I should apologize now for the many intention and unintentional puns about baseball and relating it to many aspects of MLB 07: The Show. As many of you already know, MLB 07 has already been out for the PS2 for awhile and you already have a notion of how well this game will play. However, as you look back, not all cross generation games are created equally. So does The Show equal a “showstopper?” Read on baseball fans, read on.

Smoke and Mirrors
Start up the game and you are treated to a slick visual presentation and pumping music. The stunning menus quickly fade away to baseball matches where the visuals don’t look “next-gen” at all. Simulation fans won’t care all that much because most of their game takes place in the menu system anyway. It’s too bad that the visuals don’t impress all that much considering the ability of the PS3 to knock eye-candy out of the park. The controls are also something of last generation. No motion or “swing sticks” in sight, just old fashioned button pressing. While the controls are fine, they feel dated and could have used a makeover.

Baseball is a game of statistics. The more numerical data you have, the better off you are. For as much information The Show throws at you, you’ll be hard pressed to find a stat that wasn’t useful. For those with a keen sense of strategy, these percentages will be your holy grail. For the rest of us, you can still find a palatable but slightly boring experience.

Hit The Road
The biggest change from last year is the new “Road to The Show” mode. In all actuality, it is a refreshing look at the baseball genre that is long over due. You create a baseball player and put him in the roster of an American or National League team. The twist is instead of playing as the whole team with you being the star, you ONLY play as your created player. That means if you are a first baseman, you make plays only on first place and go up to bat. To keep from being a snore fest, there are a certain amount of “challenges” you perform in a game. If you pass the challenges, then you will win the game. Fail them and you fail your team and have a record to show that. Road to The Show mode alone is enough to have sports gamers jaded by years of non-revolutionary gameplay beg for more of these kinds of innovations.

The largest chunk of gameplay involves the online modes with the help of the PlayStation Network and MLB.com. You can join leagues play against friends or find a stranger on the PlayStation Network. There are also community features that allow you to talk with other MLB 07 players from all over the world. Online is where you’ll find most of the fun in MLB 07 as the computer AI in the single player season is not as intelligent as a next-gen title should be.

This is a PS2 game ported to the PS3 and it shows. AI, graphics, and control scheme are seemingly unchanged from the PS2 version. Even with those faults, MLB 07: The Show still remains the best baseball game on the PS3. It should be checked out not only for the awesome Road to the Show mode but for the online modes as well.

Best Game In Town
I would recommend this over MLB 2K7 just because of the Road to The Show mode. Innovation in a stale genre is always something to take a look at. The Show outclasses other baseball offerings, even if the graphics look like a PS2 game on steroids. Give it a try, there is quite a bit to enjoy with MLB 07: The Show.