All reviews at Operation Sports must go through myself and Dustin (or at the  time Chase) -- so all scores must be approved by us before they hit the presses. Thus, it is a big deal for both myself  and Dustin/Chase to agree upon a game getting a score at that  level. 

 

As a text-sim, Out of the Park Baseball 12 is right up there  with the big-box production out of Europe -- Football Manager -- in terms of quality and  depth. The pure beauty of OOTP is that you can set  the game up however you like. If you want to be a GM right off the bat with your favorite MLB Franchise you can, or if you want to be a small time manager at a Class A club and work your way up the management ladder, you can do that as well.

 

And of course, every combination in between.

 

And for the baseball purists and historians, you can  basically replay any season with realistic statistical  setting or even take over a club and run multiple seasons with them in the past with historic draft classes included.  Simply put: if you love baseball, and if you don't own Out  of the Park...you need to correct that problem immediately.

 

 

Other Staff Opinions

 

There wasn't a game in 2011 that I spent more time playing,  and playing in different ways, than Out of the Park. During  the baseball season, I played along with the real MLB  schedule to see how differently things could have turned  out. Then I took over the expansion New Orleans Swing. This  winter's off-season had me itching to take part in a Hot  Stove of my own, so I created a fictional league with short  seasons. 

 

Through everything, the traditionally solid engine at the  heart of OOTP often surprised me, and never let me down.  Though there might be a steeper barrier to entry than most  sports games, the journey is well worth it.

 

 

Readers Choice

 

Winner: Out of the Park Baseball 12 (68.21%)

 

Others: iRacing (15.38%), PureSim Baseball 4 (3.59%)