I undersold the new bat-and-ball physics, but once you start to play the game you see how much it impacts the game. CPU-controlled outfielders take realistic – though at times imperfect – routes to the baseball. No more do you have to worry about infielders taking ridiculous amounts of time to deliver a throw to first base after fielding a ground ball. Most of those little things that used to drive diehard fans of the series crazy have been corrected. Gameplay has always been the best part of The Show's package and nothing has changed. I'm confident this will be patched soon after release, but it was there during my evaluation. That's not horrible, but it was still memorable. In the 23 games I played, I saw it about five times.

It looks pretty choppy, and at times it allows you to get away with going around on an attempted check swing. One that sticks out in my mind particularly is a new check-swing animation. However, there's a few that look awkward. In the field and at the plate, there are several instances when you can see these new additions. New animations were also a topic of conversation leading up to release. Whether it's oddly rendered hair or cartoonish facial features, the other guys still look a little strange. Much was made about the developmental team's efforts to make the generic players blend in with the photo-realistic guys, but unfortunately, that mission wasn't accomplished. On that note, the CPU-generated players still look odd.

Mlb the show 17 reviews