MLB 12: The Show

Up-'til-3am immersive. [May 2012, p.108]

MLB 12: The Show is an excellent experience that honors and respects one of America's oldest institutions.

While the game stands leagues ahead of its competition, there are some needed changes that I hope make their way into next year's version. Updated presentation, a new commentary team and some rudimentary facelifts to RTTS would go a long way towards refreshing the franchise and ensuring its continued success for years to come.

If you love baseball, it's a no brainer. MLB 12: The Show offers the most realistic, authentic, and diverse baseball simulation experience to date.

MLB 12: The Show is yet again the victor. More than anything, it just feels like baseball.

Last year I said that MLB 11 wasn't a monumental step forward. I would say that MLB 12 is only a half-step forward for the series. Sure the competition within the genre is weak but that is still no excuse to leave much unchanged from last year's version. MLB 12: The Show is a fantastic game of baseball there just isn't enough new to make it an outright purchase recommendation.

A new and effective pitching system makes MLB 12: The Show a solid baseball experience.

Best baseball game to date. The move motion controllers are so much fun for pitching and batting. The fielding is a bit strange as you only have to time the ball goin in your glove. Overall awesome graphics, gameplay and new scenes that adpat to what's really going on. An absolute pleasure to play.

Still better than that other baseball game which will not be named, but ultimately disappointing, just like it is every year. A lot was made of this year's overhaul of the physics engine, which supposedly created a more realistic baseball experience. While the physics and gravity have improved while the ball is in play, a batter can still swing early to pull the ball, make contact, and hit it to the opposite field. Look at a replay from a top down view of the batter to see for yourself. The timing and the angle of the bat often don't make sense. The pitching system, while I like the idea of the pulse control, can be quite frustrating. Your location and timing can be perfect, yet the ball can still end up out of the zone, which wouldn't be that bad, except that the cpu will very rarely swing at a ball that is even an inch off the plate. So far I've played about 20 games and I've seen an opposing batter chase a curveball below the knees maybe 2 or 3 times. Their plate discipline is way too good, and adjusting the CPU contact slider doesn't seem to help. The character models are pretty good for the most part. They've captured individual batting stances quite well, although every player is the same height, which is just sloppy. Another frustrating aspect of this game is that your cpu opponent's "big innings" feel predestined. Again, your timing and pitch location can be flawless, but if your opponent is due to score that inning, they will. Every ball will find a hole. Baseball is all about timing and physics, and this game has problems with both. The only game(s) that came close to perfecting it was MVP 04 and 05. I'm tough on this game because I feel like, with some tweaking, it could be great. The fact that it is close is very frustrating for someone like me, who takes baseball waaay too seriously.

I wanted so desperately to like this game, but, once again, it is just too damn hard. Hitting is infuriating because you'll swing and miss 100 times, then finally make contact and it slowly rolls to the shortstop. Pitching is better, but intensely frustrating because you have so little control over where the ball actually ends up. I suppose I'll get better the more I play, but seriously, I love baseball more than anything, and I have no interest in playing this darn game right now.

I bought this game expecting to see it be as good as MLB: 11 the show and MLB: 10 the show. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU WANT ANOTHER LIKE THE LAST 4 in the series. This game brings great dishonor to the other "The Show" games. All the mechanics are different. You cannot control the fielders anymore, instead the computer does it for you. WHICH IS SOOOOOO BORING AND FRUSTRATING. to see a computer make an error and you face the consequences for it, THATS BULL ****!!!! I gave this game a 0 because I feel completely ripped off. DO NOW BUY MLB: 12 THE SHOW!!!! P.S. this game **** donkey testicles.

It is impossible to hit consistently. Nothing but ground balls and double plays. I could understand if it is tough to hit on a high difficulty level, but it is the same on every difficulty level. Don't waste your money. You will have more fun playing World Series Baseball '95.