There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love baseball and those who simply don’t understand it. It’s impossible to know the rules of the game and not be passionate about what is called America’s favorite pastime. In Europe, unfortunately, the sport is not so widespread, and consequently even its reference video game struggles to establish itself. Despite this the saga MLB The Show is hands down the best sports franchise out there right nowand with the recent release of MLB The Show 24 – the subject of this review – the hierarchies do not seem to change.
We’ve spent the last two weeks throwing fastballs from the mound and hitting hits from the batter’s box, working our way through the minors (in the acclaimed Road to the Show) until reliving the legendary rise of Derek Jeterprotagonist of the Storylines mode.
So let’s see, in this review, how we thought MLB The Show 24, available from today on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch e Xbox One e Xbox Series X|S (also on Game Pass).
The MLB The Show 2024 review
As always when it comes to a new chapter of a sports video game, some doubts arose: will it be yet another team update? Will it really be worth uninstalling chapter 23 to make room for over 100 GB of MLB The Show 24? But most of all: if last year the game was almost perfect, how can they improve it further?
The development team of San Diego Studios (owned by PlayStation) must have asked himself the same questions, and must have thought “let’s focus on the look”. From the introductory video, which highlights how baseball represents a passion for an entire slice of the world, it appears clear that the game has decided to focus everything on the experiential aspect. Because a baseball game is, indeed, an experience, with its own sounds and even its own flavors (mainly beer and hot dogs).
The main menu, with a renewed interface, presents us with all the game modes that we know well. They range from the most classic of exhibition matches to Road to the Show (which allows you to create your own player starting from the minors up to the MLB), passing through the Dynasty Fashion (baseball’s Ultimate Team) and the March to October. The most interesting, however, especially if you grew up with baseball, is the mode Storylineswhich takes up a widespread trend in sports video games: that of making us relive the story of a specific athlete (or historical period) by replaying the crucial moments.
What changes in the gameplay?
From a match perspective, the gameplay of MLB The Show 24 does not differ too much from the previous chapter. The mechanics remain unchanged although improved. The player – when starting the title – will always be able to choose between different game options for each of the three phases (pitching, batting and defense). As a pitcher, for example, you can choose the option pinpoint (already present in the previous chapters but significantly improved) in which precision and timing will count. No substantial news for the joke, while for the defense the possibility of using the analog stick to direct throws to the bases makes its debut.
Everything benefits from the consolidation dynamic difficulty system, especially useful for new players. This adapts the difficulty of the game to your performance, thus always offering a balanced challenge. However, if you feel like a real pro you can always manually select the highest (but also the lowest) difficulty and play as you prefer.
The big news in the gameplay of MLB The Show 24, however, is the mechanics Impact Plays. These are essentially short Quick Time Events (QTEs) in which a single’s play – such as a complex diving catch – can have a significant impact on the ongoing action.
Visually Impressive – MLB The Show 24 Review
The MLB The Show saga has accustomed us over the years to an incredible visual sector. Realism has increased year after year, and the new game certainly doesn’t take any steps backwards in this respect.
The introduction of beyond 400 new animations completes the immersive set of the title, enhanced by the match presentation options (our match will become a real live television broadcast). Even classic stadiums, such as the Kingdome di Seattlerecreated for the Derek Jeter story (we’ll get back to that shortly) have been revamped.
The legend of Derek Jeter
Whoever is having the pleasure of writing this review of MLB The Show 24 approached baseball by loving the Yankees of the beginning of the millennium. And loving the Yankees of the early 2000s meant loving The Captain. Number 2. Mr. November: Derek Jeter.
So imagine the nostalgia effect of reliving his incredible career in Storylines mode. Interspersed with real footage in which Jeter tells us his story – complete with archive images – the mode allows us to replay certain moments, thus offering a fun but also educational game mode.
The same goes for the other Storylines story, Season 2 of Negro Leagues, thus continuing the journey begun last year on the history of the league of African-American players of the 1920s. Also in this case it is about real history lessons, in the form of exciting games to (re)play. An example above all? The second season of the Negro League allows us to relive the history of Toni Stonethe first woman to play full-time on a professional baseball team.
Come cambiano Road to the Show e Dinasty in MLB The Show 24?
And speaking of Toni Stone’s extraordinary story of integration, it is worth highlighting the great news of Road to the Show: Women Pave Their Way, which allows you to transcend genres. Apart from this aspect, however, Road to the Show does not present any substantial changes, other than one improved creator e greater chances of influencing transfers to other teams. No revolution therefore, but a further improvement of an already much loved modality.
What instead still doesn’t convince us (but has never done so since its introduction) is Dynasty mode. It almost seems that all sports games must necessarily introduce card game mechanics, even where these are not absolutely functional.
Summing up this review, we can only wholeheartedly approve MLB The Show 24. It is the best game of the saga. And the saga is the best sports franchise currently around. Baseball lovers: play it. People who don’t understand baseball: it’s a good time to enter this magical world.
