MLB The Show 22

MLB The Show 22 is a solid entry in the series, but it's largely the same game as last year, for better or worse.

If you’re a huge baseball fan and you want the latest and greatest game that most accurately captures the spirit of the sport, buying MLB The Show 22 is perhaps a no-brainer. But if you’re a casual fan or money is tight, then last year’s MLB The Show 21 offers an experience that’s not all that dissimilar. This may be the best baseball game available right now, but when it’s only incrementally better than least year’s effort, you might not feel like it’s worth the cost.

MLB The Show 22 continues the tradition of being an excellent emulation of the sport of baseball, but this is another year without major changes. The team seems to be playing it safe and while there will be new players that are blown away, PlayStation players continue to clamor for something refreshing. The cooperative play is fun and it works well, but a portion of this requires going down the rabbit hole that is Diamond Dynasty. It's the look and the feel of what's on the field with the updated presentation and the new announcing team that helps to bring some light to the series. Regardless,...

If you’ve grown tired of the seemingly inescapable, inevitable routine that is yearly sports games, MLB The Show 22 isn’t going to do anything to wake you up. Several new features – such as a brand new commentary team – help distinguish Sony San Diego’s latest from the years before, but the on-field action remains essentially the same. The good news is that The Show has been the best damn sports game on the market for a long time. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

MLB The Show 22 stumbles for the first time in recent memory. This is understandable with San Diego Studios' ambitious goal of releasing the game on five platforms if we count the last generation consoles. Nevertheless, The Show 22 is still the best baseball sim you can buy and one I can't put down. From the attention to detail to the number of different game modes you can play through, The Show 22 continues to improve on last year's game, even though it's not to the degree we are used to. If you're a baseball fan, I cannot recommend MLB The Show 22 more.

MLB The Show 22 is another brilliant arrival in the series, and once again delivers fluid and gorgeous presentation on Xbox Series X|S. The gameplay remains highly satisfying, while Road to the Show and Diamond Dynasty remain compulsive modes. While 'no money spent' is still pleasingly feasible in the latter, it feels a little more grind-heavy this year, so hopefully that will ease off. Elsewhere new commentary is welcome, but is too short on lines this time around.

There is room for improvement in future patches, but MLB The Show 22 is an enjoyable experience regardless of how it's played or how new a player is to the franchise. There's nothing quite like hearing the crack of the bat on a perfect swing and watching the ball sail out of the park. For veteran players, the minor improvements will go a long way in the near future, making this game feel true to the actual sport and giving players a realistic feeling of being on the field.

The start of baseball season is here and with it comes the new MLB The Show 22. Is this the best baseball sim out there you should be playing or is it more of the same?

Overall, MLB The Show 22 is a fantastic baseball simulator that fans of the sport will enjoy. Unfortunately, there aren't enough notable changes to the game that make it a must-have. There are some little tweaks here and there that dedicated players will notice, but the overall package isn't too different. But MLB The Show 22 still worth picking up if baseball is your game.

Last season, I was disappointed with the PS5/Series X versions of The Show as I was hoping for a step into the next console generation of visuals, animations, and physics. Expansion into the Xbox ecosystem and logistical issues due to COVID-19 necessitated a shorter and likely less-involved upgrade to the game. To get nearly the same experience for the second-straight year is a legit bummer. This is still the best professional sports sim you can get on any hardware and if you are a baseball fan that hasn’t played The Show in recent years, this is an experience to look out for. For others who h...

MLB The Show 22 is a finely-tuned baseball simulator that offers a nice range of options depending on your patience but is possessed of a nearly insurmountable difficulty curve for beginning players, especially those who are either uninvested in the sport, more accustomed to simpler arcade-style baseball games, or even fans of other popular sports simulators that require less pinpoint accuracy to succeed in. Fortunately, if you’re determined enough to learn to play the game, there are endless pitches to swing at and new games to start over as you fine-tune your button-pressing timing.

For those who’ve spent the past year embedded in MLB The Show 21’s bullpen, Sony San Diego Studio’s slight but specific improvements in MLB The Show 22 will be welcome. This is an annual instalment where one of its headline tweaks includes adjustments to trade logic, preventing teams from swapping their star players for relief pitchers. To put it bluntly, while this baseball sim plays better than ever, the lack of meaningful additions will make it a somewhat tough sell for the average MLB fan.