While a lot of the marketing push for MLB The Show 17 has been the game’s retro mode, which can be played with a single button, there’s still going to be new features that appeal to hardcore baseball fans. That’s the focus of the latest trailer for Sony’s yearly baseball sim. The four-minute video (which you can watch below) goes over the different gameplay improvements.
New ball physics is one of the biggest additions, which allow new hits to become possible. The video goes into specifics, but the simulation goes to a really impressive amount of detail for hits as temperature and altitude can change where the ball ends up. It’s a major improvement from past games which were simulated as if the ball “hit a wall instead of a bat.”
On top of that, artificial intelligence has been a major concern for Sony San Diego Studio. Computer-controlled players will now make more lifelike mistakes such as not always running to the exact spot for balls that are hit off the wall, and there are now multiple ways that a pitcher will tease a fake throw.
The rest of the package is filled out with plenty of new animations and “improved personality” out on the field. There’s also a new catch and throw animation system that will help fix some animation errors that would cause runners to get on base when they should’ve been thrown out. Despite being a yearly release, clearly a lot of work has gone into making every aspect play better than before.
MLB The Show 17 releases March 28 exclusively on PlayStation 4.
(Source: MLB The Show)
