You might not agree, but I think playing 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 is the most enjoyable way to play MLB The Show. Of course, the real way I have to say this is that I think co-op mode in MLB The Show is the best way to play the game when it works. MLB The Show 24 co-op mode has to work right.
To be clear, I have plenty of fun in other modes as well and it does depend on my mood, but on a minute-to-minute basis I had the most fun with co-op mode in last year’s game when it worked. The issue is that it did not work right much of the time.
I don’t need to go through the problems with the mode or how it could be improved because I don’t think it warrants going into that depth when the mode itself has to work right first and foremost. And by “work right” I mean that we have to be able to finish games on a consistent basis without getting into “freeze offs” or having various forms of desyncs that cause games to end early.
Any issues that you have with the normal online modes in MLB The Show basically get magnified in the co-op mode, and I would say 3-on-3 leads to more problems than 2-on-2 (which is not shocking). I would not blame anyone who simply gave up on this mode after the first couple weeks because it was such a mess.
It did improve to a degree, but there was still always issues so you never really had confidence a game would end. The fact that “freeze offs” are a thing at all in any mode sucks, but when you get them a higher percentage of the time and it involves multiple people, it sucks on a whole other level.
There’s no grand ideas here beyond stating once again that MLB The Show 24 co-op mode needs to work right most of the time. Online franchise and all those other things would be cool, but I wouldn’t even really want them until SDS shows they can handle something like co-op mode because there’s no shot online franchise would work without major issues if co-op mode is any indication.
If the mode doesn’t work yet again this year, SDS basically risks making people like me — those who love co-op — not even want to enter the mode anymore, which would be a real shame considering how much fun co-op mode can be when it works.
