The Bigs 2 Review

June 4, 2022

Sports simulators are generally not everyone's type of game, and in fact they tend to enjoy a rather limited crowd of followers. However, when it comes to games like The Bigs, and its latest sequel, The Bigs 2, that's a different story – with a gameplay so focused around arcade elements and fun, stripping all the unnecessary realism, the game is easily able to attract a much more diverse crowd of players.

Gameplay

The Bigs 2 offers an even more addictive gameplay than its predecessor. As before, there's a large emphasis on the game's arcade aspect and realism is often pushed to the back in favor of implementing a certain gameplay element that makes it more fun and/or accessible. There are several modes of play, depending on which position you want to represent on the field. The interface for the batter has been revamped and now uses a different hitting system, which allows the stats of your player to directly influence your performance at batting (as opposed to just giving you a slight boost before).

There's also a fun new career mode called “Become a Legend” – in it, you'll go through a plot similar to those of some classic sports movies, as you take control of an injured player from the Mexican League who's just recovering from his trauma, and is hired by a more successful team in the Major Leagues, giving him a shot at becoming a truly successful and well-known player. From then on, the game progresses pretty much like most other sports games' career modes, as you gain points to spend on your stats, improving your player's performance in chosen areas.

Graphics and System Requirements

Despite the exaggerated gameplay, The Bigs 2 manages to preserve a more or less realistic art style, and doesn't feature anything over-the-top. There are some flashy effects used for some of the special actions performed by players, but nothing too distracting or unfitting with the game's general setting. You'll get to play on different stadiums, going through varying locations and times of day, so the game never quite feels the same, a problem which commonly plagues other sports titles.

The PS2 and Wii versions seem to have been rather poorly optimized compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3 ones – we noticed some FPS drops in places, as well as laggy response from the controller (though that was a lot more limited as an incident and didn't bother us that much). If you want to get a smooth experience, definitely go with the current-gen versions.

Other

The Bigs 2 was the first game in the baseball genre for the Xbox 360, which helped it build a solid fanbase initially – and it still has quite a lot of followers playing it actively, so you'll definitely not feel alone enjoying this title if you're an Xbox 360 owner.

Conclusion

With its attractive price and original gameplay, The Bigs 2 is a title every gamer – not just sports fans – should give a try!