MATT RIASHI ’13| Staff Writer

With Opening day just under two weeks away, Major League Baseball 2K12 (MLB 2K12) will give gamers a head start on the much anticipated 2012 baseball season.

Although many aspects of the game have not changed since the release of MLB 2K11, this year’s game does have one difference that will excite Tiger fans: Justin Verlander graces the cover, surrounded by flames.

The best feature about the game is the “My Player” mode. The goal is to make it to the Major Leagues by getting the player’s rating up to a specific level. In this year’s game, gamers can choose the type of player they want to be by changing the expectations, ratings, and how the player progresses through the minor leagues.

For the gamers who don’t get as much enjoyment from “My Player” mode, they can experience controlling a franchise. In this mode, gamers can control everything, free agents, trades, managerial responsibilities and playing all the games on the schedule. Playing 162 games would take a long time, so simulating games is very useful.

The best way to play the game is to play one on one with a friend not online, actually playing someone in the same room. The online gameplay is really bad. Even in good WiFi connections the game tends to freeze momentarily and it throws off your timing when hitting and pitching.

 MLB 2K12 has other new features, like the tendency tracker, which adjusts to the way the gamer is pitching to the computer. This new feature can get too unrealistic at times.

One step up from last previous year’s games is the graphics the players actually look somewhat like they do in real life and the ballpark details are better from years previous. It is not that big a deal, but it adds to the experience. But along with the many good details there are some problems. At certain times the game glitches and there is no other choice to turn the game off and start over.

When first starting to play the game, there was also some disappointment when realizing that Prince Fielder was not on the Tigers. It is not a big deal, because he can be added very easily. So, some roster updates need to be made.

The game controls are all the same from the years past, which is good because nobody wants to learn new controls to a game where timing is the most key aspect to pitching and hitting. There is one minor change to the throwing meter when a player catches or fields the ball. As the player fields the gamer can decide either to start the throw early, with the greater possibility of making an error or play it safe and potentially not getting the out.

MLB 2K12 meets a lot expectations, but the glitches that occur in small doses detract from the good effects.