MLB The Show 17

Rather than shooting for the moon and burning up on the Sun, MLB The Show 17 calls out it’s home run and knocks a dinger over the left field wall like it was nothing. This game is truly a delight and a must have for anyone who enjoys baseball simulations, even if you are an Indians fan.

MLB The Show 17 builds on last year’s version, which many cited as the best in the series, by adding some key features and improvements. Most notable are increased hit variety, MLB Network integration, and the RTTS documentary. All of these additions make the game feel more like real baseball. This authenticity makes games more fun to play, as it’s easier than ever to become invested in every pitch.

While it’s still got room to grow, what’s here is great for fans of baseball. MLB The Show 17 is a clear step up from 2016 in gameplay, presentation, and overall experience. Some control and commentary quibbles remain, but not enough to detract from what is the best in the series to date, and one of the best baseball games today. As a PS4 exclusive, Xbox players should be envious.

Quotation forthcoming.

To say I’m pleased with my return to the series after a brief hiatus is an understatement. This feels exactly like the Show I remember with some fantastic additions. The only thing that keeps it from getting higher marks are the online connectivity issues and some other small concerns (including some strange ball physics in the outfield that has led to a lot more ground rule doubles than seems realistic). If you’re a fan of the sport and you have a PlayStation 4 you have to buy this game. If you don’t, you’ll be missing out on a tremendous entry in this seminal series.

There’s no denying that MLB The Show 17 is one of the most comprehensive and realistic baseball simulators that has ever been made. No matter what sort of baseball experience you’re looking for, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find it in the latest from San Diego Studios.

Gameplay, graphics, game modes: everything in MLB The Show 17 gets improved compared to last year. If you love baseball you'll have a lot of fun playing this game.

San Diego Studio keeps delivering with a game that's full of content, deeper and more accessible than ever, and with relevant additions. A must-have for any baseball fan.

MLB The Show 17 sets a new pinnacle for the franchise. It creates more depth for its tent pole modes and polishes everything else to a terrific gleam. Some online issues and glitches still continue to plague the series at launch, but you might get so engrossed in Franchise or RTTS that you won’t even notice until they’re fixed.

Overall MLB The Show 17 does what it’s supposed to do and builds on last year’s great game. It’s hard to truly improve year after year without any competition but the development team is able to do that with this game. The documentary style of RTTS is brilliant and the new MLB Network broadcast addition is great and adds authenticity to the game. MLB The Show 17 is a great game for any baseball fans and will provide a great experience from any of their game modes.

MLB The Show 17 is an ambitious game that tries to dazzle players with new avenues of play and a story, but is at its best on the field, where the action has never looked or played better. After slumping last year, Sony came back firing with an experience that feels new again, even if its foundation stretches back over a decade.

When not compared to previous iterations of the series, MLB The Show 17 is a great baseball game with something for everyone. The various modes provide players with a plethora of options both online and offline. When compared to previous MLB The Show games, MLB The Show 17 stands out as the best iteration of the series thus far, however, as a “game of failure,” there is room for improvement.

At first blush, MLB The Show 17 is more of the same; but when taken together, it's actually a great update. It brings with it a lot of small but much-needed tweaks to the play on the field, and the graphics have never looked so good. Even better, Franchise mode actually feels approachable now. It leaves some opportunities on the table, but MLB The Show is still a great baseball sim that feels that much better with this year's update.

The dynamic lighting, stadium details, and player designs are astounding. The gameplay can be punishingly realistic or a cartoony home run derby depending on how you customize your experience.

Sony has rarely struck out with their annual MLB The Show series and this year’s entry manages to keep that trend going. With the worthwhile improvements to Road to the Show, Franchise Mode, and the incredibly fun addition in Retro Mode, San Diego Studio has knocked it out of the park with MLB The Show 17.

Baseball is a sport like no other. It looks to its past as much to its future. MLB The Show 17 embraces both. From an introductory video sticky-sweet with nostalgia, to various flashy quick-game options, short challenges, and custom controls. It is a game for fans of the past and present. A game that allows easy access for those who haven’t played a baseball game in a while. Or, even for those who have never played one before.

As I'm veering into my third All-Star Game with my created slugger, I think about how I'm putting the games typically in my wheelhouse — like another Sony creation, Horizon Zero Dawn — on the back burner to digitally partake in a game that I didn't think I enjoyed. Real-life baseball still has a long way to go to get my eyes on it more, but MLB The Show 17 is a pretty good place to start.

MLB The Show 17 is not a huge improvement over the previous chapter, but Sony San Diego managed to renovate the franchise, maximizing every single element of the game. Beautiful to see, even more beautiful to play. A must for every baseball fan.

I overlooked the franchise for too long, as I am glad that this year I ventured into the Major League ballparks. This is a mode-filled, very entertaining baseball experience that is not quite perfect yet, but nonetheless will eat your time away.

Changes in physics and AI make the game more realistic and enjoyable, but there are still some issues with AI player decision making that can detract from the final product. Road to the Show mode is still fun with a new documentary twist, but it's ultimately the same mode as last year. The Show 17 is a good title for baseball fans new and old, but don't expect anything mind blowing this time around.

MLB The Show 17 is another solid entry into an increasingly solid franchise. It slips a bit with the new additions like a tweaked Road to the Show and Critical Situations, but it succeeds in a silly, wholly enjoyable retro mode. But even with the negatives, the MLB The Show series is enjoyable enough to mask those bumps and bruises. MLB The Show 17 is another bullet-point in a historically successful sports franchise.

A joy to play, as ever - though we could've done without the clear-as-day influence of the PS3.

It's hard to think how Sony San Diego could improve this franchise inside the field, bragging with great animations and amazing IA behaviours, while there's still room to be better in some aspects of its great game modes, like lack of own identity in Road to the Show. Thanks to a great level of customization and difficulty, there's an MLB The Show 17 for every baseball fan.

If you are a diehard baseball simulation fan, you’ll feel right at home. If, however, you were looking for something with a little more simplicity and arcade-like control elements then MLB The Show 17 may be the time for you to give the series a try again. There are a lot of things both new and old to like with this year’s version, and I’m glad to be back to my wannabe-athleticism tendencies.

In a class by itself, San Diego Studios continues to wow audiences with an authentic baseball sim with its newly released MLB The Show 17. It’s visually astounding, and all games modes have that extra something to keep you playing long into the night with only a few significant things keeping it from statistical perfection.

After years of consistent quality, it almost goes without saying that MLB The Show 17 is a great game. The simulation makes several significant evolutionary steps forward, while still not losing sight of the genre’s storied past. Both newcomers and veterans will find something to appreciate in this year’s outing, along with a little bit of nostalgic appeal sprinkled throughout for good measure.

The Show is still striving for perfection, but if you love baseball and video games, you need this in your life.

MLB The Show 17 has changed and it has became an even better game. Well done.

MLB The Show 17 takes smart, calculated approaches to improving its gameplay while expanding the Road to the Show Mode with its addition of an ongoing narrative. In an attempt to solidify an excellent baseball simulation experience, one with more control over minute details in all available gameplay modes, the development team builds upon a solid base.

This is the biggest Show yet with a tremendous amount of options and ways to play. A few online hiccups and microtransactions hamper the overall package, but nearly every other aspect of The Show is wonderful. Whether you are a veteran of the franchise or a newcomer intrigued by baseball, MLB The Show 17 is a towering home run.

MLB The Show 17 is the only AAA baseball game in town, but the series is clearly not content resting on its laurels. With notable improvements in several areas and increased accessibility to try and hook newcomers, baseball fans should find a lot to like about this year's release. Play ball!

MLB The Show 2017 has now become the best baseball game, in terms of game modes, gameplay innovations and graphics. It should be considered as one of the best sports simulations available.

It's difficult to reconcile how great the core gameplay is in "MLB The Show 17" with how it can literally waste your time by not recording the results. Should the servers stabilize and become reliable, there isn't a better pure gameplay experience in the genre, and there's also a lot of content and value to be found in the traditional modes as well as its live services. Like the real baseball season, it may be a long grind to get there but the payoff will almost certainly be worth it.

Masterfully balances the needs of old and new players alike – but online teething problems are a curveball Sony has to overcome for the game to truly prosper.

Sets a new bar for baseball video gaming. Video game baseball has never been better than this.

It’s always easy to recommend The Show, and even easier on its best years. While there are still a few rough spots, it’s hard to look at this year’s edition and not come away impressed by the sheer amount of content and modes, as well as the polished gameplay and player experience improvements. This is a gigantic care package of baseball, with countless ways to play the game for both hardcore and fair weather fans alike. I’ll be spending lots of time with this game all year, even when my Tigers inevitably hit a brick wall in August (prove me wrong, boys – prove me wrong). MLB: The Show ’17 is a love letter to baseball and its fans, and one of the secret best reasons to own a PS4.

MLB The Show 17 continues the series' fantastic tradition of consistency and refinement. Improvements to its various game modes give you more ways to play the game how you want to, and the action on the field has never been better, with smarter fielding AI, and enhanced ball physics that bring the hitting to life. Commentary is still a little too stilted for my liking, and there are other blemishes lurking throughout. But when you connect with a fastball and send the ball spiralling into a gap in center field, any issues retreat to the back of your mind. This is America's National Pastime at its best.

Annoyances aside, MLB The Show 17 continues to iterate without the technical baggage a few games back. Beyond the attempts to monetize players through microtransactions (which mainly work as boosts), I didn't really have any major issues with any given aspect of the game. We're only a few more days out until the 2017 season, and I'm counting on using The Show as my companion for it.

There might not be a lot of competition for the best baseball sim title, but MLB The Show 17 knocks this one out of the park. It’s a massive, multi-mode effort with fantastic graphics and a flexible approach that lets you enjoy it in your own way, and with Retro mode and Diamond Dynasty it has both casual gamers and the hardcore baseball fan sewn up.

It’s not a regression. But its advances sound a lot bigger on paper than they are in practice. The gestures made to Franchise and Road to the Show are nice, but the enjoyability in those modes still mainly rests on good design choices going back years. Time will tell if the changes to MLB the Show 17 establish a new foundation for what is enjoyed five years from now. In the present, though, it is still a richly illustrated, seductively appealing depiction of the National Pastime.

The overall changes in MLB The Show 17 may not be as impressive as those from last year, but this is still yet another solid entry from the powerhouse baseball simulation franchise.

MLB The Show 17 is still a great game of baseball but one that with each season seems less and less impressive compared to other sports games available. With a lack of competition, it's hard to not recommend. But with each year I'm still wanting to see the team at Sony San Diego push the envelope even if there isn't any competition to force their hand.

The next step in the MLB The show evolution brings in dozens of new features and a lot of customization possibilities. The big structure though is not balanced by a still-old graphics and animations, but it’s enough to make it the best Baseball simulation around.