With MLB The Show 22, for the second year in a row, we get a rather unusual title. This is a game made by Sony’s San Diego Studio, but available on all platforms. Last year you already got it on the Xbox Series X and this year there is also a true Nintendo Switch version, in addition to the game I played on the PlayStation 5.
That has to do with an agreement Sony entered into with the MLB. In order to continue with games in this series, thus including MLB The Show 22, they were instructed to release them on other consoles as well. Otherwise the license would expire. And so it happened. With that, the game is also madly part of the Xbox Game Pass this year, which means you can play a Sony game for free on the Xbox Series X. And if you have that, I would really try it. I’m certainly not a big fan of MLB, but this game series is just excellent. Here are the points that stood out to me.
MLB The Show 22: 4 reasons why this is (g)a home run
Road to the Show continues to be a party
Like last year, I spent most of my time in Road to the Show. In MLB The Show 22, this is a mode where you create your own athlete. Then you start a career with that. The MLB is far outlook, as you have to prove yourself as a nobody first in the lower classes of baseball. If you perform well there for a long time, then you get a chance at the real thing. The nice thing about that is that you really experience the highlights in the games. You don’t have to play all nine innings. You play the parts where you are at bat or when you have important moments in the field. In this way, completing a game is a matter of minutes.
Road to the Show podcast (Image: Sony)
Tasty short load times
And then when you’re done with one match and want to move on to the next, you benefit from short loading times. Especially when you play the game on the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X everything goes really fast and you fly from one match to the next. Also when you want to play the game on your iPad via the Cloud gaming option of the Xbox Game Pass you notice this. This way you really have a great time gaming.
More time to play (Image: Sony)
Easy to get into
In addition, MLB The Show 22 is a game you can get into fairly easily. At least, if you let the difficulty build slowly. At the lowest level, the balls are actually always indicated in the middle and you learn to time them. And when you’ve mastered that a bit, then the pitcher will bring more variation and you have to watch carefully whether the ball is thrown inside the box or not. The only thing I had a little trouble with was all the different statistics that are incorporated into the game. As someone who doesn’t follow MLB at all, I don’t understand much about all the hardcore statistics. But if you just want to play a fun sports game, this game is right up your alley.
You get to know the game (Image: Sony)
A little too much of the same
I’ve had fun with the various MLB The Show games over the past few years. When I look at what MLB The Show 22 offers, it is a bit more of the same. The presentation, the different modes and how the game plays, is very recognizable. Also, the various mini-games in the Road to the Show have been the same for a few years now and are not very strong. In that respect, it is really a shame that the developer is mainly concerned with releasing the game on multiple platforms instead of innovating. If you got the game last year, you could really skip this one. Unless you want to go wild with all the new rosters and current data.
Too recognizable perhaps (Image: Sony)
MLB The Show 22 is now available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Should you want to play the game on the Xbox, it’s worth noting that the game is part of Xbox Game Pass.
