Slingshot News spoke to three separate former college baseball players who have called the recent 2025 release of MLB the Show ‘great,’ with one of the group telling us that the game is the most impressive baseball video game he has ever seen.
If you are into Fallout, this might not be your game, but if you love sports games, and you love baseball, MLB The Show 25 just may be for you!
We certainly have come a long way from those arcade machines with the little metal balls and the ramps across the playing field.
MLB The Show is potentially the most immersive and realistic MLB experience ever released and is set to rake in millions of dollars at release.
The game was officially released (early access only) on Friday, March 14th, 2025 on Xbox and Playstation platforms.
Once a Playstation exclusive, the widely popular videogame is now available on Xbox too. Let’s get into some of the new features of the latest installment of ‘MLB The Show’.
Ambush Hitting: MLB The Show 25’s Most Interesting Feature
This year’s MLB The Show features an expansion of the game’s hitting mechanics that has caused some controversy, but turned out to be one of the better parts of the game.
‘Ambush hitting’ rewards hitters with an enlarged PCI target if they guess correctly which side of the plate the ball is going to cross when it reaches home.
This feature, while small, provides batters with an edge. A typical complaint on the MLB the Show franchise is the difficulty of hitting, a difficulty that has been eased by the addition of this feature.
This feature also mandates pitchers to spread out their pitches without focusing on one ‘unhittable’ location. While it may be small, the ‘ambush hitting’ feature is one of the best additions to this year’s game.
Are you excited to try this new feature?
MLB The Show 25 Includes On-Field Enhancements With Showtech
In a portion of text included on their website, MLB The Show 25 describes the addition of new mechanics of the on-field enhancement with showtech, saying,
Experience the evolution with all-new features that enhance on-field realism. Own the moment with Ambush Hitting, challenge yourself with G.O.A.T. Difficulty, and discover hundreds of original player animations, powered by ShowTech™. The evolution is real.
The feature will slow down play to another level, allowing for players to be totally immersed in the game .
MLB The Show 25: The Different Game Modes
Because this game is so large and contains so many different modes, we thought it would be necessary to break down the many different game modes players can explore upon purchasing the game.
Here are some of our favorites.
Diamond Dynasty
It has become a staple of nearly every sports game. Whether it’s FIFA (or FC) Ultimate Team, Madden Ultimate Team, NBA 2k, or any other sports franchise, it feels like every game has a mode where packs can be purchased to compile a team of the users’ favorite players.
MLB The Show is truly no different.
Diamond Dynasty hasn’t changed much, and the rules are pretty consistent. Open packs, get cards, amass coins, and build the best team possible.
You can play offline, single player modes within Diamond Dynasty as well as online modes. It has become one of the most beloved aspects of the game.
Franchise Mode
Franchise Mode allows for you to take full control of your organization and put any team on the map, competing in an experience that can last for decades.
Take the place of a coach, a player, or an owner and manage your team to success.
Online Head-To-Head
If the single-player franchise mode has worn off for you, feel free to compete against online players with current MLB teams in the online head-to-head section of the game.
This mode has been a fan favorite for years, and seemingly never really gets old. Skill-based match-making has allowed for players to not be subjected largely to players who are above their skill level.
While this game may not be the best game ever made, it’s surely an improvement over the product that was released by Sony last year.
This game appears to improve with every installment, something that I cannot say for many other game series out there.
Sony has put a tremendous effort into making a quality product with MLB The Show 25 and it shows. The game is enjoyable, as well as accessible and fun.
Per usual, the mechanics of the hitting in the game will be criticized for how difficult they are to master, leaving us wondering if Sony should ditch the current system and upgrade to something different and easier.
When playing MLB The Show, it feels like anger can set in, easily. Other than the usual problems, the game is fantastic.
