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‘The Show’ shows up ‘MLB 2K8’
Chris Murray - Thu, Mar, 27, 2008
When playing a baseball video game, the number one thing I look for is how closely it emulates the actual game of baseball. For owners of Sony Playstat-ion 3, there are two options for baseball fans to purchase. MLB 08: The Show and Major League Baseball 2K8. Both have their bright spots, but only one truly captures the essence of what makes baseball America’s fav-orite past time.
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Gameplay:
Baseball is smooth so one would expect a baseball video game to have the fluidity that emulates its real life counterpart. The Show does a fantastic job of this. While no game is without glitches, The Show is as close to perfect as I have ever seen in a baseball video game. Many of the Artificial Intel-ligence issues have been fixed from last year’s PS3 debut version to make this one of the smoothest and realistic baseball games ever made. The controls are the same as last year, but there really was no need to change them because they work well.
MLB 2K8 struggles where The Show succeeds mainly because of frame rate issues. The choppy gameplay of MLB 2K8 makes it a frustrating game to endure. The completely revamped controls for hitting, pitching and throwing were a good idea to set itself apart from The Show, but it actually took a step back because of the lack of fluidity. All of the new features utilize the right analog stick, but there is always the option to change back to classic controls if any of the new features are not to your liking.
The potential is there for the new features in the future, but right now they are too unpolished to be completely depended upon.
Graphics:
Visually The Show looks far better than MLB 2K8. New animations, cut-scenes and a complete revamping of player models make The Show a great looking game that has made vast improvements over last year
MLB 2K8 looks good at times, but it seems to have taken a step backwards from last year. Fielding animations and player models are bad and the camera transitions are worse. The jerseys blow in the wind in a way that looks unnatural and the grass on the fields looks fake and completely unrealistic. What MLB 2K8 does do right is in the way it uses the shadows and lighting. If a game starts at 7:05 in the summer, it is going to start out light outside and then gradually get darker as the night progresses. MLB 2K8 nails this aspect whereas The Show will just start with a dark sky. But that might be the only thing visually MLB 2K8 does right.
Game Modes:
Both of these games have several game modes to satisfy a gamer’s needs. Each have Exhibition, Franchise, Manager and Online.
MLB 2K8 also has the Home Run Derby, Tournament and Situation. The Show had a single season mode and rivalry mode.
MLB 2K8 has the deeper franchise mode of the two games. It is loaded with everything you could ever want and expect from a franchise mode. There are 90 minor league teams, giving the gamer complete over what happens in the farm systems. The franchise mode is easily the best feature of MLB 2K8, but that doesn’t mean The Show’s franchise mode isn’t fun, it just means it isn’t as good.
What truly separates the two games in the game modes department is The Road to the Show mode included in The Show. It allows a gamer to create a player to take through the minor leagues and work their way to the majors. It is quite possibly the best career mode out there in any sports game.
Closing Thoughts:
Overall both of these games are very playable, but if I was looking for the better of the two I for one would choose The Show over MLB 2K8 hands down. When compared to The Show, the frame rate issues of MLB 2K8 are far too bad to overlook. The smooth gameplay of The Show gives a true baseball fan the realistic game play they yearn for. The features of MLB 2K8 will keep you playing for a while, but at the end of the day you will be wishing you were playing The Show. The combination of features in The Show along with The Road to the Show mode will keep baseball fans happy for a long time.
Final Grades:
MLB 08: The Show: 4 out of 5.
Major League Baseball 2K8: 2 out of 5.
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