MLB The Show 22 Reviews
Like the sport it portrays, MLB The Show 22 will take a very long season to show me its real virtues. But the short-term successes I’ve already had make it enticing to see that season through to the end. I am sure that repeated commentary, rote animations, and inexplicable simulation results will nag at me come September. I’m also sure that I will still be playing this game in October.
For the most part, though, newcomers will find plenty to embrace about the series and players of past iterations of “MLB The Show” will find a whole lot of what they know and love. The biggest problem, in fact, is they’ll likely find a little too much of it.
MLB The Show 22 is mostly a retread of an already great game, but more bugs than usual and the not quite ready for primetime co-op mode are signs this series may be losing some velocity.
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.
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.
It seemed inevitable that stagnation would hit a series with yearly releases and MLB The Show 22 shows that Sony San Diego isn't exempt from that. However, stagnation is far from a deal-breaker when a series is already this good and polished, it just makes it harder to justify a nearly $70 purchase on a yearly basis.
MLB The Show 22 doesn't do much different than last year, and the new highlights are a mixed bag, but it's still a good baseball game. Your mileage will vary about whether or not it's worth your time and money.
It'd probably be reductive to describe many of MLB The Show 22's improvements as the kind of thing you'd expect to find in patch notes, but it's still somewhat true. The gameplay feels great as always, and we really like the additions to March to October as well as the Mini Seasons mode in Diamond Dynasty. But while this is undoubtedly a streamlined, enhanced version of the already excellent MLB The Show 21, casual players will struggle to spot the difference – and, frankly, some aspects of the series are really beginning to tire.
At the end of the day, MLB The Show 22 doesn´t bring much to the table in terms of innovation, but when it comes to gameplay and game modes, that's where it really shines. Fans of the franchise will find a lot to love over here, and newcomers won't have too much trouble learning the game thanks to all the amazing accesibility options. The newest entry in the beloved baseball franchise is basically more of the same, but better.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
MLB The Show 22 is a great game. It's fun, full of options and modular in structure to meet everyone's needs without distorting the essence of baseball.
Review in Italian | Read full review
MLB The Show ’22 puts up a stellar display of the baseball spirit, thanks to its more realistic than ever in-game visuals and player animations. The in-game physics ensures that every time you hit the ball, it’s a rare and rewarding sight to behold. Despite its fair share of nuances in microtransactions and online matching, there’s enough content to keep you hooked for at least three months time. As for newcomers, the payoff might not be that significant in the short term, but in the long run, it is an easy recommendation.
I happen to enjoy this year’s title, as a lot of those changes make the title a bit more challenging. But if you were looking for innovations to shake up the franchise, those just aren’t here.
In short, MLB The Show 22 feels like MLB The Show 21 after a decent-but-not-major patch has been installed. If you haven’t played the series for a few years, or are a newcomer looking to dive into baseball sims for the first time, this is the best thing on the market. If you picked the game up last year, you’re paying for minor tweaks and a roster update, and you might not feel a new game is worth it.
There is so much to dive into in this entry. Studio San Diego have done the community good overall and MLB The Show 22 is the finest offering to date.
MLB The Show 22 is probably the best release of this series. MLB: The Show, in terms of yearly sporting games, sticks to being a comprehensive simulator with a wide range of features to attract a wider range of players. Even with a few new features like online co-op and commentary, I can't deny that this is largely the same game as last year.
Even so, MLB The Show 22 is a very impressive baseball game. Although it doesn't reinvent the wheel with this year's entry, the game is extremely enjoyable and the wider accessibility of platforms will no doubt mean that MLB The Show 22 will reach plenty of baseball fans.
MLB: The Show '22 brings the baseball gameplay fans love with some minor improvements. Online the game still has some minor connectivity issues. Other than this and some minor glitches, the game is exactly what the fans expect. Unfortunately, there isn't much of a graphical advancement.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
The simulation of San Diego Studio proves to be solid even in the new vintage: the gameplay remains sumptuous, even if some modes begin to feel the weight of the years. From this point of view, we expected something new. The ability to play it directly on the GamePass on Day One is an added value for all baseball fans on Xbox, while the arrival on Nintendo Switch will make many players happy.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I love a good baseball game so thankfully, MLB The Show 22 is a great one. From its wide range of options to its clever adaptive difficulty, it's easy to have the hours tick away as you hit dingers and climb the ranks.