MLB 12 The Show Review

Image courtesy of GameRant.com

Next to the Home Opener, the release of MLB 12 The Show is probably the second most anticipated day on the 2012 calendar for Blue Jays fans such as myself.

Truth be told that I played a lot of MLB 11 The Show last year. So much so that I wore out the right analog stick on my PS3 controller. That’s how many virtual at bats I took last year, so having this year’s edition of the game is just feeding my addiction for baseball even further.

Now that I’ve had a little time to play the game and comb through most of the new features, I’ve compiled all my thoughts into one cohesive review of the game. I haven’t had a chance to explore all parts of the game quite yet, but here’s my take on what I have played.


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Hitting

The operative word when it comes to hitting in MLB 12 The Show is “control”. There is a multitude of options when you step into the box; you can have complete control with the new zone analog batting, or you can just stick with the traditional one-button batting mode.

I actually really enjoy the new zone analog batting feature because it forces your eyes to follow the path of the baseball as it travels from the mound to the plate. If you’ve ever played any of the Ken Griffey Jr. baseball games for N64, you’ll be very familiar with this style.

I kept switching back and forth between pure analog batting and the zone analog batting simply because I was so used to pure analog from last year, but I really enjoyed the new style for MLB 12 The Show.

With so many options (zone, zone plus analog, timing, or pure analog), the control is completely in our hands when it comes to hitting. I think even the biggest baseball enthusiasts and casual gamers alike will enjoy the selection.

Another new thing you’ll notice about the hitting is there is real-time feedback after every swing. So you no longer have to tap the L3 button to see if you were early or late on your swing, and how far off your swing was.

All that information is all displayed automatically for you in a on-screen hud either to the left or the right of the batter after every single pitch. It’s a very useful feature that is a welcome addition to MLB 12 The Show.

Pitching

Much like the hitting side of the game, pitching in MLB 12 The Show received a little bit of tweaking as well. Pulse pitching is the brand new feature this time around, and I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of it.


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Maybe it’s because I couldn’t quite master the timing of it, but it just seemed to have a mind of its own. You need to be extremely precise with pulse pitching, as I found myself missing my spots by huge margins.

I personally much prefer the meter pitching or pure analog method of pitching simply because it feels like you have a lot more control of your pitcher as opposed to using pulse pitching.

A few little things I noticed is that you can actually have your starting pitcher take warm-up tosses before the game. This is a good way to get a quick feel for your pitcher’s repertoire before the game actually starts.

You can also have your relievers take long toss rather than warm up in the bullpen. Since you can only warm up two pitchers at a time, this allows you to get some of your other pitchers warmed up as the game progresses into the later innings.

Road to the Show

This is where I spend the bulk of my time with this game, and Road to the Show is just as great if not a little better than last year’s version.


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This time though, you start off as a starter in your organization’s AA team. I think this gives you a much better semblance of where you need to go and how you need to progress to make it to The Show.

I only have about 4 series under my belt in my player’s journey in Road to the Show, so it’s hard to fully evaluate this aspect of the game at this point. So far I don’t have any qualms and my coach hasn’t asked me to put on a hit-and-run yet … one thing that really bugged me in MLB 11 the Show.

It also seems like stealing bases in Road to the Show (and in general) is much easier this year. In previous versions, I struggled greatly with swiping bags in training sessions. Now it seems like a much more fair fight against opposing backstops.

Jose Bautista’s Beard

Now that Jose Bautista is the cover athlete of MLB 12 The Show, it’s nice to see the programmers paid extra special attention to one very important aspect of his character … his beard.

No longer does Jose look like he’s sporting a five o’clock shadow, he now has a full-on beard … which is undoubtedly the source of all his home run-hitting power.

Overall

I’ve had a few people ask me if the upgrades to this year’s edition of the game warrants a purchase of MLB 12 The Show. As silly as it sounds, I would’ve bought the game just for the new Blue Jays uniforms and Jose Bautista on the cover alone.

If you’re a Blue Jays fan, then this one is a no-brainer; go out and buy this game and play it to death until Opening Day, and then maybe play it a tiny bit less as the Blue Jays season gets into full swing.

However, if you already own a copy of MLB 11 The Show and aren’t concerned about Jose Bautista or the new Blue Jays uniforms, then you might be less inclined to purchase MLB 12. I’m not sure if the new features this time around warrant a purchase if MLB 11 is in your PS3 library already.

Last year’s version definitely did because of the introduction of the pure analog control scheme. This time, it was more of just a tweaking of the controls rather than an a complete overhaul.

By no means is that a knock on MLB 12 The Show. It’s just that it’s
tough to improve upon a model in MLB 11 The Show which was very good in
the first place. Why reinvent the wheel when you don’t have to, right?

Overall though, MLB 12 The Show is a much more polished version of its predecessor and The Show remains the preeminent baseball
game out there. I’ve played the MLB 2K12 demo and I don’t think
it comes anywhere close to The Show.

MLB 12 The Show is simulation baseball at its finest. As you can tell by the screenshots, the graphics are ultra-realistic and the brand new ball physics add an entirely new level of realism to the game.

That being said, The Show is not one of those games you can just pick up and start mashing home runs from the get-go. There is a bit of a learning curve especially when it comes to hitting, but once you’ve gotten the hang of it, that just makes hitting those home runs all that more rewarding.

The presentation of MLB 12 The Show is solid, the controls are great, and Blue Jays fans are going to love seeing the new uniforms and finally having one of their own on the cover of the game. Happy gaming, everyone!

Overall rating from MLB 12 The Show: 9 out of 10

Ian Hunter

Ian has been writing about the Toronto Blue Jays since 2007. He enjoyed the tail-end of the Roy Halladay era and vividly remembers the Alex Rodriguez "mine" incident. He'll also retell the story of Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS to his kids for the next 20 years.

6 thoughts on “MLB 12 The Show Review

  • March 7, 2012 at 4:46 pm
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    "As silly as it sounds, I would've bought the game just for the new Blue Jays uniforms and Jose Bautista on the cover alone."

    Funny, that's exactly why I want it. Of course, the last one I bought was MLB The Show 09, which I've played for an unhealthy amount of time. I can still play it now and enjoy it, but it might be time for an upgrade. I think I'll pick up the new one today.

    • March 7, 2012 at 4:52 pm
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      If 09 The Show is the latest version you have, I'd definitely go for 12. There were a lot of great upgrades to the 11 version that made it worthwhile, and those are all within 12 … plus even more features.

      And yes, not to mention Bautista's on the cover and the new uniforms are there, too!

  • March 7, 2012 at 6:41 pm
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    How long does it take to play an actual game? Can you turn-off enough of the 'broadcast presentation' to get a game played in under 30 minutes?

    • March 7, 2012 at 6:45 pm
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      It varies, but I'd say the average game length is somewhere in the neighbourhood of around 40-45 minutes.

      If you take out the cut scenes, it would probably be a little shorter – maybe 30 minutes or so? The length of the game all depends on the offensive output, pretty much!

  • March 8, 2012 at 4:26 am
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    I picked it up today and I loved everything except for the pulse pitching (I'm glad I can still use classic for that!) and one other thing —
    I'm an online kind of guy, and whenever you hit a soft linedrive to right field, the right fielder will gun you down at 1st base, 9 times out of 10. Even the speedy guys. It drives me insane. I had 3 times today where this happened to me (and I only played 1 game!!). One with J.P. Arencibia, and 2 with Yunel Escobar! I doubt this would happen in Franchise, Season, or Road to the Show, because the CPU isn't smart enough to do that, but this is making online play very frustrating for me! >:(

    • March 8, 2012 at 3:52 pm
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      Thomas, I still haven't played The Show online yet (too engrossed in "Road to the Show" at the moment), but that's weird that the CPU is gunning you down at first base. If it were Bengie Molina, then I could understand …. but maybe it's some sort of lag issue? Hopefully it works itself out because that must be maddening!

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