Game Reviews

iOOTP Baseball 2012 Edition

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iOOTP Baseball 2012 Edition

Out of the Park's latest attempt to depict the arcane American game of baseball all boils down to its use of language.

IOOTP Baseball 2012 Edition is without licences or good looks. Its ability to deliver an authentic baseball experience owes everything to the way the on-pitch action is described.

Day by day

The game itself is split into three modes. You can choose to play an up-to-date season - complete with leagues from across the US - or you can indulge a flight of fantasy, either attempting to right wrongs of seasons past or take on a league of your own making.

From then on, the structure of the game largely remains in place whatever you mode embark on.

The menus themselves are simple, if a little unrefined, but allow you to do everything from manage your players to check out the rest of the league on a day-by-day basis.

Once your team is in place, you can either skip the entire week and let the results come in randomly or flick through in 24-hour leaps until a match steams into view.

Talking the talk

It's here that iOOTP Baseball 2012 Edition hits its high point.

Though there's no real visual evidence of how a match is going, the play-by-play commentary keeps you thoroughly abreast of the state of play, even if the terminology will go over the heads of the unschooled.

As admirable as all this may be, however, not much has changed since iOOTP Baseball 2011, making this year's outing a largely superficial refinement. If you're sufficiently interested in baseball to need the latest content then iOOTP Baseball 2012 is for you - otherwise, you can afford to sit this one out.

iOOTP Baseball 2012 Edition

iOOTP Baseball 2012 Edition is able to deliver the thrill of the game through mere text, though fans of the series might wonder why play hasn't been pushed on a touch
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Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.