I remember when the commercials were airing, they were billing this game as the most realistic baseball game ever. Well that may be true I suppose, but does that make it a great, enjoyable game you're going to want to spend $60 on? I thought so when I picked it up, but have wound up proving myself wrong.
The game is very realistic. All the players pitch, bat, field, run, etc. just like their real-life counterparts. The gameplay is silky smooth and fluid, never a hitch, playing offline vs AI or vs a friend offline. It's a gorgeous looking game, great sounding too. So on all the technical merits, this game scores rather quite high, which is why I gave it the overall score of 5 stars, because I'm being fair here, I'm not gonna tear a game down and give it 1 star just because of one or two things I don't like about it.
However on that note. The problem I do have with this game is just that it's too difficult! To the point where the game just isn't all that much fun to play most of the time. Not as though so much that it feels like a chore, but often at times just trying to do so much as get a hit can feel like an epic struggle against the AI. A lot of times pitching is made far more difficult than necessary too, you can line up a pitch right down the middle, get the power point and release point set just right, and still for whatever reason, watch it go sailing outside the strike zone. Fielding isn't all that bad, but often getting to a line drive or a sharply hit grounder can be tough to do if your initial reflexes aren't quick enough. Running is hit or miss, usually the AI's arms are accurate and strong, but they do tend to commit a lot of errors against you in running situations, often overthrowing the intended base. And by the way, in case you're wondering, yes you can adjust the sliders, but no it doesn't make a difference, as the AI constantly adapts to your style of play.
My only other complaint is that there's no home run derby, and playing online is no fun at all, because it's usually just a ridiculously slow, choppy, lagfest.
So my bottom line is this. If you don't mind having to really gut it out and earn the heck out of every win against the AI, and you don't mind never having even an occasional high scoring "slugfest" game, but you want something really pretty looking...then I guess MLB 09: The Show just might be the game for you. However, if you want a game that's actually fun, and won't keep you up at night trying to figure how to get things down right, you might want to give MLB 2K9 a closer look.
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