MLB The Show 22 Review - It's Shotime

Like its cover star, Shohei Ohtani, MLB The Show 22 excels on the field of play, whether competing on the pitcher's mound or in the batter's box. In The Show's case, this has been the way for a number of years, and improving on this consistent level of excellence is a tough ask. But while Ohtani has ambitions to build on last season's historic MVP campaign, MLB The Show 22 lacks that same drive and has generally stood pat. The on-field action is largely unchanged from last year's game aside from a few incremental improvements to aspects like fielding and ball physics. New additions to some of the series' long-running modes are more significant, but they don't move the needle far enough, and, as a result, The Show's year-to-year progress since moving to next-gen consoles is still glacially slow.

It's hard to have too many complaints once you step onto the diamond, however. Hitting is still immensely satisfying, and tweaks to the game's ball physics ensure that there's more hit variety than ever before. The thunderous crack of the bat that occurs when you nail the perfect timing and contact is particularly pleasing, especially when it results in a soaring moonshot that sends the ball careening into the bleachers. Pinpoint Pitching has also been refined so it's not quite as easy to execute as it was last year. This results in more walks, baserunners, and high leverage situations that feel more authentic to the challenges pitchers face on a daily basis.

The most noteworthy improvements occur when fielding the ball, as a plethora of new animations make it a much smoother experience. There's a bigger separation between good and bad fielders, with Gold Glovers taking better routes and reacting faster to fly balls, whereas their less-than-stellar counterparts are more likely to commit errors and misplay the ball. This has been the case in the past, but it's much more pronounced now because the players act and play more naturally. None of this is groundbreaking, of course, but these subtle improvements help maintain The Show's foothold as one of the best-playing sports games on the market.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

source https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mlb-the-show-22-review-its-shotime/1900-6417858/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f

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