They move like it's actually me out there trying to track down a line drive, and I'm not the most athletic person.įranchise mode returns largely unchanged, but I did notice some better AI trade logic - so don't expect to land Ryan Braun for two B prospects. But, players still move slow and have a chunky, sluggish feel to them. The throwing system is really well done, so color me impressed. If you queue up a throw, the sweet spot will be much smaller with a higher risk of error, in contrast to getting the ball and stopping to set your feet, which will give you a larger sweet spot and more accurate throw. The throwing system has also been revamped that stresses mechanics. Each pitch has a specific motion that you need to mimic, and hitting is as easy as flicking up for a contact hit, or down and then up for a power hit.
Batting and pitching haven't felt better than now. The pitching system remains the same, as does the batting - with both being done with the right analog stick. Animations are also a bit smoother around the bag, specifically when turning double plays, but in the outfield, you will see frequently see your fielder slow down on approach to a fly ball dropping in - as the animation takes over, everything moves at normal speed, except for your fielder moving in slow motion. It's really strange looking and makes them look like the Hulk. When they walk up, they look fine, but right as they enter their batting stance, their chest swells up and they have a huge block for an upper body. The biggest grief I have against the visuals are players in the batter's box. Also, the fans and their animations are just atrocious. Player models are dull, their uniform is always creased in the same spot, some of the biggest faces in baseball are unrecognizable, and the stadiums fail to impress. The game hasn't even taken steps towards become more graphically enhanced. This will be the only time in the review that I compare 2K12 to MLB 12: The Show, but The Show on the PS Vita has better graphics than 2K12 has on consoles. First off, I'm going to talk about the graphics, which is by far the weakest part of the game. I feel like MLB 2K12 does play better than its predecessor, but it still suffers from a lot of the same problems. MLB 2K12 is the only baseball game available for non-PlayStation 3/PS Vita owners, so does the focus on polish and tweaking pay off or does it drink beers in the clubhouse and have a monumental collapse?
In the last year of 2K Sports' MLB exclusivity, developer Visual Concepts focused on polish instead of a ton of new features.