If you are a big baseball fan, chances are you know MLB The Show 22. This colossal game is one of the biggest sports games in the world, and rightly so, for a classic decade-long run. Developed by San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment in conjunction with MLB Advanced Media and Cokem International. 

The Show 22 is the latest release in the series and is compatible with PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch for the first time in the series. The multiplayer mode is a welcome addition to the MLB gaming experience.

Amazing Gameplay Like Previous Rendition

If you have played MLB The Show from the beginning, you will notice that the 2022 edition is close to the previous version. MLB The Show 22 is gradually getting to a plateau where tiny increments become the upgrades. The constant annual updates have left little room for giant changes between versions 21 and 22. MLB The Show 22 plays and looks good, but nothing is groundbreaking. It still offers a wide range of options from Road to the Show to March to October, Diamond Dynasty, and Franchise mode. You can always opt for a quick exhibition match if you do not have time for such intense stuff.

The major change would be the migration to a new console generation which would make the game smoother to play. Hitting and pitching remain tough and are a welcome challenge to first-timers. Although you can use the basic features, taking extra care to hit and pitch the ball differently gives you special rewards in different modes. It is still rewarding as you feel the rush of firing a ball from left field into the home zone.

Build Your Career On The Road

There is a new attempt at RPG called ‘Road to The Show,’ which is a mode where you bring up a player from the minors and build them through work until they hit the big leagues. This mode may seem repetitive, but you quickly feel accomplished when you start seeing their stats sheet and climb on the show. Every hit or strikeout builds your players’ strengths and weaknesses.

This mode is filled with multiple mini-games; you can watch podcasts that follow your progress or see your player doing tai chi for whatever reason. All this is to get you invested in your player’s growth. It is cool to watch your player go through the highs and lows of the game. The cool feature also allows you to play classic baseball games.

Multiplayer Mode And Its Challenges

The online co-op multiplayer mode is a great new addition you don’t want to miss. Once you start it, you don’t want to go back. It pairs you with other players in the system and allows you to play with two players. Each team alternates batters and rotates between pitching and fielding to give everyone a taste of the full experience. It is great to focus on the only aspect of the game and trust your partner to perfect theirs. This is an exciting aspect of the multiplayer mode knowing that someone depends on you to make the hit while you depend on them to make the run.

The online co-op mode begins to lose its charm when you find that there are no persistent teams. You cannot choose your opponent, which spoils the fun if you want to play with a friend. To compete with a friend, you have to rely on luck. Like that is not enough; you need to rotate defensive roles, even if you want to focus on only one aspect of the game. If you or your partner has a specific set of skills, you cannot specialize. The stability expected from the game is also noticeably missing. Sometimes, it fails to connect with cross-platform friends. Other times, the players will get frozen and float to the dugouts, and tutorials that you disabled still play. There are also glitches where you need to restart multiple times.

Build Your Stadiums

Apart from building careers, Stadium Builder is back exclusively for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, I must say that it feels a little incomplete in its development. The user interface has been tweaked to build your ballpark with a smooth experience that allows you to call up props seamlessly from a radial menu. You can start with prebuilt templates to expedite the process.

It also gives you leeway to go wild with your imagination. You can build a ballpark with alien spaceships or one with a herd of T-rexes. This is a subtle improvement from the previous years; hopefully, it will evolve into something cool.

Superb Graphics With A Few Glitches

The graphics of MLB The Show have always been great as far as I can remember. It is clean and pristine. This does not mean it is without fault. I enjoyed the wide range of sounds played across the games. Speaking of changes, the developers switched out the in-game announcers. This year, we got a significant downgrade in the commentary with Jon “Boog” Sciambi and Chris Singleton.

These two repeat the same lines constantly until it becomes mind-numbing. It is sad to see the variety of the commentary fade off on a game heavily dependent on it. Their commentary sometimes doesn’t match the gameplay and sometimes stops halfway when introducing a player. It makes you wonder if the developers have fewer baseball fans on the development team than last year.

Diverse And Exciting Soundtrack

Little is said about the soundtrack for MLB The Show 22, but I enjoyed the auditory experience. It matches the real experience closely and captures the crowd’s energy, batting sound, etc.

Conclusion

In conclusion, MLB The Show 22 developers understand the utility of not messing with a working formula. They have found a formula that works and doubled down on it for better or worse. It is a family game that involves a solid ball game. Asides from the lack of groundbreaking changes from the previous years and glitches in multiplayer mode, MLB The Show 22 retains its position as a baseball favorite.