The pitching and batting AI in MLB 2K12 is another improvement over other baseball simulations. As a pitcher, you can’t expect to throw the same pitches over and over and expect the batters to fall for them. The AI batters adjust their swings based on patterns in your pitching style. AI pitchers will also vary their style when they pick up tendencies in your batting.
Unfortunately, this intricate AI isn’t shared with the players in many fielding situations. When controlling the defensive team, it is frustrating when AI players aren’t in logical places. You might expect to be throw someone out only to find that the baseman is a good 10 feet from the base. When controlling men on base, you can exploit the AI of the opposing team to easily pick up stolen bases.
Another problem in MLB 2K12 is the camera angles. Sometimes they make sense: when pitching, the camera is positioned behind the pitcher; when batting, camera is behind the plate. But if you are controlling just one player in the field (and not the entire team) the camera angles are bizarre. With my review copy of the game, I chose an outfielder for My Player Mode. It was frustrating to not be able to see the ball or where the ball was going when fielding.
The controls can be equally frustrating. When base running, there is a significant delay in the response time when you tell your player to advance or return. Rounding bases is also hindered by this delay and can often mean the difference between a run and an out.
Despite these problems, MLB 2K12 is still a fun game for both serious baseball fans and casual plavyers – even without a mine under third.
MLB 2K12 is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB. This review is based on the Xbox 360 version, provided to the reviewer at no cost through the Blogcritics.org writers' network. This game can also be found on: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PSP, PC, and PlayStation 2.
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