The Bigs 2 (360)

by Rossinio Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:55 pm

The Bigs 2

Way back in the depths of time, I had a baseball game - on the PS2 of all consoles. Since then, I've been waiting for one to be released in Europe on a console that I play. Several years later, The Bigs 2 was launched on the 360 and I couldn't have been more chuffed. Think FIFA Street crossed with NBA Jam and you'll know the style of game. As opposed to a serious version of baseball (the MLB equivalent of FIFA 09), The Bigs 2 is a laid back, arcade version of one of Americas most popular sports. The game itself is very basic in its different features. It contains a few mini-games, a Season Mode, a Become a Legend Mode as well as Single Match modes, as well as online features.

While this game will never be renowned for its breakthrough in graphical technology, it doesn't look terrible. The scenery, modelling and animations all are entirely suitable for the game and the way it plays. It is quite colourful, easy to look at, and fits the game perfectly. The players look like their real life counterparts, albeit somewhat cartoony versions. My only complaint with the graphical aspect of the game is the lack of animation diversity. Every time you get a home run, and your player reaches home plate, its the same animation each time - a small sacrifice to pay, I believe.

The Bigs 2 (360) The-bigs-2-glove-580x326

In terms of gameplay, it is an excellent way of gaining popularity to the sport. It plays exceptionally well, in tht you chuck a ball, you swing at the ball, you run, you catch and thats about it. In other circles, this would be considered mundane, but the matches themselves had Context Based Challenges, whenever you try to perform a "Legendary Catch" (catches that normal people wouldn' be able to do) you are prompted to press a button combo or something very similar. The Become a Legend mode is pretty cool, too. You create a player, the appearance of which you can customise throughout, and take him on a career through the MLB starting from his "recovery from injury" and ending as the MVP most probably... I've not finished it yet, but from what I've read and suchlike, its a storyline, so there are spoilers. Pretty cool really. I'm loving it too, I've got a massive man-mountain with a Guy Fawkes moustache and bright green shoes - a total misfit, yet he's doing pretty good for himself. The "Home Run Pinball" is good in small doses, and the other mini-games are really for practicing the Stat Improvement Drills for the Legends Mode.

In terms of Audio, there's not a lot wrong. The commentary is pretty good, and has its moments - the crowd are as they should be, a background noise, and the sound effects are pretty good too. Menu music isn't my cup of tea, but quite often the music in these sports games isn't.

With regards to longevity, the game has enough stuff to keep you going for a while, the Season Mode, the Legends mdoe, it all builds up. Plus with online play, you can play games against mate or random people online, although my single experience was against a very laggy Canadian, making it ridiculously unplayable, but I'm putting it down to his connection.

Other things to note are that this game doesn't have full rosters. A complete MLB roster has a lot of players, however the game has picked out the best players on each team to put in. Kind of annoying for me, as my favourite player has gone from good to crap since he left the Red Sox, so he's not in the game any more The Bigs 2 (360) 135842

. (Edit: Disregard this... I found him on Oakland... Woo!)

Overall, its a pretty good game, but the main selling point is that, while it will never compete with the likes of FIFA 09 or Tiger Woods in terms of graphics and popularity, for its price point of £20 its the best value for money game out there and definitely worth a purchase.

9/10

Mainly for its value for money, although greater depth, and a few more mini-games would have been faesable.