Reviewed: March 21, 2007
Reviewed by: Justin Nixon

Publisher
Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer
SCE Studios San Diego

Released: February 26, 2007
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-2
ESRB: Everyone

8
8
9
9
8.8

Supported Features:

It truly pleases me to say that MLB ’07: The Show is one of those few exceptions. When Sony decided to implement all of the new features into this year’s game I didn’t think that all of them would make it to the PSP version. MLB ’06 was a great game for the PSP and gamers loved it. I thought that they would just stick with that winning formula without trying to add the new features that the home console version was adding. I was wrong.

Your typical gameplay modes are all here: Exhibition, Season, Home Run Derby, and so on. There is one new mode in this year’s game that will change the way you play season. Without a doubt my favorite mode in the game is the newly added Rode to The Show mode. You start off by creating a player just like you would in the Create-a-Player option. You choose things like age, position, and attributes to name a few. After that you get to pick a team to try and make. That’s right you have to play through spring training with your player in hopes of getting a major league contract. Let the games begin.

Unlike season mode you don’t get to control things like line-up, pitching rotation, or player signings. You just control your player, and that’s it. If you are a pitcher, for example, the game will simulate games that you don’t pitch. When you are set to pitch in a game you pitch. You only play the parts you are actually involved in. When your teams up to bat and your not in, the game will simulate up to when you’re either up to bat in which you’ll bat and control your base-running, or when your up to pitch again.

A game could take only a few minutes or up to a half an hour depending on position. Obviously, if you’re a pitcher you’re going to be involved a lot, but if you’re an outfielder you may not be in on the action as much. If there is a pop-up in your direction then the game will stop the simulation and allow you to field the ball. The game will stop simulating when you are up to bat as well. The key if you want to make it to the main roster is to pick a team that you can be competitive at your position otherwise you’ll be spending your time in the minor leagues or even completely unsigned. For example, if you’re a first basemen then trying to compete on the Cardinals for a starting job is impossible since they have Albert Pujols. No matter how good you play, the Cardinals will not have you start in front Albert Pujols.

Many of the times that you are involved in the game you will be given a goal to accomplish like striking a guy out or getting a base hit. Some goals are easier than others, but completing any of them gives you a real feeling of accomplishment, and helps you get that contract.

In last year’s game the hitting was reworked with the Zone Control Batting which is also found in this game, but on top of that, the pitching has been reworked for this year. Each pitcher has a set of pitches. Those pitches do not change, but the effectiveness of those pitches can change. Each pitch as an effectiveness meter below it, and depending on how often you use them and when you use them, the effectiveness will increase or decrease.

When the effectiveness increases the pitch becomes much harder to hit. It becomes more accurate. The velocity on fastballs increases, and the break on curve-balls also increases. Batters will swing at pitches outside of the strike zone. If you use that pitch too often or if you throw it right down the middle every time and batters start hitting it the effectiveness goes down. In this case batters will not swing at anything outside the strike zone. The accuracy of the pitch drops to the point where even controlling the starting location will not give you any idea where it’s going to end up. They are also a lot more likely to get a hit or even a homerun with these pitches as well. Just be aware.

Once you have someone on base you’ll notice that the base-running mechanics have also changed. There supposed to be more attentive but I still don’t like them. This is most likely the hardest part in the development process, deciding how you’re going to be able to control up to three runners and a man batting at the same time. They tried but failed to make it more responsive. It’s even harder on the PSP with only one analog ‘nub’. It’s hard to dock it for the bad base running. Not a single game on the market has perfected it yet.

Another new feature in this year’s game is how the umpires call pitches. It has always amazed me how accurate video game umpires are. In real-life they sometimes make bad calls but not in games. This issue has been addressed this year with the new Umpire Personalities option. I didn’t mention it above but effectiveness has a lot to do with the calls made. If your effectiveness is high you may get the called strike on a pitch that was a little on the outside. It works the other way too. If your effectiveness is low for a pitch it may be called a ball even if it was on the corner of the strike zone.

Of course there is multiplayer too if you get bored of the other modes or if you just want to play a game of baseball against someone other than the computer. It’s available via Ad Hoc or Infrastructure so you can play with people all around the world.

The gameplay and features in this game are so good that it pains to say that this game is stunted by outrages load times. The Road to The Show has some of the worst load times I have seen on the PSP yet. Before you start the game you may have a minute or two to load and then after the game is another one to two minutes of loading to update stats and such. It just slows the pace way down. On top of that there are occasionally some frame rate issues. After you hit the ball you’ll notice a quick slow-down as the ball is sent into the field. Then it speeds back up. If you can deal with these issues then there is a great game of baseball to be had.

With that being said this is mediocre looking baseball game for the most part. The crowds aren’t that great visually but the stadiums look good. The player models are also a little on the generic side, although, their animations look fluid, and the created players look bad as always.

The commentating is also some of the best found in sports game. It’s accurate and not that repetitive. It’s that simple. It’s a mystery why other games can’t include commentating that has these to elements. Overall this is some of the best audio I’ve ever heard in a baseball game.