First off, once you start MLB 08 The Show (after the developer plugs) you will see a single little recap of a single player achievement from last year. This is a cool addition that took me by surprise. Once you get into the title screen, you will be bomb barded by options and things to look at. There is a ton and I mean a TON! of things to do in this game. One thing you cannot do is the homerun derby, and really, for me it is not missed. Since last year The Road To The Show has been revamped with more things to do on the field, also better player creation and it just feels more polished since last year. And you have just about every other mode that was in last year.
The Show has also received a great upgrade in graphics from last years (PS3) game. The players look like their real life counter parts better then any sports game I have played to date. There are some things that are not so impressive one being settings outside of the ballparks themselves. There are some instances where during an end of inning cut scene, where players will absorb themselves into wall the ballpark walls. Now where the game shines in my opinion is how smooth the game runs at all times. I have yet (except for online) to encounter a skip or pop and slowdown and in a sports game that is a must have.
With the addition of the custom soundtracks, this gives the game a very nice custom feel. I really don’t know how many songs you can have on one play list but it is over 10, witch is what I heard from some previews. Now I believe most will really want to use this feature because the soundtrack is in my opinion bad. So you might want to start switching your MP3 files to your PS3 you wont be disappointed. Also let me be clear your custom soundtracks will not play in game. Therefore, your players will not come out to DMX or The Rolling Stones. However, you will hear all of it during the menu screens witch you will spend a lot of time in so it is worth all the effort to add your music.
Now, we will talk about game play. MLB 08 The Show has been revamped A.I and game play. The first game I played (retail version) I was totally dumb founded because the opposing team basically pitched around most of my team (Detroit Tigers) and the reason is because the tigers have one of the best line ups in the league. Now I cannot really remember last years version but I really do not think the pitching A.I, was this advanced to pick out certain players to pitch a certain way. This adds so much realism to the feel of this game. There has also been a upgrade in the base running controls witch is a plus. Batting feels oh so good and you feel a great accomplishment when you take one deep into the cheap seats.
One last thing I will touch on is the pitching in The Show. For some reason I love pitching in this years game. The way pitching feels so smooth and also the CPU batters really battle with you and make you set them up is true to life. You had better work those cold spots in the batters hot/cold zones because if you do not you will be hammered, and hammered hard and yes, even on rookie. One of the most satisfying moments in this year’s game is getting a solid strikeout from a sweeping curve or a 12 to 6 curveball. I will go back and watch every strikeout I rack up after every game because it looks and feels so good.
The online is what you have come to expect. You have a 30 team online leauge option. There are also roster updates and news from around the leauge very cool if you live outside the state of your favorite team. I have played 3 games so far (2-1) there is a little slowdown but nothing as bad as last year. It dose not interfere with the game what so ever. You don't have acess to your PSN friends list so you will have to send out invites again to your friends with The Show but it really dosnt hurt. The community in this years game is really cool, you can check message boards from your console or you can go online and check out a website that is intergrated for the website. One last thing you can use a new feature called scout. I have not used it but I believe it is a type of match maker so if you chose to just bypas the lobbies and just want to jump into a game it will set you up with a player on your level and not a top player.
