Typing out this review for OOTP 12 reminds me of how I felt when I first launched the game: overwhelmed. The game is so unbelievably deep that this review could rival the Bible in length. In the interests of our readers, however, I’ll shorten it up a bit. But know this: OOTP 12 is a truly remarkable game.
Let me start off with a disclaimer. Please do not consider this review a full review. What I mean by that is that there is so much to do in this game, I could not possibly cover it all. And even the things that I do touch on will be quick overviews. This is because there are so many layers within this game that you just have to experience it yourself.
That being said, OOTP 12 is just plain fun. Like I said in my review of iOOTP 11, if you’re like me, you enjoy franchise modes in console sports games. If that’s the case, you’ll want to give this game a shot. It takes the spirit of every franchise mode of every sports game you’ve ever played and multiplies it by a million.
For the purpose of this review, please understand that I only had time to explore the MLB aspect of this game. There are several different leagues you can choose from, including a plethora of minor and international leagues. Also, a really cool feature is the ability to play any season dating back all the way to 1871. No, that’s not a typo. But, again for the purposes of this review, I selected the current year.
You start the game by selecting a league and a team. From there, you are thrown into the fire of owning and managing a major league team. The nice thing about OOTP 12 is that not only can you control every single aspect of your team, but you can also customize the game to have the computer control specific aspects of your league. It’s a welcome addition, especially for beginners who might otherwise be overwhelmed with how deep this game is. For example, I have the computer set to manage my minor league system, with the exception of call-ups to the majors, of course.
Your home screen is the central hub of your organization. From this screen, you can jump to numerous other screens to control as much of your team as you want. You can edit your lineups, change your pitching rotations, work the free agent market, view your messages, see how your minor league system is doing, and much, much, much, much, much more. And honestly, five “muches” may have not been enough.
When it comes to advancing during the season, there’s two basic ways you can handle games. You can either simulate or manage them. By simulating, you simply do just that – click a button and find out the results. The amount of information about the game that just happened is akin to what you would read on ESPN.com. This is the method I prefer. It’s fun to study the box score and see how your players progress through the entire season.
For example, in my franchise, I’m playing as the Detroit Tigers. For some reason, Miggy is having an off year, batting in the .250 range. Lucky for him, V-Mart and Maggs are picking up the slack. But it’s been exciting to check on the box scores and see the Big Fella (thank you, Rod Allen) break out of his slump for a few games, only to be dragged back down to reality.
This form of game playing will suit those who prefer to leave in-game management to the pros and just focus on the off-the-field action. But, if you so desire, you can manage the game. In fact, you can manage the hell out of the game. There are several options you can tweak to see as little or much information as you’d like. You can call a hit-and-run, shift the infield to the right to take advantage of a batter’s weakness, and get the bullpen working when your ace is showing signs of fatigue.
For me, the real fun is in-between the games. I wish there were enough hours in the day for me to tell you how thoroughly involved you can get with your franchise. But there isn’t, so I’ll do my best to hit on what I think are some of the key highlights.
TRANSACTIONS – Think your red-hot 3B prospect is ready for prime time? Call him up! Is your all-star CF on a decline? Check out what the trade market can get you! Have a hole to fill in middle relief? See who’s available on the free agent wire!
STATISTICS & REPORTS – If baseball is a statisticians dream, then this game is a dream come true. The number of statistics this game tracks is mind-boggling. I can’t even begin to scratch the surface of how much information is available at your fingertips. You can check something basic, such as taking an overall look at how your minor leaguers are doing, all the way to checking to see who the best right-handed hitters are on your team. Actually, that description probably doesn’t do this section justice. You just have to play around with the game in order to appreciate just how deep it truly is.
MANAGEMENT – You can, as you’d expect, adjust your lineups and pitching rotation. Not just for your major league team, mind you, but all of your affiliated minor league teams as well. A nice feature is the ability to edit 7-day lineups. This is especially useful if you want to play around with a new lineup, but only for a few games to see how effective it is before making the change permanent.
DRAFTING & SCOUTING – OOTP 12 handles drafting and scouting remarkably well. You can request scouting reports on key prospect to aide you when you make your selections in the draft.
HISTORY – Assuming you start a league based on the current year, you can view a history of the major leagues, all the way down to seeing how specific obscure players performed in any given year. It’s almost like ESPN.com was built in to this game.
I know I’ve hammered this point home to death in this review, but you can’t appreciate how deep this game is until you play around with it yourself. My first day with the app was spent solely on clicking between all of the various screens and being amazed on how much I could do.
But you shouldn’t feel overwhelmed. OOTP comes with a great built-in help system. By pressing a certain key on any screen, an info box pops up with information on that particular screen. This will come in handy because, again, there are many, many screens to view.
Another handy feature is the ability to set bookmarks for certain pages, much like you would in a web browser. It may sound silly, but when you see how many different screens you access while managing your team, you’ll understand how useful this feature can be.
If you are a baseball or simulation fan at all, I cannot recommend this game highly enough. You can get lost for hours in a virtual baseball world of which you are in complete control. Watching your team go through the trials and tribulations of not just one, but many seasons is something that will keep you coming back for more. You definitely want to go pick this one up now.
OOTP 12 is available now on the OOTP website for $39.99.
*** OOTP Developments provided a promo code to iSource for the review of OOTP 12. For more information regarding our site ‘s review policies, please see the ‘About ‘ page. ***
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