: 1 - 2

Support: HD 1080i, PS Network Compatible

Peripherals: Ethernet Broadband

It’s baseball season already and the assault of games has begun. Already PlayStation owners have seen Sony’s MLB 07: The Show arrive on the PlayStation 2 as well as the PSP. For some however, they’ve been wondering just where the game is for the PlayStation 3. Why cast that aside? Well, Sony certainly hasn’t, and while it may have been just a little late coming to the proverbial game, that doesn’t mean that its lateness is going to detract from what the game has to offer.

I really don’t think I need to go into too much detail on what this game is all about, and in the world of virtual baseball, the only things that you’ll be missing out on are the real time fan reactions, the smell of overpriced food, and some idiot sitting a few rows down who insists on trying to yell every single nickname that the club house has come up with for players. Yes, I have been to a few baseball games, and there are fans out there that I just want to choke to death simply because they are annoying, and there tend to be a lot of them. But, MLB 07: The Show let’s you get closer than you ever could at the ballpark itself, and half the fun of any video game like this is that you control all the action, or try to at least.

All of the teams and stars of the 2007 season of Major League Baseball can be found here as well as the stadiums that you know and love, or maybe hate. The game let’s you take control of when the game will be played, the line-up’s, and virtually everything else. However, there is something a little extra in the cards for this game. You will find Real Time Rosters included so if the Rangers have made a change to their line-up for the evening and that’s who you happen to be playing as, you have the option of reflecting that. If a trade was made by the Marlins or if a player is out due to injury, you can mirror this if it just so happens that you are playing as one of those teams. There is even a real time ticker that will keep you up to date on all the action in the MLB including who is on base, batting, the current score, and almost anything else you’d want to know, though I doubt that if you’re favorite team is playing you’ll be playing this game, unless of course they are losing. In that case, you can simply try and create a fantasy version of the game where they win, but it certainly won’t change the outcome of reality.

Just like the past MLB games that have come from Sony, you have the option of participating in an exhibition match, manager mode or franchise mode, rivalry, season, and of course career. It all depends on just how in depth you’re willing to get with the game, and the career mode features two versions. There is the classic mode and the new Roda to the Show Mode. Once you’ve created your player, you will embark on a baseball season that actually involves a little bit of a role-playing aspect where the games and innings will have certain objectives that must be met. The franchise mode on the other hand has you running the show from the front office and is more of a financial experience than anything else, but still entertaining if you want to take a break away from the hectic road life of baseball.

As we’ve also seen with the past incarnations of The Show, you have control over almost every aspect of game play allowing those that might not be up to par to adjust the game to their liking. You can take the game to the point where you will be doing very little save for pitching and hitting all the way to the extent where you will be doing everything. The game now features a new Adaptive Pitching Intelligence where the catchers will give you information on the batters and more or less suggest pitches to help you strike them out, at least that’s the plan. You don’t have to always follow their advice of course, but who knows, they may be onto something. Pitchers also have a new Pitch Command System that will allow for patterns to be used against hitters in an effort to confuse them and the umpires have Variable Strike Zones. What this means is that each umpire has his own idea of where the strike zone is, much like anyone has seen during a baseball game.

Just like the NBA ’07 seen on the PlayStation 3, MLB ’07: The Show offers online play with a number of options for the gamer. Your stats will be tracked and compared against others playing the game, you can participate in chats, start a buddy list, start an online league, and even create your own gaming conditions and upload them for others to enjoy. You can also use the games Rivalry mode here just as you can against the computer. And, one other thing that makes its way into all forms of play is the SIXAXIS controller. While it’s not a huge asset to the game, it can be used to direct your slides and give you a little better control, though like many of the games that use this technology, it takes a few tries to get accustomed to just how it works during gameplay.

The PlayStation 3 and the Cell Processor offer some new visual elements that other systems just aren’t capable of. Wind effects and crowd interaction are all a part of the game, though with the win, I did notice that in outdoor stadium, things like a flag blowing the breeze were simply a graphic loop and not so impressive. Everything else in the game however is amazing. The crowd doesn’t just look like a grouping of cardboard cut outs but instead move outside of the general repetition often seen in sports games, though repetition does still exist, but it’s not nearly as horrible as before. Players take to the field and recreate their famous stances while batting, pitching, or even fielding and overall, the game does breath realism into the game of baseball on the PS3. To illustrate this a bit further, my wife actually turned and glanced at the screen while I was playing and didn’t realize that I was actually playing a game but instead, she though I was watching baseball, something that is highly out of character for me as it is.

Baseball on the PlayStation 3 has never looked or played better. Forget about all of the negative hype that the mainstream media, critics, and other gaming systems want to try and toss Sony’s way. Time and time again the games hitting the 7th generation gaming platform are proving to be incredible and the only thing that you won’t find included with MLB ’07: The Game are peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

-mike-