The sun is shining high in the afternoon sky, a pipe organ is ringing out a rousing rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and the bleachers are full. The stage has been set for another exciting year of Major League Baseball. As the season opener has now come and went, it was high time to take Sony’s interactive diamond duel out for a few trail throws. MLB: The Show has a long legacy of success to follow, so can 2011′s installment live up to the task, or has the bar simply been raised too high by prior iterations?

Game: MLB 11: The Show
Publisher: Sony
Developer: SCEA San Diego
Genre: Sports / Simulation
Price: $59.99
Verdict: Far and away the most comprehensive and well designed baseball game on the market.
Cons: There doesn’t seem like there is enough new content to justify a dedicated release.

Acquired via Publisher

There is no disputing that when it comes to hardcore baseball simulations no one can has even come remotely close to Sony’s The Show franchise. Simply put, there has never been a more comprehensive recreation of the sport…EVER. For a developer, the problem with having a history of tremendously successful games becomes the yearly obstacle of trying to top yourself. Let’s face it; when the same team has been working on the same title for the entirety of two console generations, original ideas are going to begin to stagnate, and thus lands your sports series in the abyss known as the “Madden Rut.”

Luckily, SCEA San Diego has attempted to avoid landing in Tiburon’s cycle of regurgitated game design by introducing their groundbreaking new “Pure Analog” control scheme. As hokey as it may sound, this is a drastic improvement over MLB 10‘s pitch meter and contextual based batting controls of yester-year. Players are now given a degree of interaction and management that has never before been available in real-time.

In the case of pitching, the right control stick can be drawn back and thrust forward to emulate the velocity of a pitch. At the same time, the direction that the stick is thrust forward is used to direct the pitch to its ultimate ending location within each batter’s strike zone. While this level of control has its obvious benefits, this is a dual edged sword of sorts. For example, where in prior years successful pitching hinged on simply having good enough timing to strike a button three times, in correct succession, this year requires players to not only have good timing, but also good hand-eye coordination as well.

Without question these new batting and pitching mechanics take some getting used to, but ultimately it leads to a much more immersive and gratifying experience. The first time you swing that right stick through the strike zone, make solid contact with a pitch, and drive a long blast over the fence, there is no better feeling in the world. The Show does an amazing job of genuinely making players feel like they have accomplished something special when things are going their way. Conversely, when a degree of difficulty is encountered, the game is quick to provide feedback as to where a player’s mechanics are faltering. This “skill oriented success,” where perfecting an ability takes time and effort, is something that has been missing from sports games for quite some time, but is a significant upgrade over the glorified dice rolls of other franchises. Once again the challenge has been returned to America’s Pastime.

Though the game only displays in a paltry 720P, SCEA San Diego has found a way to squeeze every last byte of detail and realism into the game. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that this is mentioned on the initial loading screen, you wouldn’t know any different, because the ball parks and character models are looking better than ever. Every major league ballpark has be duplicated using the utmost care, all the way down to the colors of the urinal coasters. Even the unique trademarks of some of the MLB’s marquee stadiums have been added, such as the fountains and vehicles displayed in center field at Detroit’s Comerica Park. Although, it is amusing to note that the General Motors display has been re-titled to read “Admiral Motors.” Ahh, lack of product licensing at its best. However, don’t think this will stop them from throwing real product advertising into the game. The sheer amount of real estate that is dedicated to State Farm Insurance should be considered to be a crime worthy of waterboarding with hydrochloric acid.

Oh, but the insane attention to detail doesn’t stop there. Each major league athlete’s character model is so true to form that they could easily be mistaken for an evil doppelganger, as long as you disregard the whole shiny manikin skin that should have been resolved a console generation ago. It is really hard to hold this against the game, however, when you realize how amazing the facial animations have become. It has been steadily improving over the entirety of the PlayStation 3 era, but there is something about this year’s tech that goes above and beyond. With every pitch, hit, strike out, or fly ball, all of the players on the field react as though they were completely immersed in the moment. At this point the term realistic doesn’t do the game enough justice. To be point blank, facial expressions are so spot on that it is alarming and borderline creepy.

If there were one significant chink in the armor of this game, without question it would have to be the audio commentary. After an off season filled with turmoil, including losing his job as the voice of the Angels, Rex “The Wonderdog” Hudler was shown the door, in favor of newcomer Eric Karros. Sadly, contrary to what might be expected, this doesn’t work in the game’s favor at all. All of the commentary and quips of Karros, along with series veterans Matt Vasgersian and Dave Campbell, seem so disconnected and ill conceived that it is obvious that each announcer was recorded separately from the group. It also doesn’t help matters much when the dialogue flows about as well as cement through a lead pipe. Really, would it kill them to call Vasgersian and Campbell back into the booth for a few new pieces of incidental commentary? Reusing the same recording for four years is simply unacceptable.

Shifting back towards the positive, as fun as it is to square off with your friends in exhibition mode, or build your own franchise from scratch, once again The Show’s Road to the Show mode tops all others with ease. There is just something engrossing about creating your own professional proxy and helping guide them from a virtual unknown to the talk of the water cooler. One of the more significant upgrades to this functionality lies in the player progression system. The task-based system of prior seasons has been discarded in favor of just letting the game progress organically–awarding stat upgrade points for performing tasks successfully. Training mini-games have also seen some retooling that are somewhat along the same vein, but they could still use some work to advance them beyond performing the same mundane task, four different ways before time expires. A little more variety would be nice for their next outing. Criticisms aside, Road to the Show still is without a doubt the reason why any hardcore baseball fan should play this game.

MLB 11: The Show isn’t as much a whole new experience as it is a further refinement on what has continued to make the franchise so appreciated and revered by the masses. Unfortunately, other than moderate tweaks to control schemes, including the addition of Move support, visual polishing that comes with another year of experience on a console, and updates to the rosters, this feels somewhat like a repackaging of last year’s game. This is not to say that it isn’t well worth the purchase for the hardcore baseball enthusiast, but casual fans may not get enough to justify the sixty dollar price tag.