Headshots & Chain Chomps

Quick Thoughts: MLB 2k12

Sports games are an odd sort in my opinion.

Due to the nature of ever-changing rosters they require yearly updates but more often than not you end up with mildly tweaked graphics, new names and the same game you had the year (or several years) before.

In my youth I would ignore this fact and get the yearly releases for my favorite sports (namely the Maddens or other variants of NFL games that haven’t existed since EA grabbed exclusivity) but as an adult this leads to me buying or playing these games once every couple of years.

I have not touched a MLB game in four, maybe five, years and I remember the stat tracking, controls and presentation to be awful so it was with some trepidation that I checked out MLB 2k12.

So far I have not been disappointed but there have been a few hiccups.

• Presentation has greatly improved…little things like announcers picking back up the story they were telling after calling plays and such.  Sadly the graphics and character models are showing some age though.
• Music….my god the music is awful.  For years I have hated the soundtracks EA has been putting on their games but this is by far the worst sports game soundtrack I have ever heard.
• Pitching is finally challenging again…..the use of the right thumbstick to go through the windup and release is brilliant although after four games I find it affects batting too as games with high pitchcounts make my right thumb sore as hell from the accrobatics it has been pulling and using the right stick to swing when at bat gets more difficult as the game wears on.
• Fielding.  I have been playing MLB games since the Triple Play series on the Genesis and still find it frustrating that fielders do the same sort of messed up garbage they always have.  From the game putting you in the hands of the outfielders when the SS/2B player could more easily make the catch to infielders who seem unable to run, pick up/catch a ball and throw it in a fluid motion to AI controlled fielders who stop five feet from where the ball is going to drop….all these blunders in design were one’s I experienced as a teenager in my parents’ basement….why am I still seeing them today.

Aside from the few small errors in design this appears to be a much better designed game than the last one I played and as such I can’t help but recommend it if you are a baseball fan.  Just be prepared for some old frustrations as well as some new pains as well.

Couldn’t Resist

Preordered Hitman: Absolution today while I still have the means to do so.

Damn game doesn’t come out for months but I figure its best to pay for it now while I can and wait on it to get here in months.