The MLB The Show series has been as consistent as any sports video game franchise in existence for the past five years. In 2014, we saw the first version of the series on the PlayStation 4 and through two iterations on the newer console, The Show has maintained its excellence.

I've been playing MLB 16 The Show offline for the past two weeks, and I've had 24 hours to evaluate the online components of the game. With a good handle on everything the game offers, here's my review.

Graphics and Animation

From a distance, The Show looks as much like its real-life counterpart as any sports video game. Beautifully rendered ballparks, excellent lighting and great looking crowds will make you double take.

The player models have taken a slight step forward. Many of the players have more accurate renders than in years past. There's a ton of new animations to help add to the realism.

That said, the game still doesn't use as many scanned faces as other sports titles. Most are still rendered in a way that keeps the player recognizable, but some are no more accurate than moderately good create-a-players from The Show community.

The game could also stand to take its hair physics to the next level. Hair doesn't move, and there aren't a variety of textures. The Houston Astros' Dallas Keuchel has his signature facial hair, but it and other styles like it are a bit more rigid than they should be.

Sports gamers who have seen the way hair flows on EA Sports UFC 2 know there's room for The Show to grow in this area.

That's probably an unfair comparison because there's only two controllable models at any given time in an MMA video game, compared to up to 13 in baseball. The fact is: Most fans won't look that deep.

Even with that rather minute criticism, calling The Show anything but visually appealing would be an inaccurate representation.

The good outweighs the bad. The images you see in the featured photo and throughout this article aren't smoke and mirrors. It really does look that good. The game and others in the genre have raised the bar to such a level when it comes to visuals that we must nitpick.

Gameplay and Realism

Good luck pointing out a negative aspect of The Show's gameplay.

Gameplay and realism have always been a calling card for the series, and those principles have been reinforced in The Show 16. There are more new animations than one can count or even notice in a handful of sittings.

The ball-off-the-bat physics are improved, and the different running styles add another piece of visual realism. The Sony San Diego Studios developers understand that it's not just important to have a game that plays realistically; it's equally essential that the interface and controls are intuitive and easy to follow.

No sports game goes to the lengths that The Show does to ensure their game is enjoyable for every type of virtual baseball fan. There are more than enough camera angles to choose from, including new ones for this year's version.

You can choose to use new innovations to gameplay like ShowTime (more on that later) or stick to what you've always loved from the series in the past. You aren't force-fed Sony's latest experiment, and gamers should love the development team for that.

It's advisable to at least give those new features a look because some of them may work for you. If not, the traditional gameplay is still the best part of the experience.

Sound and Presentation

There isn't one part of The Show I'd categorize as poor, but the closest thing to it is the commentary. Matt Vasgersian, Eric Karros and Steve Lyons are still spitting out some of the same phrases fans have heard in the game for the past five years.

"If it's one thing baserunners don't like, it's when you throw at their legs. That's their meal ticket. Ouch bay," are just some examples of the retreaded voice content.

There are some new lines and player-specific content, but there's still a lack of conversation between the three commentators. Lyons is still more of an afterthought, and you don't really feel as if there's a story being told.

The best baseball broadcasts tell the story of that particular game. The Show's commentary still feels a little too much like a collection of comments loosely based on the game's current theme.

From visual standpoint, the story is entirely different. The only way the game's visual presentation could be improved is if it had a full ESPN, Fox Sports and TNT license for branding and personalities.

The camera angles, overlays and such aren't over done, and like everything else in the game, you can customize the presentation to your liking.

Modes and Options

Ideally, every sports video game would be as deep as NBA 2K16. The Show 16 comes close. The franchise mode continues to be its bread and butter. There's new depth added with general manager goals, more realistic player morale and free agent negotiations.

The GM goals makes it feel as though you're playing the campaign with a checklist. It's not bothersome or intrusive, but it does give you a focus, which is necessary over the course of a baseball campaign.

Online franchise returns this year. There aren't many details to separate online and offline franchise. Amateur drafts and head-to-head battles are all included in online franchise.

There's even a way to customize the playoff and league structure. If you've got the will, the game provides a way.

The new Home Run Derby is included as well. It's cool to have the option to play this mode in the classic stadiums that return for this version of the game. Forbes Field, Griffith Stadium, Crosley Field, The Polo Grounds, Shibe Park and Sportsman's Park are available for use in every mode. That's an underrated but cool detail.

Many gamers have had a love-hate relationship with the Road to the Show mode over the years. While it's still fun to take a player through his entire career in a third-person perspective, many fans pine for more personality in the mode.

They won't find it in this year's version, but there are some noteworthy additions. You now begin your journey at the Bowman Scouting Event. There you'll establish your initial identity as a player. In The Show 16, each prospect is evaluated on the real-life 20-80 scale. That adds to the authenticity but will be something non-hardcore baseball fans have to get used to.

Another thing gamers will need to get used to—if they choose to use it—is the new ShowTime feature. It's specific to RTTS and it allows you to slow down time in key situations in the field or at the plate. I wasn't a fan of the concept when I read about it initially, and it wasn't able to win me over during the review process.

It's easy to see why some might find some value in it, but it's not sim, and that's a problem for me.

Moving through RTTS is a lot easier this year because you don't have to come out to the main menu interface to play your next game. Thankfully, you can simply kick off your next game or training session with minimal load time.

That sounds small, but it is big boost for the experience.

The online components are improved across the board. Lag makes playing a baseball video game tough, but through just about two days of play since the servers went live on Monday, the experience has been pretty solid.

There were two games that crashed during the review process, but it appeared as though the lag subsided with every game.

I played primarily Diamond Dynasty (DD) to test the stability, but there was one ranked online game outside of DD. The newest additions to DD are mini-modes called Battle Royale (BR) and Conquest.

BR borrows the Draft Champions concept from Madden 16. You draft a 25-man roster through a structured draft that is designed to maintain competitive balance. There are legends, superstar and flashback cards to choose from, and the object is to build the best team.

The actual games are only three innings long, so it's essentially like being thrown into a tie game at the beginning of the seventh inning. Pitcher stamina is adjusted to fit a three-inning game, and the tournaments are double elimination.

It does cost 1,500 stubs to play BR, which is similar to the ranked version of Draft Champions. However, stubs are far easier to acquire as you earn them for doing just about anything in the game—even outside of DD.

This drastically decreases the need to spend real money to enjoy or succeed in BR or any area of DD. You also receive a standard virtual pack of cards just for participating.

It is a great concept, and it fits baseball just as well as it fits football. It would be a shock if NBA 2K17 doesn't have a draft option for MyTeam after the success Madden has had with Draft Champions and what will The Show will likely enjoy with BR.

Conquest mode isn't as catchy. It blends real-time strategy with baseball, and if that sounds clunky, then it's an accurate representation.

The objective is to take over North America with a bat, baseball and your virtual fanbase. We're laughing, but serious. There's a map of North America that also functions as a grid. The territories are divided by the areas surrounding each major league city.

You choose to attack a section with hopes of converting the fans in that area. As your fanbase increases, it affects the level of difficulty you're allowed to play on. For example, if your DD team has a fanbase of five million and you're attacking a team with a fanbase of seven million, you'll have a game on a tougher skill level.

You gain fans by conquering territories and capturing strongholds. The games in Conquest are three innings as well.

It's a single-player experience that complicates what should be a more simplistic concept. It could be fun for some, but this baseball fan wasn't hooked.

The carry-over saves option is back, and it's still awesome. However, the honeymoon phase for this feature is over. Previously, fans were in love with the concept because no other sports video game allows you to continue your virtual sports history.

Now that it's been a part of the series for two years, the place where the feature can be improved are clear.

First, gamers need to be able to carry over rosters, not just save files from RTTS and franchise mode. Many fans work tirelessly on custom rosters. Having to do that every year is insane considering the technology is available to allow those files to be carried over.

Also, there should be an option that allows fans to use the updated versions of players whose renders have changed. For example, a better version of the Chicago Cubs' Jorge Soler is in The Show 16.

While it's convenient to be able to carry over the save from last year's version, who wouldn't want to have the better render? Perhaps we'll get that in a later version of the game.

Another feature that many gamers have been asking for is create-a-ballpark. Yet another version of The Show has been released without this coveted option. Hopefully, we'll get this at some point.

Bottom Line

The things that prevent The Show 16 from being rated even higher are small in the grand scheme of things. Where it counts the most, The Show 16 delivers in a major way.

Score

4.25 out of 5

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