Major League Baseball is known for its iconic franchises, marketing prowess and, of course, the unique ballparks that play host to its sport every spring, summer and fall. One thing it has never been known for, however, is developing video games, but that will change this March when the massive sports league releases R.B.I. Baseball 18.
Developed ‘in-house’ for the first time, R.B.I. Baseball 18 promises to be the “most significant update since the franchise was returned by Major League Baseball in 2014.” From the sounds of things, a lot of effort was put into improving, enhancing and reworking the game, which should bode well in a marketplace that is currently dominated by Sony’s MLB: The Show. At least, as far as the PlayStation 4 is concerned.
These updates include:
· Franchise Mode: Take control of a favorite MLB team! Make trades, sign free agents or call up rookies across multiple seasons. A new player progression system allows players to develop, improve, and ultimately retire.
· Home Run Derby Mode: Challenge a friend in local head-to-head play or the CPU in the ultimate slugfest. See how individual skills stack up against friends and the rest of the world on the leaderboard.
· Authentic MLB Players: Completely redesigned player models, including more than 300 digitally modeled likenesses, along with hundreds of new animations and unique player-specific animations to deliver a whole new in-game experience.
· Better Ballparks: Witness the enhanced lighting, textures, revamped 3-D crowd system and get closer to the details with new dynamic camera angles and specially crafted cinematic sequences across all 30 MLB ballparks.
· MLB Legends: Add some of baseball’s best legends to your Franchise mode and play as any of the more than 100 retired MLB players (list is below).
· Online Multiplayer: Jump into ranked and friendly exhibition games with friends and players around the globe.
· Soundtrack: Listen to new tracks and music from more than a dozen popular recording artists.
· Roster Updates: Keep a season up to date with rosters throughout the 2018 season, including within Franchise mode.
Cleveland Indians star Francisco Lindor will take his turn as cover star for R.B.I. Baseball 18, which is an honour that is certainly deserved.
In his first three MLB seasons, Lindor (“Mr. Smile”) finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting (2015), led the Indians to their first World Series appearance since 1997 (2016), won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award (2016) and Louisville Silver Slugger Award (2017) and garnered a pair of consecutive top 10 finishes in the AL Most Valuable Player voting (2016, 2017). The switch-hitting shortstop, a native of Puerto Rico, finished 2017 with career highs across nearly every offensive category, including home runs (33) and RBI (89).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0v20PvCsA0&feature=youtu.be
You can look forward to getting a head start on the next Major League Baseball season, when R.B.I. Baseball 18 slides onto current generation consoles, smart phones and tablets this March.