![mlb 2k12 review mlb 2k12 review](https://i0.wp.com/e-aagh.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/mlb12a.jpg)
My team lost what was like their fifth game in a row, and my manager-a gigantic, terrifying North Carolinian who chewed tobacco and probably should not have been allowed to spend very much time around children-ended up throwing a trashcan at the umpire, later threatening to fight him in the parking lot. I was seven years old, eight maybe, the floundering shortstop on a floundering little league team. As Deathcrush cowboyed up to the mound and faced down the leadoff hitter for the Huntsville Stars, I thought about the moment I fell out of love with baseball. Why did I make him a knuckleballer? I thought as I sent Deathcrush Millard, my dreadlocked, purple-sleeved create-a-player, down the path of yet another six innings of wild pitches, slightly-too-slow fastballs, struck batsmen and missed opportunities. Time to pull ‘im, coach – he’s out of gas.Drew Millard explains why baseball games are basically RPGs for jocks. I hope to review MLB: The Show 12 for PlayStation 3 this year, and see what all the fuss is about over there, because the buzz is gone in 2K12. The graphics are still serviceable at best, the lighting engine isn’t very impressive and allot of incidental or transition animations have been in the game for years now. I’m slower then molasses going uphill in January (because of the baserunning issue described above) but the AI can’t capitalize on it. He should throw behind me and pick me off but I have no fear of that because the AI simply doesn’t do it.
![mlb 2k12 review mlb 2k12 review](http://media.ignimgs.com/xbox360/xbox360/image/article/122/1220077/mlb2k12_030512_176_1331018851.jpg)
The catcher just about has the ball at this point, and I’m way, way off first. When I do decide to hold the controller on the bases, I can get obscene leads on the computer catcher. If you can’t advance, you can’t get baserunning points – simple as that. That makes improving your baserunning abilities almost impossible since, unlike in NBA 2K12, your skill points are locked into being used on specific categories. I usually just put my controller down and watch when I get on base, because eight or nine times out of ten the batters behind me make outs. I’ve given up huge innings on just dink hit after dink hit, dribblers and seeing-eye-singles that always seem to find a hole. On the mound it’s frustrating to watch ground balls find their way through the infield over and over because your fielders are always just out of position. You still only play in the field when a ball is hit to you (so you’re always ready for it, which makes reaction times unrealistically shorter), and your AI teammates are your biggest enemies. My Player, which I love in NBA 2K12, gets the red-headed step child treatment here. They’re taking an odd angle at this problem, if you ask me. A real pitcher doesn’t vary his stuff because his fastball went AWOL after throwing it too much, he mixes them up because the batters start to see it coming and put wood on it. This is supposed to make you vary your pitch types while on the mound, but it’s a crooked way to do it. It’s icon gets a different color and you start to throw poorly. This gimmick is, if you overuse a pitch, it’s rating drops. The gameplay’s supposed pitching improvement went completely by the boards with me. The game doesn’t look better, it doesn’t play better, and it doesn’t offer anything new (beyond roster updates) to compel you to spring for it. In short, there’s no reason to spend money on this if you own one of the previous versions. It’s the same game as 2K11, which was the same as 2K10. That’s exactly what 2K Sports has done with MLB 2K12. EA Sports had released the same game, with minor new touches, for the third straight year. When I reviewed NBA Live 08 here in 2007 I was really mad. There’s little worse in gaming then getting last years game at this year’s price, and that’s what we’re getting here. Ok, that may not make much sense yet, but I’ll explain. MLB 2K12 in NBA Live 08, but with baseballs and less EA.