Hey guys,
I'm an aspiring video game journalist (film journalist to be precise) who just graduated from college recently. I've started a channel where I post reviews. My goal is to use my "portfolio" of videos as a resume of sorts and use it as leverage to gain entry into the vid game journalism industry (sites like IGN, gamestop, etc.). Please support me in my quest, and feedback would be very much appreciated.
VIDEO REVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuViiaNt7P4
Written Review:
The grass is getting greener. The days are getting longer. The sun is getting brighter. Spring is here. And so too is baseball season, along with its virtual representation in MLB 14 The Show. Sony’s lone and inveterate sports franchise transitions to the PS4 with promises of greater graphical fidelity, improved gameplay, and a more authentic presentation. Does Sony’s first foray into next-gen territory bear fruitful, or does this outing fall prey to unrealized ideals that so often plague conversions to new hardware?
GAMEPLAY:
With the exception of additional animations, MLB 14 for the PS4 plays identically to its PS3 counterpart. Which, incidentally, plays similarly to Sony’s previous entry and the one before it. Homogeneity across an iterative series is oft considered a sign of stagnancy and perhaps regression. Yet, incremental and oftentimes indiscernible improvements atop a solid foundation have propelled The Show into the top tier of sport gaming. When trying to recreate a sport that is readily observable, developers are afforded little opportunity to innovate in a theatrical manner. An ostentatious implementation of a feature founded on reality is rarely successful, and Sony’s team has never succumbed to the pressures of feature quantity or prodigality/extravagance.
This year, the subtle additions of “quick counts” increase the pace of the game, dynamic cameras supply greater immersion, and a dynamic difficulty allows for a more adaptable experience. The features are layered on top of the core gameplay experience, an experience that more accurately reflects its sport than any other game on the market. Batting generates realistic hit dispersions with great variety in hit types. The controls are tight regardless of which control scheme is utilized. The same goes for pitching; each configuration fosters realistic pitch locations. The realistic outcomes for both batting and pitching in no way preclude the influence of player ratings. Sony strikes a perfect balance between precise controls, realistic outcomes, and player ratings that increase or decrease the user’s room for error. The computer behaves realistically as well; pitchers will attempt to get you to chase out of the strike zone when ahead in the count, hitters display real-life tendencies pursuant to their real life stats, and even fielders appropriately bobble, overthrow, or otherwise misplay balls in the field. The core gameplay is nearly perfect.
The vast customization options offset one’s aversion to a particular control scheme, allowing one to tailor their experience to their own satisfaction. Extensive customization extends to specific gameplay settings as well; through sliders, a gamer can adjust each facet of the game to cater to one’s style of play.
Although sliders can neutralize many perceived deficiencies in gameplay, the unrealistic player movement in the field cannot be mitigated through sliders alone, and thus requires a new animation and logic core. Fielders lack fluidity when running full stride, and transitional animations are noticeably choppy. Unfortunately, small chinks in a gleaming, lustrous coat of armor are always more perceptible. There are, however, more glaring issues. Most glaring is the little respect for conservation of momentum, enabling fielders to alter directions too quickly with respect to their speed. Tangibly, the running animations enable players to correct their trajectory to the ball with little to no consequence, resulting in less extra base hits than there should be and runners being held up when they would naturally advance.
PRESENTATION:
Beautiful lighting permeates the newly rendered stadiums, crowd and player models benefit from the increased polygon count, and the frame rate rarely dips below 60 frames per second. The presentation similarly flourishes; a Matt Vasgergian led broadcast resembles the MLB Network. Real-time animations and events drive the presentation instead of cutscenes, lending a more authentic look and feel to the broadcast. The commentary, while similar to previous years, still hosts an enormous library of dialogue that offers a level of insight and professionalism rarely found in sports games. For a first effort on next-gen hardware, the presentation in MLB 14 succeeds admirably.
GAME MODES:
There are minimal improvements to game modes that inject realism or dispense with unrealistic elements that hamper the experience. Franchise mode contains a notification system that highlights the copious nuances that are often lost on more casual fans. Road to The Show features a more practical goal system along with a refurbished progression engine that halts rapid, unnatural player improvement. And of course, the requisite annual upgrades to various simulation engines were touted, but not necessarily noted. More extensive testing is required to prove said improvements. Lastly, online modes suffer from heavy lag, impeding competitive play. Most importantly though, the PS4 version maintains feature parity with its PS3 brother-in-law, meaning that you’ll be getting the deepest and most realistic experience that sports modes have to offer.
CONCLUSION:
Undeniably familiar over the years, but undeniably consistent, MLB 14 The Show continues the trend of supplying fans the game of baseball in its purest virtual form.
It doesn’t differentiate itself much from previous iterations, but it still offers and will continue to offer the ultimate baseball simulation for years to come. The question is, is there enough change to warrant a new purchase? The choice is yours, but objectively, MLB 14 The Show knocks it out of the park.
A 9 out of 10.
I'm an aspiring video game journalist (film journalist to be precise) who just graduated from college recently. I've started a channel where I post reviews. My goal is to use my "portfolio" of videos as a resume of sorts and use it as leverage to gain entry into the vid game journalism industry (sites like IGN, gamestop, etc.). Please support me in my quest, and feedback would be very much appreciated.
VIDEO REVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuViiaNt7P4
Written Review:
The grass is getting greener. The days are getting longer. The sun is getting brighter. Spring is here. And so too is baseball season, along with its virtual representation in MLB 14 The Show. Sony’s lone and inveterate sports franchise transitions to the PS4 with promises of greater graphical fidelity, improved gameplay, and a more authentic presentation. Does Sony’s first foray into next-gen territory bear fruitful, or does this outing fall prey to unrealized ideals that so often plague conversions to new hardware?
GAMEPLAY:
With the exception of additional animations, MLB 14 for the PS4 plays identically to its PS3 counterpart. Which, incidentally, plays similarly to Sony’s previous entry and the one before it. Homogeneity across an iterative series is oft considered a sign of stagnancy and perhaps regression. Yet, incremental and oftentimes indiscernible improvements atop a solid foundation have propelled The Show into the top tier of sport gaming. When trying to recreate a sport that is readily observable, developers are afforded little opportunity to innovate in a theatrical manner. An ostentatious implementation of a feature founded on reality is rarely successful, and Sony’s team has never succumbed to the pressures of feature quantity or prodigality/extravagance.
This year, the subtle additions of “quick counts” increase the pace of the game, dynamic cameras supply greater immersion, and a dynamic difficulty allows for a more adaptable experience. The features are layered on top of the core gameplay experience, an experience that more accurately reflects its sport than any other game on the market. Batting generates realistic hit dispersions with great variety in hit types. The controls are tight regardless of which control scheme is utilized. The same goes for pitching; each configuration fosters realistic pitch locations. The realistic outcomes for both batting and pitching in no way preclude the influence of player ratings. Sony strikes a perfect balance between precise controls, realistic outcomes, and player ratings that increase or decrease the user’s room for error. The computer behaves realistically as well; pitchers will attempt to get you to chase out of the strike zone when ahead in the count, hitters display real-life tendencies pursuant to their real life stats, and even fielders appropriately bobble, overthrow, or otherwise misplay balls in the field. The core gameplay is nearly perfect.
The vast customization options offset one’s aversion to a particular control scheme, allowing one to tailor their experience to their own satisfaction. Extensive customization extends to specific gameplay settings as well; through sliders, a gamer can adjust each facet of the game to cater to one’s style of play.
Although sliders can neutralize many perceived deficiencies in gameplay, the unrealistic player movement in the field cannot be mitigated through sliders alone, and thus requires a new animation and logic core. Fielders lack fluidity when running full stride, and transitional animations are noticeably choppy. Unfortunately, small chinks in a gleaming, lustrous coat of armor are always more perceptible. There are, however, more glaring issues. Most glaring is the little respect for conservation of momentum, enabling fielders to alter directions too quickly with respect to their speed. Tangibly, the running animations enable players to correct their trajectory to the ball with little to no consequence, resulting in less extra base hits than there should be and runners being held up when they would naturally advance.
PRESENTATION:
Beautiful lighting permeates the newly rendered stadiums, crowd and player models benefit from the increased polygon count, and the frame rate rarely dips below 60 frames per second. The presentation similarly flourishes; a Matt Vasgergian led broadcast resembles the MLB Network. Real-time animations and events drive the presentation instead of cutscenes, lending a more authentic look and feel to the broadcast. The commentary, while similar to previous years, still hosts an enormous library of dialogue that offers a level of insight and professionalism rarely found in sports games. For a first effort on next-gen hardware, the presentation in MLB 14 succeeds admirably.
GAME MODES:
There are minimal improvements to game modes that inject realism or dispense with unrealistic elements that hamper the experience. Franchise mode contains a notification system that highlights the copious nuances that are often lost on more casual fans. Road to The Show features a more practical goal system along with a refurbished progression engine that halts rapid, unnatural player improvement. And of course, the requisite annual upgrades to various simulation engines were touted, but not necessarily noted. More extensive testing is required to prove said improvements. Lastly, online modes suffer from heavy lag, impeding competitive play. Most importantly though, the PS4 version maintains feature parity with its PS3 brother-in-law, meaning that you’ll be getting the deepest and most realistic experience that sports modes have to offer.
CONCLUSION:
Undeniably familiar over the years, but undeniably consistent, MLB 14 The Show continues the trend of supplying fans the game of baseball in its purest virtual form.
It doesn’t differentiate itself much from previous iterations, but it still offers and will continue to offer the ultimate baseball simulation for years to come. The question is, is there enough change to warrant a new purchase? The choice is yours, but objectively, MLB 14 The Show knocks it out of the park.
A 9 out of 10.
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